July 21, 2020

People should have the right to paid bereavement leave

In an open letter to the Business Secretary Alok Sharma, the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, is calling on the Government to introduce the right to bereavement leave and pay to all employees experiencing a close family bereavement. The call follows the introduction of Jack’s Law, a legal right to paid bereavement leave for working parents who lose a child under the age of 18, in April this year. (more…)

July 17, 2020

HR is often the last resort for people with mental health issues

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Stigma around mental health in the workplace persists in many organisations, amid signs that stress is putting significant pressure on workers across a range of industries, claims new research from the ADP Research Institute (registration). Only one in seven (14 percent) of respondents polled in ADP’s study say they would feel comfortable telling HR about a mental health problem or concern. One in four (25 percent) would not feel comfortable telling anyone at work. (more…)

July 16, 2020

Flexible working set to double once pandemic crisis is over

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

New research from the CIPD claims that employers now expect the proportion of people working from home on a regular basis will increase to 37 percent compared to 18 percent before the pandemic. Employers also expect the proportion of staff who work from home all the time to rise to 22 percent post pandemic compared to 9 percent before lockdown measures started to be imposed. (more…)

July 8, 2020

Mental health of finance workers seriously harmed by lockdown

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

More than eight-in-ten London-based banking and finance professionals (86 percent) say Covid-19 lockdown has affected their mental health, according to a new survey of white-collar employees by Helix Resilience. According to the survey of 352 banking and finance professionals, over half (52 percent) of respondents claim to be less productive, and nearly four-in-ten (39 percent) say they find it difficult to concentrate outside the office. While most working in the sector (53 percent) feel their employer is doing enough to support their wellbeing during lockdown, a third (33 percent) do not feel supported. (more…)

July 6, 2020

Remote working productivity will slump as firms burn up their social capital

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Employers are walking into remote working productivity slump, as people lose their visibility in an organisation, a new report claims. The survey from workplace software business Names & Faces claims that three quarters (75 percent) of people who report being more productive since working from home already know at least half of their company but that two thirds of people who don’t feel visible within their organisation have experienced a productivity drop while working from home. (more…)

July 5, 2020

From the archive: the future of work and place in the 21st Century ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Features, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

However much we know about the forces we expect to come into play in our time and however much we understand the various social, commercial, legislative, cultural and economic parameters we expect to direct them, most predictions of the future tend to come out as refractions or extrapolations of the present. This is a fact tacitly acknowledged by George Orwell’s title for Nineteen Eighty-Four, written in 1948, and is always the pinch of salt we can apply to science fiction and most of the predictions we come across. (more…)

July 2, 2020

Wellbeing of overwhelming majority affected by events of 2020

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

A new study commissioned by Perkbox of 13,271 employees claims that 93 percent of employees have faced new wellbeing challenges in 2020. The most common being feeling less connected to the company/colleagues, increased loneliness/feelings of isolation and increased financial concerns. The study looks at the wellbeing impacts of the events of 2020. Nearly 73 percent state that coronavirus has negatively impacted their mental health, followed by Brexit (29 percent) and Black Lives Matter (27 percent). (more…)

July 1, 2020

Majority of people looking forward to office return, but on their own terms

by Freddie Steele • Flexible working, News, Workplace design

A new survey from Office Space in Town (OSiT) claims that the overwhelming majority of workers are looking forward to a return to the office. However, most also want to avoid the commute, have more control over their times and places of work and want new working environments that help them work better. They also have concerns that the return should be managed with their health and safety the priority. (more…)

June 30, 2020

Younger workers careers suffer in lockdown, but are hopeful of better future

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

In the face of unprecedented health and economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘millennials’ and ‘Gen Zs’ express resolve and a vision to build a better future, a new Deloitte survey claims. The 2020 Deloitte Global Millennial Survey, now in its ninth year, suggests that both generations remain resilient in the face of adversity and are determined to drive positive change in their communities and around the world. (more…)

June 26, 2020

Talkin` about the quarantine generation

by Anthony Brown • Comment, Wellbeing

The year is 2045. It’s well over twenty years since the Covid 19 pandemic created chaos and fear throughout the world. But just like the ‘baby boomer’ generation who were born, celebrated and cherished in the wake of World War II, so the ‘quarantinis’ are starting to make their way in the world of work. In contrast to baby boomers’ desire to throw off the societal shackles which paved the way for the swinging 60s, the quarantinis are much more reserved in their expectations, especially when their every move can be tracked and traced and their every conversation saved on surveillance software. (more…)

June 26, 2020

Work from home advocates beckon us to a living hell

by James Woudhuysen • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Look, I work from home. The liberal in me says: if you want to and can work from home, then why not? Yes, few of Britain’s cramped homes – especially those occupied by young people – are well equipped for home working, which can be stressful. But, as I say, I see no problem in working from home if you choose to. It’s one thing to say people should be free to work from home (WFH). It’s quite another to endorse it as the New Normal, the way to go, and as a path to a low-pollution, low-emissions paradise on Earth, as many are now doing. (more…)

June 24, 2020

Carers consider giving up work due to lack of employer support

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Working culture

New research suggests that almost half (44 percent) of working carers in England and Wales, equivalent to around 1.6 million people, are struggling to cope with the pressures of balancing their work and caring responsibilities – and that a quarter (24 percent) have considered giving up their job entirely. These are the findings in a newly published report, titled “Supporting working carers: How employers and employees can benefit”, from the CIPD and The University of Sheffield. (more…)