Search Results for: right to request

February 23, 2016

Belief in a corporate wellness narrative is more important than action ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • HR, Legal news, News, Wellbeing

The complexities of wellness at work are laid bare in a new report from the US based pressure group Global Wellness Institute. The most eye-catching conclusion from The Future of Wellness at Work study is that it’s not actual wellness programmes that do most to boost worker health and productivity, but whether employees identify that company as ‘caring’. The report claims that ‘unwellness’ now costs the US around $2.2 trillion each year, equivalent to 12 percent of GDP. The report is published alongside a white paper which lays out the findings from a survey of American employees. Unlocking the Power of Company Caring gauges how employees feel about their work culture and wellness programmes. The main finding of the two reports is that to understand what has the most powerful impact on employee wellness ‘you must look well beyond the wellness programme’ itself. Instead, the pivotal factor is whether an employee identifies their company as caring about their health and wellness.

July 29, 2015

Public sector lagging behind in use of technology and flexible working

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Public Sector, Technology

As we reported last week, the UK public sector is embracing some interesting new ideas in the way it uses real estate, especially its commitment to get rid of some of it by adopting flexible working and shared space. However, it’s one thing looking to use space in more flexible ways but without the technological infrastructure, it’s hard to see how they will be able to achieve as much as they could. It is in this regard that they are lagging behind their contemporaries in the private sector, according to a new report from O2 and YouGov. While the report, Redefining selling, serving and working, offers up the usual appeals for us all to make more use of the sorts of things O2 wants us to buy, there is plenty of interesting detail to tease out once the pinch of salt has been applied, not least how business practices and the way people use technology vary across sectors.

July 10, 2015

UK property industry ‘lags-behind’ customer service revolution says BCO

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Only 1 in 5 office occupiers rate their property management service as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, according to new research by the British Council for Offices (BCO). While two thirds of occupiers are happy with the quality of their office and three quarters perceive the quality of office space to have improved over the past 10 years, less than one in three occupiers feel the industry understands their business needs. This clear gap between customer expectation and customer experience has led the BCO to call on the industry to develop a better understanding of what a well-performing building looks like from an occupier perspective. The BCO has developed a new definition of building performance, which sets out to frame a more sophisticated approach for property owners and managers to engage with occupiers, focusing upon value and quality creation, rather than simply cost reduction.

May 27, 2015

Smart buildings, smart cities and the promise of infinite data

by Paul Doherty • Cities, Comment, Facilities management, Technology

The rapid urbanization of our world and the weaving of existing and new buildings into the urban fabric of Smart City initiatives are some of the great challenges facing our global industry today. Along with the vast amount of definitions and marketing campaigns surrounding the phrase “Smart Cities” comes the challenge of understanding why the movement is important to the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) industry and how industry stakeholders can profit from, or at the very least, not get run over by the tsunami called Smart Cities. The emergence of Smart Cities as the conduit for ideas, thoughts, policies and strategies for the world’s urban environments is an important milestone for our industry, and it comes at a time of rapid innovation, convergence and redefinitions.

April 17, 2015

Employers neglecting to check ergonomic safety of office workers ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, HR, Legal news, News, Technology

The widespread adoption of mobile devices, not to mention the development of the Internet and uptake of flexible working, may render the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 hopelessly out of date, but they continue to oblige employers to ensure that employees’ workstations are assessed for ergonomic comfort and safety. A survey by Fellowes claims over half of companies (62%) acknowledge they have a duty to foster the physical and mental health of their staff, but found that 31 percent of workers were left in charge of conducting their own self-assessments. In over a quarter of organisations (27%), staff raised concerns that their monitor or display screens were not appropriate and more than one fifth (21%) weren’t aware of any legal requirements when assessing a display screen.

February 19, 2015

Acas publishes guidance on shared parent leave as countdown begins

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, HR, Legal news, News

With just eight weeks to go until new rules on Shared Parental Leave (SPL) come into force, parents with babies due on or after 5 April 2015 should now give their employers 8 weeks’ notice of the pattern of leave they intend to take. The estimated 285,000 working couples a year who are expected to be eligible can start sharing up to 50 weeks of parental leave after 5 April and expectant parents need to have that all-important conversation with their employers. Acas has published a new free guide on Shared Parental Leave to help employers and employees understand how these new changes will affect them and how to manage leave requests fairly. They advise that eligible employees and their employers need to start having early discussions about the different options available so that preparing and planning the leave is as straightforward as possible.

