May 19, 2021
A report published by single parent charity, Gingerbread, and the Institute for Employment Studies highlights how the world of work simply doesn’t work for single parents and warns things are set to get worse before they get better – putting even more single parent families at risk of poverty and creating a two-tier society, with single parents firmly at the bottom. (more…)
May 18, 2021
The European Commission recently announced its proposal for the regulation of artificial intelligence, looking to ban “unacceptable” uses of artificial intelligence. Up until now, the challenges for businesses getting AI ‘wrong’ were bad press, reputation damage, loss of trust and market share, and most importantly for sensitive applications, harm to individuals. But with these new rules, two new consequences are arising: plain interdiction of certain AI systems, and GDPR-like fines. (more…)
May 17, 2021
Long working hours led to 745,000 deaths from stroke and ischemic heart disease in 2016, a 29 per cent increase since 2000, according to the latest estimates by the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization published in Environment International today. In what the authors claim is the first global analysis of the loss of life and health associated with working long hours, WHO and ILO estimate that, in 2016, 398 000 people died from stroke and 347,000 from heart disease as a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week. Between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths from heart disease due to long hours increased by 42 percent, and from stroke by 19 percent. (more…)
May 13, 2021
The Pensions Regulator might now have the power under current UK pensions legislation, to enter the private homes of employees when it is investigating their employer, if those employees are working from home. The current law has been in force since 2005 and it allows the Regulator to enter some premises at any reasonable time. This power is restricted to use only in relation to some limited statutory investigations. However, though currently limited, these regulatory powers will soon be widened and extended by the Pensions Schemes Act 2021 which is due to come into force in Autumn 2021.
May 13, 2021
A new survey has suggested that people’s reluctance to head back into the office has much less to do with the risks of COVID-19 or other germs and more to do with the dress code of the company they work for. According to the poll from Airdri, as organisations across the country begin to welcome staff back from working from home, it seems many Brits are not looking forward to dropping the leisure wear and returning to a more formal attire needed when working amongst peers. (more…)
May 11, 2021
As 2020 came to a close, there was a palpable sense of hope that 2021 would bring with it a fresh slate with the horrors of COVID behind us. Alas, that has not happened and it seems we have more of the same, certainly for the next few months and with that the speculation about the ‘future of the office’ will no doubt continue. (more…)
May 7, 2021
Increasing pressure from investors, customers and employees are causing CEOs to focus their businesses on purpose, resilience and long-term sustainability, according to a new report from the Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA) and Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB). The report, ‘People risk – why the need for change is urgent‘ claims a shift in business focus away from short term gains in favour of emphasising long term value creation as one way of managing people risk. (more…)
May 4, 2021
Has working at home during lockdown made people more productive or not? This has been the subject of some lively debate recently. Many companies do not routinely measure productivity. A large number will have traditionally assumed that they get the highest output when staff work longer hours or under close supervision, but remote working is clearly causing some to re-evaluate this. Major firms, for instance professional services group PwC, have been sufficiently impressed to make remote working a permanent option for their staff. (more…)
May 4, 2021
The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has published its ‘Principles for delivering urban Nature-based Solutions’ (NBS), to help developers and owners increase the incorporation of NBS within the construction and operation of built assets. The report claims that the development and function of the built environment has significant impacts upon both climate and biodiversity, locally and globally, and the pressure for our industry to be part of the solution is accelerating. The recommendations of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) have led to a growing requirement to measure and mitigate the physical risks to built assets from climate change, such as flooding and overheating. (more…)
While working from home has surged in recent months, the use of flexible working hours – such as part-time, flexi-time and compressed hours – has fallen over the course of the Coronavirus pandemic, according to new 
A survey released by
May 20, 2021
Is the time right for office furniture as a service?
by Joanna Knight • Comment, JK, Workplace design