Search Results for: Working from home

Commuters could save an hour a week by changing their working hours

Commuters could save an hour a week by changing their working hours

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Commuters could speed up their journeys by up to 10 miles per hour by starting and finishing work just one hour later or making other changes to their working hours, according to new Government research. The study by Highways England was carried out on a 9-mile-stretch of the M62 which links the M6 near Warrington to the M60 near Manchester. The route is used by 120,000 drivers every day and construction work is currently taking place to upgrade it to a smart motorway, increasing its capacity by a third. Commuters had previously faced speeds of just 36 miles per hour between 5pm and 6pm when almost 9,000 drivers take to the short section of motorway on their way home from work.

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SMEs more likely to offer flexible working than larger businesses

SMEs more likely to offer flexible working than larger businesses

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

SMEs more likely to offer flexible working than larger businesses to reduce absenceMore SMEs than larger businesses offer flexible working as a way of reducing absences, research from industry body Group Risk Development (GRiD), suggests. The research showed that 35 percent of SMEs with up to 249 employees are actively using flexible working strategies to combat absence compared to just 23 percent of organisations with over 250 employees. Drilling down further into the detail, 38 percent of micro businesses with between 1 and 9 employees use flexible working as a means to reduce absence. Flexible working now means a lot more than allowing an employee to work from home when they are feeling under the weather, and following changes in the law in 2014, it is now an option for everyone with at least 26 weeks continuous employment to request it – not just those with children or carer responsibilities. It also includes part-time working, term-time working, job sharing, compressed hours and flexitime. A greater degree of flexibility can increase productivity and reduce burn out, particularly in stressful occupations.

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Employers who do not offer flexible working are the exception rather than rule

Employers who do not offer flexible working are the exception rather than rule

by • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Employers who do not offer flexible working are the exception rather than ruleMost organisations already offer some sort of flexible working and over half of employees now ask to work flexibly, a new survey from XpertHR research has claimed. One in 12 organisations (8.1 percent) reported that all employees worked flexibly, with employers attributing the rise to a more supportive workplace culture and the impact of recent legal changes. The survey found that more than half (55.9 percent) had seen an increase in flexible working requests over the past two years. Three out of four believed that this was due to changes in workplace culture in recent years, attributable in part to a change in the law in 2014 that extended the right to request flexible working to all employees with at least 26 weeks’ service. Flexible working goes across the board, and includes part-time working, variable start and finish times, home-working and other options.

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The mere expectation that we check emails outside working hours harms our wellbeing

The mere expectation that we check emails outside working hours harms our wellbeing

by • News, Wellbeing

Employer expectations of work email monitoring outside of normal working hours are detrimental to the health and wellbeing of not only employees but their family members as well. A new study suggests that employees do not need to spend actual time on work in their off-hours to experience the harmful effects. The mere expectations of availability increase strain for employees and their families, even when employees do not engage in any actual work.

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Prague best city in the world for remote working, but Johannesburg has cheapest coffee

Prague best city in the world for remote working, but Johannesburg has cheapest coffee

by • Cities, Coworking, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology

New research has revealed the top 15 cities worldwide that are best for remote working and Prague is on top, with London ranked as the 5th best city in the world for remote workers. Inspired by the top 15 cities listed in InterNation’s Expat City Ranking Report, Powwownow analysed the cost of living, average monthly salary, internet speed, price of coffee, and cost of public transport in different places across the world. Cities were individually scored on each factor and ranked by the total number of points, to calculate the top 15 cities around the world. Calculating an overall ranking for each city, Prague was revealed to be the best city worldwide for remote workers. (more…)

Avenue HQ is named as Coworking Space of the Year by IPSE

Avenue HQ is named as Coworking Space of the Year by IPSE

by • Coworking, News

Liverpool’s Avenue HQ has been crowned ‘National Co-Working Space of the Year’ by The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE). The award claims to ‘recognise and celebrate the important role coworking spaces play in creating a nurturing, inclusive and stimulating environment for the UK’s 4.8 million-strong self-employed workforce’. The coworking industry is booming globally as companies of all sizes recognise the importance of working environment on employee and business performance. Pioneered by start-ups, entrepreneurs and freelancers, a growing number of companies, large and small, are incorporating the concept and rapidly reaping the benefits.

