All Opinion articles – Page 51
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OpinionCedric Ramat: Measuring employee engagement is not a beauty contest
In 2017, we at Pernod Ricard contributed to the fourth edition of an independent employee opinion survey, run every two years by advisory firm Willis Towers Watson. The 'I Say' campaign consisted of just over 100 questions submitted to all our 18,500 employees across 86 affiliates worldwide, from Paris to ...
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OpinionPaula Bailey: Gender pay gap reporting is not about equal pay
2018 is set to be a hugely challenging year for big employers, with issues such as worker status and rights, and the gender pay gap firmly on the agenda. What is more, it looks like these crucial issues will be played out under the full glare of the national press.We ...
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OpinionDr David Cross: Communication is key to keeping dispersed employees engaged
Managing dispersed workers is complex. There are issues of out of sight, out of mind, loneliness and isolation, productivity tracking, trust, and a lack of organisational culture; they miss out on those 'water-cooler moments'. Actually, many of them work this way precisely to avoid office politics and supervision although it ...
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OpinionJerry Edmondson: Take employee engagement off your to-do list
Given the economic climate and levels of uncertainty around Brexit, improving employee engagement is set to be a key item on most organisations’ HR agendas for 2018. By increasing engagement, it can make it easier to retain expert and experienced employees and improve workforce efficiencies.But, while the economic and political ...
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OpinionClaire Richardson: 2018 is the year for HR to stand out
With productivity firmly in the spotlight in 2018, the next 12 months is a critical time in the world of workforce management and HR. While most businesses will be keen to boost productivity and profitability, this will manifest itself in many different ways. The Workforce Institute Europe has collaborated with ...
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OpinionDonald MacKinnon: Employers need to do more than increase pay to retain staff
As the new year represents an opportunity to overhaul your life, it should come as no surprise that January is the month when the highest number of employees consider a change of job. According to a survey by Investors in People, published in December 2017, as many as one in ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Will Carillion result in long-term pensions change?
Since support services firm Carillion collapsed earlier this week, a number of questions have been raised about the organisation’s remuneration and pension arrangements.Numerous news reports have told of employees fearing the non-payment of salary owed, while the organisation’s pension arrangements have transferred to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).At the time ...
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OpinionAnna McCaffrey: How will GDPR affect processing of employees’ healthcare benefits data?
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect on 25 May 2018.The good news for employers is that many GDPR rights are similar to those under the current Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).The bad news is that, as a general rule, GDPR expands existing rights, introduces a few ...
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OpinionSarah Thompson: The next steps in employers’ GDPR compliance
Last October, McGuireWoods covered some of the keys steps that reward professionals could take to get up to speed with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force this May. With fines of up to €20 million or 4% of annual worldwide turnover, whichever is greatest, at stake, GDPR ...
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OpinionLouise Farrand: Pension investment costs are worth the price tag to assist retirement outcomes
The future is defined contribution (DC). As defined benefit (DB) schemes close, over eight million people are now saving into defined contribution (DC) schemes because of auto-enrolment, according to the Pensions Regulator’s Declaration of compliance report, published in July 2017.Two factors particularly affect DC savers’ retirement outcomes: contribution rates and ...
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OpinionDavid Lorimer: How employers can protect against data breach liability
Last year's case in which Morrisons was found liable for damages arising from the actions of a rogue employee had broad implications for all employers. Andrew Skelton was imprisoned for eight years after deliberately disclosing payroll records relating to almost 100,000 staff members to several newspapers and online in 2014.This ...
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OpinionHelen Ball: Not all master trust pension schemes are going to opt for authorisation
Since 2012, when employers began automatically enrolling employees into pension schemes, the master trust market has exploded in size and popularity. Membership of master trusts has grown from around 0.2 million in 2010 to around 7.1 million by 2016, according to The Pensions Regulator's annual DC trust: presentation of scheme ...
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OpinionJoanne Losty: Law firms must embrace flexible working to achieve gender parity
Women will not achieve parity with men at a senior partnership level in law firms until 2037, at least according to BPP University Law School’s recent report on the UK’s legal industry, Law firm of the future.This critique extends beyond law firms. Baroness Hale, the first female president of the ...
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OpinionJames Medhurst: When to panic and when to relax about holiday pay
The November decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in King v Sash Windows Workshop and Dollar provoked the usual media panic about employees making historical holiday pay claims, dating back for several years. But the decision was unusual in that it considered a claim made using regulation 30 ...
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OpinionRita Trehan: Should employers be required to report on broader diversity pay data?
Mandatory gender pay gap reporting is a great start to highlighting the issue of inequality in the workplace. But simply reporting statistics will not lead to transformational change. Real change can only happen when organisations embrace diversity in its fullest sense.For too long, we have lacked ambition and action when ...
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OpinionMaggie Stilwell: Should employers be required to report on broader diversity pay data?
It is now a commonly accepted fact that a diverse workforce operating in an inclusive environment creates a better business performance.Our experience is that goals, targets and measures set by regulation can help an organisation work towards that. For example, the gender pay gap regulations provide an opportunity for organisations ...
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OpinionNick Willis: Clarity around employment status could lead to dramatic impacts on gig economy
Perhaps the oldest question in employment law is 'when is someone genuinely self-employed?' The question remains a difficult one to answer and it is becoming difficult to keep up with the pace of developments on this very basic issue.One of the latest pieces of news is the publication of a ...
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OpinionShaun Davis: Take practical measures to support staff with seasonal affective disorder
As the nights draw in and the temperatures drop, many of us feel a bit down with the winter blues, but for some people in the UK this develops into a mental health condition called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). This is a type of depression which causes individuals to have ...
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OpinionMaureen Herbert: Employers need to promote good mental health during stressful times
Winter can be a particularly challenging time for our mental health. Not only do the days grow shorter and colder, but we also have to contend with a number of added pressures, like Christmas and heating bills, that do not occur during the warmer months.In certain cases, this can lead ...
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OpinionEd Stacey: Holiday pay for workers could place them in a better position than employees
This month saw the anticipated ruling from the European Court of Justice in the case of King vs Sash Windows Workshop. The key question in the case was whether a worker who fails to take paid annual holiday, due to their employer refusing to meet their obligation to provide it, ...