October 23, 2024
Sick days have surged by 41 percent over the past three years as employers continue to struggle with declining levels of productivity. The latest Hiring Trends Index by Totaljobs, surveying 1000 UK HR decision-makers, highlights how this rise in absenteeism is perpetuating a cycle of poor business performance affecting both employers and employees. (more…)
October 16, 2024
A new report from the British Council for Offices (BCO) argues that if employers want their staff to ‘return to office’, they need to approach the workplace in the same way they would their customers by creating spaces that offer experiences workers actively seek out. The report, titled Towards Experience Utopia, claims to serve as a comprehensive guide for creating optimal working environments that integrate the best aspects of both remote and in-office work. Commissioned by the BCO Occupiers Group, which includes major employers like NatWest, PwC, Deloitte, and Goldman Sachs, the report highlights how the shift towards hybrid working has transformed the expectations of employees. (more…)
October 11, 2024
Details of the UK’s new Employment Rights Bill were released yesterday. The legislation represents what the government claims is a significant overhaul of workers’ rights, offering more protections and benefits and helping to promote practices like flexible working. Key elements of the bill include granting workers access to statutory sick pay and parental leave from the first day of employment, and introducing a ban on exploitative zero-hour contracts. It also aims to curb controversial “fire and rehire” practices and gives employees the right to claim unfair dismissal from day one, rather than after two years of service. However, businesses will still be allowed to operate probationary periods to ensure fit for roles, with discussions suggesting a maximum of six months. (more…)
October 8, 2024
Millions of workers aged 57 and over in the UK are being overlooked for job opportunities, as employers increasingly consider this age ‘too old’ to hire, according to a new poll. The survey, conducted by Totaljobs, claims that a third of people over 50 worry they will struggle to find work due to age discrimination, with one in seven reporting being rejected for jobs because of their age. The study suggests that two-fifths of HR decision-makers have faced pressure to hire younger candidates, placing older workers at a disadvantage when looking for work. In response, more than a fifth of over-50s have chosen to omit their age from their CVs, while a quarter hesitate to apply for roles, fearing potential bias. (more…)
October 2, 2024
Around a third of companies already use wearables to track their team’s activity and better gauge their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, according to Deloitte’s 2024 Global Human Capital Trends Report. Deloitte predicts that usage will increase to two thirds by 2027. Neurotechnology, which uses electronics to read brain activity and can contextualise employee behaviour and interactions, is also anticipated to ramp up dramatically in use in that timeframe, from 3 percent to 31 percent. (more…)
September 20, 2024
Almost a quarter (23 percent) of people say that they have turned down a job because they didn’t like the office environment, according to a new poll. This rose to almost a third (32 percent) for 18 – 24-year-olds indicating the need for a high-quality office environment for the younger generation. Geographically, workers in the capital are most likely to pass on a job based on the office surroundings, with a third (32 percent) of London based workers admitting to declining a role for this reason. (more…)
September 19, 2024
A new poll claims that two-thirds of workers feel powerless to disconnect from work to fully manage the blurred boundaries between work and life, leading to stress, burnout, and anxiety. On average, this results in five days of sick leave per employee each year. The UK government’s planned ‘Right to Switch Off’ for employees is just the beginning for organisations aiming to tackle the negative effects of ‘unboundaried’ work on both businesses and employees. According to the report titled The Work-Life Boundary Gap – Why it Matters and How to Fix it [registration], published by Protime UK, work-life balance is critical for overall wellbeing. The report, based on a survey of 2,000 UK employees, found that 93 percent of respondents believe maintaining this balance is vital. However, 67 percent of employees feel they are unable to fully switch off or maintain their own work-life boundaries. (more…)
September 17, 2024
Only around a third of employees feel the conflict they experienced at work has been fully resolved, according to a new poll from the CIPD. According to the survey, eight in 10 (81 percent) employers feel they are doing enough to prevent and manage bullying and harassment at work, but just over a third of employees (36 percent) who experienced workplace conflict in the past year feel it has been fully resolved. (more…)
September 17, 2024
Menopause is one of those things that until a few years ago, most of the population hadn’t heard of. Even if they had, it certainly wasn’t a workplace issue. Which is interesting as half the population will have one in some form. More specifically more than one in every ten people in our workforce is currently menopausal. (more…)
September 17, 2024
The final report from the two-year Commission on the Future of Employment Support claims that the UK needs ‘once-in-a-generation reform’ to boost growth and improve living standards in the face of a huge contraction in the country’s labour force. The report suggests that the UK is one of the few developed nations where employment has fallen post-pandemic. The UK has dropped from having the eighth-highest employment rate globally to fifteenth. Had the original position been maintained, the economy would be £25 billion larger annually, with public finances £16 billion better off. (more…)
September 11, 2024
British and Irish firms are increasing their investment in digital transformation, according to Docusign’s Digital Maturity Report 2024, but this hasn’t yet translated into improved productivity or digital maturity. The poll of 600 decision makers in the UK and Ireland, now in its second year, reveals what it claims is a ‘stark productivity and efficiency paradox’ for employers, as well as a Catch-22 for workers. (more…)
October 18, 2024
Navigating misconduct in the workplace: a lawyer’s perspective
by Jess Bass • Comment, Workplace