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UK firms may be lagging those of other nations in offering flexible working

UK firms may be lagging those of other nations in offering flexible working

by • Flexible working, News, Technology

The UK lags behind other nations in the shift to remote and flexible working, putting more emphasis on effective meetings to coordinate scattered teams, a new report, ‘The Modern Workplace 2018: People, Places & Technology’ by software company Condeco has found. The research claims that across the world workers are in the midst of a shift to flexible and remote working – spending more time working from home, on the move or from multiple locations. However, the UK is significantly behind in embracing these trends, which could negatively affect worker satisfaction as well as holding back firms who are competing for the best international staff.

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Fathers Day offers a chance to ponder the disadvantages faced by many working dads

Fathers Day offers a chance to ponder the disadvantages faced by many working dads

by • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Father’s Day – a day when fathers up and down the UK are supposed to feel valued – whether it’s hand print cards from their 2-year old, a pair of socks from their teenager or BBQ accessories from their fully-grown son or daughter. Fathers looking to the government for an offering will be disappointed. Its response to the Women & Equalities Select Committee’s excellent recommendations on fathers and the workplace is the equivalent of a nicely wrapped box with very little in it. For self-employed fathers, the box appears to be empty.

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Coworking is breaking away from its cultural and geographical stereotypes

Coworking is breaking away from its cultural and geographical stereotypes

by • Comment, Property, Technology, Workplace design

There is a persistent image of a coworking space as a sort of glorified serviced office for tech and creative startups who can’t afford the eye-watering rents in the areas they need to be. This is usually in the technology hothouses of the world’s major cities where they can work alongside the corporate giants and fellow innovators that thrive there. The reason such perceptions exist is because they are largely true. It’s no coincidence that coworking spaces have thrived up till now in the world’s most expensive property markets – in London, Hong Kong and New York, serving exactly the sorts of start-ups and freelancers who rely on proximity to their potential clients.

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Over half of employees say remote working and coworking increase their productivity

Over half of employees say remote working and coworking increase their productivity

by • Coworking, Flexible working, News

coworkingMore than half of US based employees (54 percent) with the chance to work remotely say they are most productive when they work outside a traditional office environment, such as at home, in a coffee shop, or in a coworking space, according to a new survey by research firm Clutch. Over two-thirds (68 percent) of workers surveyed work in a traditional office. However, higher productivity isn’t the only reason employees prefer other workspace options. Over a quarter (26 percent) of employees who have some degree of flexibility say a better work-life balance is the top benefit of working outside the office. Other benefits include flexible work hours (21 percent) and fewer distractions (18 percent).

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Australia is leading the world in the adoption of activity based working

Australia is leading the world in the adoption of activity based working

by • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

Over half of those employed in the banking sector in Australia now find themselves in agile and dynamic activity based workplaces. The banks have set the pace. The overall growth of the phenomenon has been exponential in the last 5 years, with sources suggesting two thirds of Australian organisations will have adopted Activity Based Working (ABW) by 2020. Furthermore, by looking at the number of Activity Based Working projects in the pipeline this move away from the 20th century office seems unstoppable. Despite global economic challenges the banking sector in Australia is particularly strong and stable, which contributes to the organisations’ ability to take a long term view. Alongside this robust financial picture we are also seeing a shift in purpose emerge, where the banks move away from a purely financial role to one where they embrace a sense of community and stewardship thus developing a broader contribution to society.

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A quarter of people would switch jobs for the chance of flexible working

A quarter of people would switch jobs for the chance of flexible working

by • Flexible working, News

New research from totaljobs claims that more than one in four workers (28 percent) would move jobs if they weren’t allowed to work from home, increasing to nearly half (45 percent) of millennial workers. While two thirds of UK employees (65 percent) can work from home, 35 percent are still not given the option of working remotely. Totaljobs’ research claims that remote working is in the top five most important benefits when looking for a new job, beating perks such as enhanced parental leave, travel allowances and learning and development.

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