Search Results for: Gen Z

July 10, 2017

Acas reveals majority of helpline callers on zero hours contracts feel unfairly excluded ⁰

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

Acas’ helpline receives many callers working on a zero hours, agency or self-employed arrangement who do so out of necessity rather than by choice, with some people feeling taken advantage of and unfairly excluded from employment rights. In its response to the Matthew Taylor review on modern employment practices the Acas Council looked at calls to its employment helpline, which revealed confusion and uncertainty around employment status and rights for those involved in the non-standard types of working. Prompted by evidence that these types of working arrangements are on the rise Acas has also published a new discussion paper on non-standard or ‘atypical’ forms of work, and identifies areas where good practice can be encouraged and improved. The discussion paper, Ain’t that typical? Everyday challenges for an atypical workforce, also reveals that the practice of ‘zeroing down’ workers’ hours is used in some workplaces to discourage staff from raising concerns or asserting rights.

(more…)

July 10, 2017

Improved employment rights would boost number of gig workers claims PwC survey ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Legal news, News

While most workers favour full time employment, significant numbers of people would consider gig work and other flexible options such as zero hours contracts, according to a PwC survey of more than 2,000 UK adults. But key concerns remain job security, the ability to earn sufficient income and losing out on workplace benefits. The findings come ahead of the much anticipated Taylor Review into Modern Employment practices, expected this week. While 77 percent of the people surveyed prefer full time employment, 45 percent of the respondents would consider gig work (defined as short-term, casual work, typically organised or facilitated via mobile phone apps) or already work in this way. This number would rise if employment rights improved significantly, with two in five people saying it would make them more likely to take up gig work. Flexible options are most popular with ‘millennials’ – some 58 percent of 18-34 yr olds would consider taking gig work compared with 30 percent of those over 55. Likewise, while zero hours contracts would be considered by 35 percent of respondents overall, 45 percent of millennials say they would take a zero hours contract., falling to just 24 percent of over 55s.

(more…)

July 7, 2017

Acts of kindness create a virtuous circle in the workplace ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

This is the very definition of a Friday story. The results of a research project, published in the American Psychological Association journal Emotion suggests that the small kindnesses we show to others at work tend to propagate across an organisation. For the study, a group of researchers from the University of California told workers at Coca Cola’s Madrid headquarters that they were taking part in a piece of research to measure their levels of happiness, job satisfaction, relationships with colleagues (good and bad) and their positive and negative experiences of other people’s behaviour as well as an assessment of their own behaviour over a period of four weeks.

(more…)

July 7, 2017

Job mobility and labour markets in Europe continue to be shaped by last recession ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace

A new report from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) claims that the recent global recession continues to have significant and lasting effects on Europe’s labour markets, including a big drop in employment levels and job mobility, which are yet to recover in many countries almost a decade later. It also affected the structure of employment, accelerating changes and patterns of job polarisation across Europe, in which employment in middle-paid jobs declined more than in jobs at the top and bottom of organisations.

(more…)

July 6, 2017

Twenty-first century construction is increasingly environmentally friendly ⁰

by Richard Walker • Environment, Facilities management

One thing is clear — within the next 20 years, we will reach our peak capacity in terms of oil consumption as a planet. Although, as demand for oil appears to increase year upon year, the global production of oil appears to decrease. As a result of this growing problem, the construction industry still derives most of its energy sources from oil-based fuels. Throughout the Western world, it is evident that the construction sector is heavily reliant upon crude oils. The reason for this is that without them, the construction process would not be able to function in its current form. This is however, having a detrimental impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Within the UK, 50 percent of carbon emissions are accounted for by the construction industry and machinery within the production process.

(more…)

July 6, 2017

UK remains stuck in stubborn low productivity trap ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace

The persistently low productivity of UK workers has dropped back to pre-financial crisis levels, according to official figures. Hourly output fell 0.5 percent in the first three months of the year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports in its latest update. At the end of 2016, productivity returned to the level seen before the 2008 recession. But it has now slipped back again and is 0.4 percent below the peak recorded at the end of 2007, according to the ONS. It was the first quarterly fall in productivity since the end of 2015, according to the ONS. Economists have consistently warned that the UK’s low productivity continues to mean it lags behind its major trading partners such as the US, France and Germany.

