Search Results for: employees

People crave a return to “normality”, and some even miss commuting

People crave a return to “normality”, and some even miss commuting

commutingWhile workers in the UK have been working from home, if they can, for almost a year, a third say they miss commuting, claims research from recruiter Randstad UK. The HR services company asked workers, having worked remotely for almost a year due to the pandemic, how they viewed commuting and physical meetings in retrospect. (more…)

Philanthrocapitalism: a century-old concept for the modern age

Philanthrocapitalism: a century-old concept for the modern age

philanthrocapitalismPhilanthrocapitalism is a term that’s only 15 years old. A modern concept for the modern age. Or is it? In the late 1800s, George Cadbury bought a plot of land five miles south of Birmingham to relocate his factory and expand his chocolate empire. But greater levels of chocolate production weren’t his only concern; he also built an entire village to accommodate the new factory’s workforce. The plan was for this village – called Bournville, which now shares its name with the brand’s famous dark chocolate – to “alleviate the evils of modern, more cramped living conditions”. Port Sunlight, built on the Wirral Peninsula by the Lever Brothers, whose manufacturing company is now part of Unilever, offers up a similar story. (more…)

Right to disconnect should be enshrined in law, says EU Parliament

Right to disconnect should be enshrined in law, says EU Parliament

right to disconnectThe EU Parliament has announced that it would like to protect what it calls employees’ fundamental rights to disconnect from work which includes restricting the way employers might contact staff outside their contracted working hours. Although the right to disconnect is not defined by EU law, the Parliament has called upon the Commission to come up with a law allowing employees to disconnect from work during non-work hours without consequences and setting minimum standards for remote work. (more…)

Homeworkers “at risk” unless employers recognise duty of care

Homeworkers “at risk” unless employers recognise duty of care

homeworkersA new generation of long-term homeworkers created by COVID-19 is at risk physically and mentally through inadequate employer support, claims research by EIZO. Employees are already feeling the negative effects of a home environment, often ill-equipped for the working day and EIZO warns there may be a rise in ‘Homeworking LOSERS’, or ‘Laptops On Sofas and Employment Rights Shelved’. (more…)

Disconnected leadership hinders effective employee engagement

Disconnected leadership hinders effective employee engagement

engagementNew research from Opinion Matters, commissioned by SocialChorus, the digital employee experience platform, claims that the digital employee experience (DEX) and employee engagement efforts by businesses across the US, UK and Nordics are hampered by the lack of collaboration between IT, HR and Internal Communications (IC) departments. (more…)

Remote work continues to impact physical and mental health of workers

Remote work continues to impact physical and mental health of workers

remote workNew research from Fellowes Brands claims to reveal the ‘alarming’ impact enforced remote work is having on the mental wellbeing and physical health of the nation. Over a third (35 percent) of UK workers admit feeling stressed or anxious, lonely and isolated (32 percent) and tired or lacking in energy (38 percent), while working from home during lockdown. The study is based on a survey of 1,000 UK office workers who had worked from home for at least four months. (more…)

Working parents present new and important challenges for employers

Working parents present new and important challenges for employers

working parentsWith primary and secondary schools closed to the majority of pupils as of 5 January 2021, many working parents have found themselves with an impossible task. How to juggle a full day of home schooling with a full day of work, all whilst in lockdown?  (more…)

Two in five Brits are at risk of cyber-attacks whilst working from home

Two in five Brits are at risk of cyber-attacks whilst working from home

working from homeA new report by Fasthosts claims that cyber criminals have identified remote workers as easy targets with two in five employees having not received any caution regarding COVID-19 scams whilst working from home or had any video-call security training. (more…)

Hybrid working gives managers the chance to excel

Hybrid working gives managers the chance to excel

hybrid workingThe past year will go down in history as one of dramatic change. One of the most notable upheavals was the almost overnight transition to full-time remote working for millions of ‘non-essential’ employees. With England now in its third national lockdown, many of us will likely not be going back to our offices until April 2021, over a year since we left them. Even when people are able to return to our old workplaces, just 12 percent of employees want to do so full-time, according to Future Forum. This leaves no doubt that, when we are finally able to leave the pandemic behind us, hybrid working (partially from home and partially in the office) will remain. (more…)

Furlough scheme should be extended ahead of the Budget, says CIPD

Furlough scheme should be extended ahead of the Budget, says CIPD

furloughWith six weeks still to go until the Chancellor’s Budget, the CIPD is urging the Government to act early to extend the furlough scheme to protect jobs, support incomes and enhance skills development. Its calls are outlined in a report called The Future of Furlough – Recommendations for now and for any future wage subsidy. In order to support smaller firms who don’t pay an apprenticeship levy, the CIPD is also recommending the creation of a furlough scheme training fund of up to £100 million, which would be funded from levy-paying firms’ expired levy funds that would otherwise go to HM Treasury. The CIPD estimates that this could pay for training or outplacement skills development support for nearly 160,000 workers in small firms. (more…)

Pandemic has improved employee engagement levels say employers

Pandemic has improved employee engagement levels say employers

employee engagementEmployee engagement levels may have actually improved during the COVID-19 pandemic, claims a recent survey undertaken by intermediary Howden Employee Benefits & Wellbeing. (more…)

Salary tops employee priority list as UK workers focus on self-preservation

Salary tops employee priority list as UK workers focus on self-preservation

salaryAs businesses attempt to stay afloat amid the fluctuating circumstances in the UK, research claims that UK employees are increasingly placing salary packages as the most important factor when it comes to career management. The research by SD Worx, examined what employees in Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom consider important in the context of their work. (more…)