April 16, 2019

UK employees work £3.2 billion in unpaid overtime every week

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The UK is the unpaid overtime capital of Europe. This is according to new research by ADP (registration), which has found that employees are giving away an average of £5,038 of their time every year, amounting to £164.8 billion annually across the working population. The study of over 1,400 UK employees reveals that two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents regularly work longer than their contracted hours, with respondents averaging 6.3 hours unpaid per week. However, for more than a fifth (22 percent) of employees, this rises to at least 10 hours per week – twice as many as in other European countries, including Germany and France (10 percent and 12 percent respectively). (more…)

April 16, 2019

British organisations could save £61 billion a year by prioritising wellbeing

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Vitality has published the results of its annual Britain’s Healthiest Workplace study, developed in partnership with RAND Europe and the University of Cambridge. The report claims that many businesses are failing their employees, with three-quarters of ill-health related absence and presenteeism last year, equating to £61bn, arising from factors such as depression, poor lifestyle choices, and stress – all of which can be targeted through health and wellbeing initiatives. The study also suggests that employers lose, on average, 35.6 working days per employee per year due to health-related absence and presenteeism.

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April 15, 2019

Black and other minority workers more likely to be in insecure work, claims TUC

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Black and minority ethnic workers are far more likely to be trapped in temporary and insecure work, according to a new TUC analysis published to mark the start of its annual Black Workers Conference. The analysis claims to show how BME workers are faring worse than white workers in the jobs market. (more…)

April 12, 2019

Manchester is the number one tech location outside of London

by Marie Hillen • AI, Cities, Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

The UK’s regional cities are competing harder than ever with London to become the location of choice for the tech sector. According to CBRE’s report ‘Tech Cities: Exploring tech hotspots in the UK regions’ Manchester ranks number one amongst the top 10 UK tech location outside of London, but Scotland features highly with Glasgow and Edinburgh in second and third position respectively. Birmingham has risen three places, from seventh to fourth position but smaller conurbations such as such as Reading, Oxford, Cambridge, Southampton, Brighton and Bracknell also feature, based on their concentrations of tech employment, tech businesses and high education levels. More cities are competing for the very top spots in the ranking

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April 11, 2019

Is there a global lack of support for mental health?

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

Employers need to be mindful of the significant differences globally in how mental health is viewed and treated, when it comes to managing an international workforce, according to The Health Insurance Group. Disparities in both attitudes to, and treatment of, mental ill-health could make the difference between an international post succeeding or failing, if not understood and managed effectively. (more…)

April 9, 2019

CIPD warns stress related absence is a growing problem for UK workplaces

by Marie Hillen • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Heavy workloads and poor management styles are behind the increase of nearly two-fifths (37 percent) in stress-related absences over the past year, according to a new report from the CIPD and Simplyhealth. Respondents say having heavy workloads (62 percent), which can be attributed to poor management, is the top cause of stress-related absence. The second biggest contributing factor is management style which has risen from 32 percent to 43 percent in the last year. The annual Health and Well-Being at Work Survey Report found that more than four-fifths (83 percent) of respondents have observed ‘presenteeism’ (going to work when ill) in their organisation and a quarter (25 percent) say the problem has got worse since the previous year.

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April 9, 2019

Personal financial worries are increasing workplace stress

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

Employers need to understand more about the impact of personal financial worries on workplace mental health, but are struggling to agree best practice standards to address the issue, new research from MetLife UK claims. More than six out of 10 (61 percent) senior HR executives have seen a rise in financial wellbeing issues affecting employee mental health and work performance, the nationwide study from MetLife UK suggests. (more…)

April 8, 2019

Ten employment law changes to look out for in the rest of 2019

by Hayley Marles • Features, Legal news, Workplace

This year is set to be a busy year for HR and employment law. From post-Brexit immigration rule changes and gender pay gap reporting, to age discrimination at work, employers are faced with amended employment laws and new deadlines for their organisation to meet. These are ten important areas of the law that HR professionals and business owners need to be aware of. (more…)

April 3, 2019

Government needs to sort Brexit deadlock as construction sector falls

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

The Government and Parliament must break the Brexit deadlock and find a way forward warns the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), in response to the latest Construction PMI data, which shows another drop in construction output. The March 2019 PMI data revealed an Index score of 49.7, up slightly from 49.5 in February, against the no change threshold of 50.0. This points to a sustained decline in construction output, representing the first back-to-back fall in construction output since 2016. While the residential building sector enjoyed an upturn, commercial construction was the worst performing area.

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April 2, 2019

Mind launches toolkit to promote better wellbeing in the built environment

by George Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

A new toolkit is online at the Mental Health at Work website. This UK-wide initiative allows all types of employers and employees to access free tools, advice and information – all in one place. The construction toolkit includes resources from a range of expert organisations. The resources include tips on how to start the conversation on mental health, mental health first aid training and five steps to building a positive and supportive culture in construction. Mind invited colleagues from Building Mental Health to put together this toolkit of resources. (more…)

March 29, 2019

Need for employee resilience heightened in a time of constant change

by George Eltringham • News, Workplace

Challenges facing UK businesses in the next five years have heightened the need for employee resilience, according to new research from recruitment specialist Robert Half UK. As businesses adapt to an ongoing period of change, more than nine in 10 (94 percent) CFOs think developing resilience amongst their employees will be important over the next two to five years, with 43 percent citing this as very important. This is critical to almost all (97 percent) CFOs from London-based businesses – the UK’s financial hub. (more…)

March 28, 2019

The rise of the digital workplace is transforming the physical office

by Giles Fuchs • Comment, Coworking, Workplace design

A recent survey by Gartner predicts that one in five workers will have an AI bot as their co-worker by 2022. It’s almost impossible to talk about the future of the workplace without mention of AI or robotics, and is therefore hardly surprising that there is a feeling of apprehension amongst workers. PwC’s 21st global CEO Survey in 2018 revealed that between 23 percent and 51 percent of respondents were “extremely concerned” about the speed of technological change, and indicated “anxiety about the impending promise and perils of AI.”