All Opinion articles – Page 13
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Ensuring support for menopausal staff
This week, the Women and Equalities Committee published a report calling on the government to act to amend the Equality Act, in order to introduce menopause as a protected characteristic, and to include a duty for employers to make reasonable adjustments for menopausal staff. This follows last month’s initial confirmation ...
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OpinionKerry Garcia: Part-time workers set to see windfall of holiday pay
The Supreme Court has confirmed the finding of the Court of Appeal that part-year workers could be entitled to receive more holiday pay than colleagues who work throughout the year. The decision will come as a blow to employers with workers who work for only part of each year, such ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: What constitutes a good resignation?
In the age of the Great Resignation, it seems that some employees are looking for alternatives to the traditional resignation letter. Greetings card retailer Funky Pigeon this week launched a resignation card which simply requires an individual to fill in the blanks in a template resignation message.But what message does ...
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OpinionLauren Harkin: Employees’ health rights in high temperatures
With temperatures set to soar well over 30 degrees Celsius in parts of the UK this week, rumours often circulate about the rights of employees regarding the temperatures in which they can legally work. So, do employees have a right to stop working if a maximum temperature is exceeded?Somewhat surprisingly, ...
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OpinionGethin Nadin: Employee engagement is still relevant in its own right
For many, it probably seems like employee engagement gave way to employee wellbeing or the employee experience over the last five years, but the reality is all that three of these separate, but symbiotic elements of work, are still very relevant in their own right. Employee engagement is the psychological ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: The temperature's rising...
As the temperature looks set to soar further in the coming days, the question of when it becomes too hot to work is inevitably on many people's minds. Under current UK law, there are rules around minimum working temperatures, but no maximum limit.With the Met Office having issued a level ...
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OpinionSinead Cuthill and Emma Vennesson: Ethnicity pay gap reporting in the UK
In its Inclusive Britain policy paper, published on 17 March 2022, the government stated that it would not be mandating ethnicity pay gap reporting. One of the reasons for this is that it wanted to “avoid imposing new reporting burdens on businesses as they recover from the pandemic.”The government’s position ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: The dream work scenario
If you could work anywhere in the world, where would it be? This is the question I’ve no doubt some of Pinterest’s employees are asking themselves after the social media platform introduced an initiative enabling eligible full-time members of staff to work outside of their home country for up to ...
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OpinionAlex Mizzi: Menstrual leave policies in the workplace
Menstrual leave policies seem to be flavour of the month, with the Spanish cabinet approving new legislation which would grant staff who suffer severely painful periods three days of optional leave per month, and an extra two days in exceptional cases. Although only a handful of countries have made menstrual ...
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OpinionStephen Morrall and Annabelle Woosnam: Pensions in the gig economy
An article published by the Financial Times on 14 June reported that the UK pensions regulator has conceded that not all gig economy employers have done 'the right thing' and offered pensions to staff. What does this mean?In recent years, vast numbers of people have entered the gig economy, working ...
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OpinionSarah Jackson: 20 years after introducing paternity leave, why we need to do more for fathers
It is 20 years since a new law was passed to give UK fathers two weeks' paid paternity leave. Since then, attitudes about fathers’ roles at home have changed considerably, especially in light of the pandemic.Yet what is on offer remains unchanged. Paternity leave is still only two weeks, and ...
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OpinionNeil Todd: Ineos case shows collective bargaining rights cannot be bypassed
Unite members’ victory at a recent employment appeal tribunal, which saw global chemical firm Ineos being ordered to compensate employees after they attempted to bypass agreed collective bargaining mechanisms, is a significant victory for the rights of trade union members.The decision strengthens the case law relating to what amounts to ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Celebrating our 2022 Award winners
Today (Friday 24 June) marks one of my favourite days in the Employee Benefits calendar: the Employee Benefits Awards and Summer Party. Due to two maternity leaves and the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been five years since I last had the pleasure of introducing proceedings and welcoming guests to the ...
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OpinionTom Moyes: What is the potential impact of the rail strikes on pay and benefits?
While the new plans proposed by Transport Minister Grant Shapps to reduce the impact of industrial action following recent strikes look great on the surface, there is the potential for a significant negative impact on full-time workers. Whether it is the impact on pay, pensions or further employee benefits, there ...
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OpinionAlison Watson: What employers can do to support staff buying their first home?
Current environmental and economic issues are causing many to struggle with paying bills, and this is coming at a time when more and more young people are struggling to get a foot on the property ladder due to increasing property prices and below-inflation pay rises.The government has recently revealed plans ...
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OpinionRichard Kay: Benefits for first-time buyers can also benefit employers
Rising property prices are not only proving problematic for first-time buyers, they can also cause a headache for employers struggling to attract and retain talent. As it gets harder for professionals to afford to get a foot on the property ladder, they are looking to maximise their earnings to make ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: How can we overcome the UK's childcare crisis?
As temperatures soar this week, it finally feels as though summer has arrived. While the sunshine is undoubtedly welcome while it lasts, for many working parents, it may also serve as a sharp reminder that the long school summer holidays are fast approaching.The high cost of childcare in the UK ...
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OpinionAfzal Rahman: Driving change with living wage accreditation
Low pay is endemic in our economy, and while the living wage is picking up in popularity, there are still millions of jobs that are not paid enough, and millions of people struggling to meet the cost of living. We need to get wages rising again, and to do that ...
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OpinionTom Heys: Why employers need to think about ethnicity and gender pay gaps
Gender pay gap reporting has successfully increased focus on one aspect of diversity, with high levels of compliance. Although reporting will not be mandatory, the imminent arrival of government guidance on ethnicity pay gap reporting means that more employers will be taking a greater focus on ethnic diversity.But more complex ...
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OpinionSusan Mayall: How to consider HRT and menopause in the workplace
At Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers, which has three offices across the Manchester area, we announced that we will pay for any hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medication needed by staff from April. We have also developed a menopause policy to share across the firm, including training all teams on understanding ...