May 17, 2021

Long working hours increase deaths from heart disease and stroke, says WHO

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 17, 2021

Over a quarter of freelance businesses are back to pre-pandemic levels

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

New research from IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) claims almost a quarter of freelancers (24 percent) report their businesses returning to pre-pandemic levels, while nearly a third (29 percent) predict the easing of restrictions will give an added boost to their businesses. A fifth (19 percent) said their businesses had been largely unaffected by the pandemic. (more…)

May 14, 2021

We need to acknowledge our bias if we want to see the world for what it is

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Wellbeing, Working lives

We’re all biased. We all recognise the sharp bump of our critical thinking skills kicking into life when confronted with ideas and information that go against our beliefs. We know how they doze in the comforting embrace of affirming data. So, it’s been entertaining this week to observe the reaction to the large-scale academic study of 10,000 IT workers which found that they had worked 30 percent longer hours while working from home, a fifth of it outside their normal times of work, without actually doing any more work. In essence their productivity had fallen by 20 percent in spite of their increased hours. (more…)

May 14, 2021

Employee optimism dampened by pandemic, but majority of UK workers remain positive

by Jayne Smith • News, Working culture

Optimism among workers in the UK has been shaken in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, claims the ADP Research Institute’s People at Work 2021: A Global Workforce View. Nevertheless, two-thirds still have a positive outlook on the world of work for the next five years, mirroring the sentiment of people across the world. (more…)

May 13, 2021

The pivotal role of remote working in the journey to jab the nation

by Michael Whitmore • Comment, Flexible working

At 6.31 a.m. on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, the UK became the first country in the world to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. Just over five months earlier, I had been deployed to the NHS England and NHS Improvement COVID-19 vaccination programme to help drive the highly complex design and planning needed to bring the nation to this point. My role involved leading the set up and embedding of the Estates, Equipment, Consumables and Logistics workstream. The purpose of this was to establish and combine the new and existing infrastructure required in England to manage the distribution, regulation and administration of multiple vaccines so that all systems would be ready to vaccinate on the ‘go-live’ date. (more…)

May 13, 2021

People working from home might now be subject to a visit from the Pensions Regulator

by Anne-Marie Winton and Danyal Enver • Features, Flexible working

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.

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May 13, 2021

Secrets to stress relief and seeking work life balance

by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives

New research from Microsoft Surface claims that 64 percent of Brits agree that seeking greater balance in their lives has become even more vital through the pandemic and 63 percent are in favour of a three-day weekend to help them achieve a greater work life balance. (more…)

May 11, 2021

UK business leaders pave the way for a hybrid working future

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture

New research by Applaud, claims that UK business HR decision makers are paving the way for a new era of work post-pandemic, with organisations across the country looking to close or downsize their offices and focus instead on hybrid, remote working. (more…)

May 6, 2021

Mental health is not a cultural priority for half of organisations

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Koa Health, has released a new report titled Wellbeing at Work, exposing the impact of COVID-19 on mental health in businesses across the UK and organisations’ response to the crisis. Social listening research conducted by Pulsar on behalf of Koa Health claims that as COVID took told in the UK, content shared online about people’s declining mental wellbeing increased by 400 percent in the period from the last week of February 2020 to the final week of May 2020. (more…)

May 5, 2021

European businesses leading the charge towards progressive office models

by Jayne Smith • Business, Flexible working, News

IDL TIFF file

New research conducted by Locatee claims that employee wellbeing is the top priority for CRE managers over the next five years. The research details the opinions of corporate real estate managers (CREMs) from across Europe, outlining the changes they have seen during the pandemic, and how their businesses will adapt for the future. (more…)

May 4, 2021

Why some people are more productive working from home than others

by Stephen Bevan • Features, Flexible working, Wellbeing

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

New guidance to increase natural settings into urban spaces

by Neil Franklin • Cities, Environment, News

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…)