October 8, 2020

Most people with mental health issues would prefer a robot therapist to a human

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Wellbeing

2020 has been the most stressful year in history for the global workforce and people want robots to help, according to a new study by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence, an HR research and advisory firm. The study of more than 12,000 employees, managers, HR leaders, and C-level executives across 11 countries claims that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased workplace stress, anxiety, burnout and other mental health issues for people all around the world, and would prefer a robot instead of other people to help. More →

September 30, 2020

People still prefer permanent jobs despite rise in number of freelance roles

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives

Workers (82 percent) would rather have permanent jobs than “be their own boss” in a freelance or contract role, even as the self-employed and gig economy has grown rapidly in recent years, claims new research from the ADP Research Institute. Many workers believe that permanent work is preferable for a host of reasons including regular hours, better pay, timely payments, and the ability to get credit. More →

September 7, 2020

Homeworkers supporting local economies through Covid-19

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News

While city centres are taking time to recover, there’s better news elsewhere, suggests Vodafone research into small business employees. Local economies are benefitting from the rise in homeworking, with 25 percent of homeworkers spending at least once a day at their local coffee shop or café. The research, which surveyed 1,003 small business employees, also claims that working from home has not hindered Brits’ productivity, with 40 percent of workers putting in an average of 642 additional hours, equal to 26 extra days, since lockdown began back in March. More →

March 11, 2020

Office politics major source of work related stress

by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives

Perkbox commissioned a new study of 1,815 employed people to present a examination into the changing landscape of work-related stress in 2020. The study compared results to 2018 data in order to identify how sources of work-related stress and the solutions offered by employers are changing. The study claims that 79 percent of adults in employment commonly experience work-related stress. More →

January 10, 2020

Outdated technology continues to ruin people`s days

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Technology

New research by Currys PC World in collaboration with technology expert Theo Priestley claims that outdated technology and delays in finding fixes are eating into around 46 minutes of the average employee’s working day, which could cost a business approximately £2,752 a year. Time and money are not the only things lost to outdated technology, however, as half of Brits admit that it has a negative impact on their productivity in their jobs. What’s more, morale can be impacted when employees feel they have to work overtime to make up the time they have lost due to tech issues. More →

December 10, 2019

Always on working culture in financial services sector driving staff to burnout

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

More than nine in ten banking and financial services professionals in the UK work beyond their contracted hours every week, according to a new survey — laying bare the extent of the City’s always on working culture. Almost half, or 47 percent, said that they do not leave the office or take a break at lunchtime, according to the survey by Morgan McKinley. The recruitment firm canvassed the views of around 480 finance workers in an informal poll to come to its conclusions. More →

November 13, 2019

Flexible working does not reduce levels of overwork

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

UK employees are having to work harder to pay the bills, with the vast majority (91 percent) working beyond their contracted hours on a weekly basis and almost half (43 percent) not leaving the office or taking a break at lunchtime according to an analysis of Morgan McKinley’s Working Hours and Flexibility reports. And the growing practice of flexible working appears to be having no impact on the overworking culture.

October 8, 2019

Working hours and the truth about the demands we meet

by Kristoff DuBose • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

As reported recently, Labour’s John McDonnell says that his party would introduce a 32-hour working week. Very French. What’s more, he states that this should not impact on people’s wages because ‘People should work to live, not live to work’. Don’t disagree there. However, for a vast number of workers this isn’t viable; especially in the knowledge economy. Admittedly, there will be people in factories, call centres, etc who will be relieved at the prospect of fewer working hours and more hours with loved ones. More →

July 23, 2019

Remote workers engage in harmful behaviour to signal commitment to employers

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

A new study, published in the journal Organizational Science and authored by researchers from the University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB) suggests that employees who are physically present in the office are seen as more committed, more productive, and harder working than colleagues who work away from the office. According to the study of two major blue chip organisations, perceptions of hard work and commitment translate to greater career opportunities including promotions that are not as readily available for remote workers. More →

July 23, 2019

Two million workers miss out on holiday entitlement

by Neil Franklin • Legal news, News, Wellbeing

Around seven percent of UK workers are not getting or taking their legal holiday entitlement, according to a new study from the TUC. The analysis estimates that nearly two million employees (1.960 million) are not getting the minimum paid leave entitlement they are due. And over a million (1.145 million) are not getting any paid leave at all. The analysis shows that women workers (8.3 percent) are worse affected than men (5.9 percent). In addition, the sectors with the highest numbers of staff losing out on their legal holiday paid entitlement are education (341,000), retail (302,000), and health and social care (264,000). More →

May 29, 2019

Brits work longer hours but still struggle to make ends meet

by George Eltringham • News, Workplace

Brand new research from CV-Library, an independent job board, suggests that despite 64 percent of Brits working more hours than they’re contracted to, over half (55.1 percent) struggle to make ends meet at the end of each month. The study surveyed 1,200 working professionals and found that over a third (36.7 percent) work 1-3 hours extra per week, amounting to 96 hours per year and meaning Brits are missing out on £1,606.08 unpaid overtime. In addition to this, 11.3 percent work more than 15 hours extra per week, totalling a staggering £12,045.60 unpaid overtime. More →

May 16, 2019

Firms must log employee working hours, ECJ rules

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

EU member States must require employers to set up a system to measure daily working hours for each employee, according to a new ruling from the European Court of Justice. The decision came following a case brought by the Spanish trade union, Federación de Servicios de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) which initially brought an action before the Audiencia Nacional (National High Court, Spain), seeking a judgement declaring Deutsche Bank SAE to be under an obligation to set up a system for recording the time worked each day by its members of staff. The union considered that such a system would make it possible to verify compliance with the stipulated working times and the obligation, laid down in national law, to provide union representatives with information on overtime worked each month.