(more…)

July 6, 2017

Balfour Beatty predicts a human free construction site by 2050 ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • AI, News, Property

Balfour Beatty has published a paper called Innovation 2050: A Digital Future for the Infrastructure Industry, which predicts that the construction site of the future will be in stark contrast to what we see today. Most notably it will be human-free with work moved off-site with remote control of machinery and new materials and techniques exploited to improve cost, safety and efficiency. The report claims that technology has already revolutionised contemporary life to such an extent that it’s not so hard to imagine radical changes for construction not least the emergence of new roles and the requirement and evolution of new skills to support delivery of the future pipeline of construction projects.

(more…)

July 5, 2017

Minimum wage should be extended to the self employed and gig economy ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

The government should extend minimum wage legislation to protect some of the UK’s 4.8 million self employed workforce as part of its drive to tackle low pay and insecurity in the modern workforce, according to a new report published by the Resolution Foundation. The Minimum Required? – which forms part of the Resolution Foundation’s submission to the Taylor Review on modern employment practices – sets out a number of proposals to tackle endemic levels of low pay among the self-employed. Its new analysis claims that that while around in one in five employees are low-paid (earning less than two-thirds of typical weekly earnings), last year around half of the full-time self-employed workforce (49 percent) fell below this threshold, earning less than £310 a week.

(more…)

July 5, 2017

UK government unveils £1 billion ultrafast broadband fund to aid remote working ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology

The UK’s faltering move towards ultrafast broadband has been given a much-needed boost with the launch of a new fund, which will support the rollout of cutting-edge connections across the country. The government’s £400 million Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund (DIIF) will unlock over £1 billion for full fibre broadband, and kick-start better broadband connections across the country. Its aim is to revolutionise Britain’s digital infrastructure, making internet access more reliable for homes and businesses, and enabling more people to enjoy remote working without disruption. According to the Treasury, the flexibility to work remotely is pivotal for driving the economy forward; reducing overheads and helping businesses to start and grow.

(more…)

July 4, 2017

UK workers are wasting their allocated holiday allowance ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A new survey claims that UK workers waste on average five days of annual leave each year with one in six having more than a full working week of holiday leftover in 2016. The new study, commissioned by Airtours, has found that 40 percent of workers did not use up their full holiday allowances, and those who did spent less than half of their time off relaxing. Of the reasons given for not taking their allocated leave, 25 percent of people asked said they didn’t need to take it or even want to, 36 percent had too much on at work to take time off, and 26 percent weren’t allowed to take holiday as it meant being off at the same time as colleagues. When people did take a break last year, the research suggests that most of the time people weren’t using their holiday how they should have been by recharging their batteries. On average people spent seven holiday days at home and 56 percent admitted to doing boring chores instead of getting out and enjoying themselves. A further 32 percent used their holiday to go to medical appointments and 17 percent used it to deal with those unexpected family emergencies, like illness or injury or taking the dog to the vet. (more…)

July 4, 2017

Fourfront Group announces merger of commercial interior businesses ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Company news, Workplace design

Fourfront Group has merged design and fit-out company Area Sq with contractor Cube to create Area, one of the largest workplace design and fit-out firms in the UK. The move comes off-the-back of an 80 percent increase in Group turnover over the last three years. Fourfront Group now consists of three businesses: Area, Sketch Studios which specialises in office furniture and logistics, and 360 Workplace which provides workplace consultancy services. Area’s CEO Gary Chandler, said the merger was agreed to ensure that Fourfront Group “can deliver a single, focused offering to the market, allowing professional teams to engage with one business irrespective of procurement criteria, for the first time. The commercial design and fit-out market is evolving at rapid pace, as professional teams become more prevalent in the procurement of projects, acting on behalf of end-user clients. This bold move of merging two well-recognised brands will enable us to be more agile and aligned to our clients and their diverse requirements. With the creation of Area, we are bringing together expertise, market knowledge and skills to create a platform for delivering excellence.”

(more…)

June 30, 2017

Automation and data need radically new systems of governance according to scientists ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • AI, News, Technology

The current framework for governing automation and the management and use of data cannot keep pace with technological advances, according to a new report by the Royal Society and the British Academy. The report calls for the establishment of a new, independent body to steward an overall framework that can safeguard public confidence and ensure that the potential benefits of data use such as improved public services, better healthcare and business innovation are fully realised. The two National Academies convened leading figures from the Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences to undertake a detailed review of the current governance landscape for data usage and management. Data Management and Use: Governance in the 21st Century found that data usage, data collection and management are increasingly intertwined, and new ways of using data make it difficult to define which data is sensitive. It found that, while the current governance architecture provides a lot of what is needed to deal with these challenges, there are clear gaps and too many silos, such that tensions between how individual and collective benefits and risks are negotiated are not always identified and addressed in a transparent and inclusive way.