August 2, 2018
Extending reporting requirements may help close gender pay gap say MPs
Employers should be required to publish a narrative and action plan under Gender Pay Gap reporting requirements, the inquiry on executive pay and the gender-pay gap by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee has recommended today. It has found that the requirements to publish data which came into force in April this year represents a ‘small but welcome step towards ensuring that women can make their fullest possible contribution in the workplace and to the economy’, but it calls for the Government to be more ambitious. Detailed statistics should be provided to aid analysis and organisations should explain what they are doing to tackle their gender pay gaps. Under the new rules employers would have to provide some narrative reporting alongside their gender pay statistics, with an action plan setting out how pay gaps are being and will be addressed, including objectives and targets. Subsequent reports would include progress against this action plan, including targets set. (more…)
Improved living standards, deflating pension pots and legal protection against age discrimination have all helped to nudge up the retirement age. The result is that for the first time since the Industrial Revolution five generations of employees are now working side by side. According to a new survey, two thirds of organisations (66 per cent) say that an age diverse workforce helped the company to have a more comprehensive skillset and knowledge base and more than seven in ten (71 per cent) felt that a multi-generational workforce brought contrasting views to their organisation. However, in the YouGov survey of middle market businesses commissioned by RSM, four in ten companies (41 per cent) said that a multi-generational workforce also increased the risk of conflict in the workplace. 
Built environment organisations are calling for urgent action on issues such as consumption, innovation and infrastructure to prevent the UK slipping behind other nations on poverty, equality and the environment as a new report released today (3 July 2018) highlights the UK’s inadequate performance against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those for the built environment. The report, Measuring up, from the UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development (UKSSD), is the first comprehensive assessment of the UK’s performance against all 17 SDGs and highlights a significant danger that quality of life in the UK will worsen if action is not taken. Just some of the findings of the report include; that the UK is performing well (green) on only 24 percent of its targets; no industry, innovation and infrastructure targets have achieved a ‘good’ performance rating, with gaps in policy coverage and inadequate or deteriorating performance and large scale, sustained investment in replacing ageing infrastructure and creating additional resilient and low carbon infrastructure of all kinds is required.
One in 10 women blame workplace banter for causing mental health issues and are twice as likely as men to have been negatively affected by workplace banter, according to a new report by The Institute of Leadership & Management. Banter: Just a bit of fun or crossing the line? found that more women (twice as many at 20 percent) were made to feel less confident than their male colleagues due to the negative banter they experienced and 10 percent of women said banter has had a negative impact on their mental health, compared to just three percent of men. The survey also revealed that those at the mid-way point in their careers (31-40 years) are most affected by banter. This age group reported loss in confidence, drops in performance and poor mental health due to experiencing negative banter. They also said they avoided work situations and skipped work socials. The findings showed that over a third of graduate trainees have been left embarrassed by banter and people (over 1 in 4) in their first job are more likely to avoid work socials than any other group as a result of banter.
July 11, 2018
A beauty industry veteran makes the case for corporate wellness
by Leena Jain • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design
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