Search Results for: women employment

October 21, 2015

Far fewer working women than men receive an annual bonus ⁰

Nearly three quarters of the UK’s working women don’t receive any form of annual bonus. Glassdoor’s latest UK Employment Confidence Survey found that only 29 percent of women at work receive a bonus, compared to 44 percent of men, which presumably is one reason why 44 percent of men remain positive about the outlook for their employer as opposed to just one in three women. The survey, which is carried out twice a year, also found that over the last six months, nearly half of all businesses in the UK that had made negative changes in the workplace (49 percent) had made employees redundant/and or communicated plans to implement further redundancies. The result is that nearly a third of employees (32 percent) are concerned that they will be made redundant over the next six months, up from 21 percent from the beginning of last year.

September 7, 2015

Employment is increasingly dependent on an ability to get on with people ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Technology, Workplace

It can be heartening to learn that there will still be a role for humans in the forthcoming world of robots, drones and driverless vehicles. Inevitably, it is those skills that are hard to automate that will define many of the human jobs of the near future and so one of the skills that will continue to attract paid employment will be the ability to get on with other people. This skill has already defined the labour market for the past 35 years and helped to narrow gender differences in the job market. These are the main conclusions of a new report published by David Deming of the US based National Bureau of Economic Research. According to his working paper “The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market,” which is currently awaiting peer review, nearly all job growth since 1980 has been in occupations that depend to a large extent on well developed social skills.

August 20, 2015

81 percent of women and over half of men experience sexism at work ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Workplace

What’s the difference between office banter and comments which can make people feel uncomfortable at work? That’s the issue which has plagued the workplace for aeons, and the age of so-called political correctness has not made the situation any clearer. Legislation may be in place to protect staff from discrimination or victimisation, but as some well documented cases have demonstrated sexism is still rife in many white collar professions. But it’s worth noting that it’s not only women who can feel that a colleague has crossed the line. A new survey has found that well over three quarters of women (81 percent) have been victims of sexist jokes at work. However, men are not immune to feeling uncomfortable, as according to the survey by Peninsula, well over half of men (63 percent) feel uneasy when female colleagues make indecent remarks about their physical appearance.

July 20, 2015

Majority of women do not feel they are discriminated against at work

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

The overwhelming majority of women do not feel they face discrimination at work, according to a new report based on data from 170,000 UK workers. However, the study from the Great Place to Work Institute does identify a number of challenges that women face at work. The report – Women at work. Is it still a man’s world? – highlights the need for employers to pay closer attention to the specific differences between men and women’s experiences at work, rather than just focusing on overall results. The authors suggest that ‘this will help to identify and address any inequalities such as making pay and promotions more transparent and ensuring policies and practices are gender and age relevant’. The study makes clear that it is the combination of age and gender that presents the greatest challenges, especially in ensuring diversity in senior roles.

July 16, 2015

Women are less assertive in asking for a pay rise than men

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

There has been much focus on gender pay this week with the announcement that larger companies will be forced to disclose pay rates. Now a new poll suggests another reason why women’s pay lags over their career, a lack of assertiveness. A report commissioned by Glassdoor found that only a quarter of UK women (27 percent) feel confident they will receive a pay rise within the next 12 months, compared to 40 percent of men. Women are also less likely to leave a job because of low salary than men – 30 percent of women said that low salary had been the major factor behind them moving on from jobs in the past, compared to 39 percent of men. The Glassdoor UK Employment Confidence Survey, conducted online by Harris Interactive, monitors four key indicators of employee confidence: job security, salary expectations, job market optimism/re-hire probability and business outlook optimism.

March 11, 2015

Two new reports highlight potential benefits of flexible working for women

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Two new reports published this week highlight the potential benefits of flexible working for both employers and staff, especially women. According to a Workingmums.co.uk Best Practice Report, only 36 percent of employers have a flexible working policy despite over half thinking it improves retention, particularly of women, and over a third saying it makes people more efficient. Meanwhile, a study from the TUC claims that around half of the net growth in female employment in 2014 came from women moving in to lower-paid part-time jobs. The analysis claims that while full-time employment accounted for all of the net growth in male employment last year, for women full-time employment accounted for just 47 per cent of net female jobs growth. The TUC also claims that women who moved into part-time jobs during 2014 were typically employed on much lower rates of pay than those in full-time work.