January 15, 2015

Discrimination concerns inhibit LGBT people from being ‘out’ at work

by Sara Bean • HR, News

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people are worried about harassment from colleagues or being passed over for promotion if they come out at work; and while two thirds of people are out at work in the Netherlands less than half are prepared to divulge their sexual orientation at work in the UK. These are the initial findings in a global study to prove the importance of implementing effective policies to support LGBT people at work. “LGBT Diversity: Show Me The Business Case” by business consulting firm Out Now measures the financial savings companies can make by encouraging people to be open at work about their sexual orientation or gender diversity. The report is drawn from an analysis of Out Now’s LGBT2020, a global research initiative involving more than 100,000 LGBT people worldwide.

November 26, 2014

Unions and employers call for greater uptake of flexible working

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, HR, Legal news, News

The release of two new sets of employment data has prompted the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to issue separate rallying calls for the greater uptake of flexible working. Responding to a YouGov survey, which found that over two-fifths (42 percent) of UK workers would not feel comfortable asking their employer for more flexible working practices, the CBI called on firms to encourage and respond positively to such requests in both their own interests and those of employees. Meanwhile, the TUC used the publication of new figures from the Office for National Statistics, which showed that under-employment remains at pre-recession levels and there remains a shortfall in the number of full-time job opportunities, to suggest that part of the solution to both problems lies in the promotion of flexible working rights.

June 2, 2014

Flexible working might help firms to deal with World Cup fever, claims ACAS

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, HR, Legal news, News, Technology

While FIFA works out whether it wants to dig itself in deeper or climb out of its own hole in addressing the World Cup bribery scandal, thoughts in the business world about this Summer’s quadrennial festival of football turn, yet again, to the matter of how to deal with it all. One of the first up with suggestions this time is the UK employment conciliation service agency ACAS which thinks the answer no longer lies in turning a blind eye to what people get up to, but instead working around it. They are urging firms to allow staff to work flexibly during the World Cup so they can watch games with minimal disruption to business. ACAS last month issued new guidance on flexible working in advance of a change in the rights of workers to request flexible working at the end of June, and is now suggesting that flexible working will help to reduce absenteeism and disruption during the tournament in Brazil which begins on June 12.

May 20, 2014

Office design should meet the basic human needs of workers, claims report

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Furniture, News, Workplace design

Designers can install sleep pods, slides and play areas in an effort to create a cool office, but the problem is that for every renowned Google campus are countless stuffy offices with fluorescent lighting and cramped, crowded conditions. When you drill right down to it office workers want those responsible for office design to meet their basic human needs; with more natural light, effective heating and air conditioning and the better use of office space. This is according to the results of a survey by Steelcase of more than 800 office workers across the UK to mark the beginning of Clerkenwell Design Week. It found that despite British workers appreciating the latest technology and high-quality office design, better lighting and more control over temperature settings would be a big step forward towards their dream office.

February 19, 2014

After the deluge: wading through the floods of employment issues

by Jayne Flint • HR

The recent downpours have resulted in the flooding of many businesses. At the same time, employees are struggling to get into work due to their own homes being flooded or the closure of transport links. The problems which arise due to the closure of the workplace are rather different from the challenges of dealing with employees who can’t get to work, but both should be handled carefully. Where the business itself has closed due to adverse weather an employer can ask its employees to work from home or, if alternative premises are available employees may be asked to transfer to the different premises until their place of work is restored. Where the employer has an express clause in the contracts of employment entitling it to make such requests, the employer can insist on the employee’s co-operation. More →

September 30, 2013

United States and Europe; closing the gap on flexible working law

by Debbie Kovak • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news

Vermont became the first U.S. state to enact a law requiring employers to consider workers’ requests for a flexible schedule without fear of retaliation. The law, signed by the governor in May, includes a statutory process which requires “good faith” discussions relative to the employee’s needs and the company’s business operations. Despite Vermont’s efforts to make the workplace more accommodating, the United States still lags behind Europe when it comes to flexible work schedules and accommodating family life issues. For example, Vermont is already a decade behind the United Kingdom which passed similar legislation in 2003. The reasons for this are not cut-and-dried either.