March 9, 2015

Men and women have differing views on equal pay and opportunities

by Mark Eltringham • Legal news, News, Workplace

Men and women have differing views on the pay and career opportunities available to female employees in the workplace, according to a report published today by recruitment firm Hays. The report is based on a study of 6,000 employees which found that just under half (45 percent) of women think that equally qualified and capable male and female colleagues are not paid the same compared to around 20 percent of men. The survey also produced an almost identical result when respondents were asked whether the same career opportunities were available to both sexes, with 21 percent of men and 48 percent of women claiming that both genders enjoyed the same opportunities. Overall both sexes agree that quotas are not the best solution to any mismatch with just 9 percent agreeing that they would have a major impact.

February 18, 2015

Gender pay gap now in favour of UK women…but only until they’re thirty-five

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

The complexities of the gender pay gap are uncovered in the Office for National Statistics’ most recent report into the UK Labour market. For the first time, the study breaks down pay differentials by both age and sex and shows that women now earn more than their male contemporaries until they are in their thirties when gender pay differentials suddenly, rapidly and permanently go into reverse. Women in full time employment now earn an average 81p more per hour at the age of 30, 58p more at age 34 but then 9p less at age 35. The perhaps inescapable conclusion is that the decision to have children is the key determining factor in deciding pay levels for women in full time work. Crucially, the pay gap remains and even widens throughout the remainders of women’s careers. By the age of 40, men outearn women by an average of £1.64 per hour.

January 12, 2015

Lack of flexible working options is distorting the job market for women

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

UK employers and their female employees are missing out on a range of opportunities because of their failure to implement better flexible working arrangements, according to a report from The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The report examined flexible working across Europe and found that while significant progress had been made in the UK, nearly two thirds (64 percent) of working women are unable to vary their working hours and a quarter (25 percent) claim it is difficult to take one or two hours from their day at short notice. The report claims the pent up demand for such working arrangements restricts employment opportunities for women compared to men, means more women are working in jobs below their skill level and creates the conditions for extensive underemployment.

October 23, 2014

Half of women would consider remaining childless rather than risk career

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

The expansion of flexible working rights was not only intended to improve workplace wellbeing and productivity, but encourage mothers to remain in the workforce. But it seems there is much work to be done to convince women that work and motherhood can mix. New research from the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) has found that half of women believe that having a baby poses such a risk to their career that they would consider remaining childless. The survey among women of childbearing age also found that two-thirds of women (67%) are concerned about the impact that having children might have on their career and half of the women who don’t currently have children (49%) feel their current career doesn’t offer them the flexibility they would need to care for a family. Over half of mothers (55%) admitted that balancing childcare and work has been a barrier to staying in work, with one in five (20%) stating that a lack of support from their employer has made life as a working mum more difficult. More →

February 19, 2014

Employment is on the rise but pay not matching the rate of inflation

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

The latest labour market statistics shows employment has continued to rise, but at a slower rate than seen last month. However, at 67.2 per cent, record-breaking numbers of women are now in work, the highest since records began. The figures published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the employment rate in the three months to December 2013 rose to 72.1 per cent, lower than the previous three months and with just a small rise in total pay of 1.1 per cent. This slower pace of growth in employment and pay is reflected in the latest CIPD/ SuccessFactors quarterly Labour Market Outlook survey, which reveals that, although recruitment intentions remain positive, the rate of increase has slowed significantly and the vast majority of organisations expect to give pay awards below the current rate of inflation. More →

January 15, 2014

Legal update – Employment Law changes ahead in 2014

by Pam Loch • Facilities management, Flexible working, Legal news, Workplace

Some of the most hotly debated employment law issues from last year; including flexible working, workplace wellbeing and the contractual rights of employees look set to make more headlines this year, because 2014 is shaping up to be another year of significant change in UK employment law. While the timetable is subject to amendment, currently the Government is intending to introduce a number of revisions. The key employment law events and cases to watch out for in 2014 will include changes to TUPE, flexible working, flexible parental leave, employment tribunal procedures, redundancy consultation, Acas conciliation, calculation of holiday pay and post-employment victimisation; which we list below in the date order in which they are proposed. More →