Opinion – Page 16
-
OpinionJo Brewis: Employers need to know how to support staff during menopause transition
The menopause is something all women experience. Symptoms typically begin during a woman’s forties, and include episodes of heavy or erratic periods, hot flushes, reduced concentration, insomnia and mood swings. The average age at menopause in industrialised countries is 51. The Equality Act (2010) protects both gender and age, and ...
-
OpinionEmma Cox: What can employers do to support staff with endometriosis?
One in 10 women suffer from endometriosis, where cells similar to those lining the womb grow elsewhere, usually within the pelvis. Each month these cells react in the same way as those in the womb, building up and then breaking down, but they have nowhere to go, resulting in inflammation, ...
-
OpinionNicky Payne: The need for workplace support for staff having fertility treatment
According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, each year more than 50,000 women or couples in the UK have fertility treatment, such as IVF. IVF requires daily administration of intravenous hormones and time off work for multiple scans and blood tests, and unpleasant egg collection and embryo transfer procedures.For ...
-
OpinionPhilip Richardson: Employers’ legal obligations to staff undergoing IVF treatment
With a growing number of people having children later in life and the make-up of the ‘traditional’ family unit growing ever more diverse, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is becoming more and more prevalent.Those undergoing IVF treatment are likely to experience a high deal of stress and anxiety in relation to ...
-
OpinionStuart Scullion: Insurance premium tax increases penalise employers acting to safeguard employee health
The apparently simple question 'what insurance premium tax rates apply in other European countries?' is actually far from straightforward. What other countries do is complex, which means comparing the recent insurance premium tax (IPT) increases in the UK to the rest of Europe is also complex.Rates of IPT on medical ...
-
OpinionNoeleen Doherty: Employers need to fulfil their duty of care to remote employees
Working remotely has become an increasingly common practice, facilitated by advances in technology alongside the recognition by employers that such flexibility can be both cost effective and efficient.Employers are obliged to ensure they fulfil their statutory duty of care for the physical and psychological safety of all employees, including remote ...
-
OpinionStephen Bevan: Workforce health as a business asset?
The health and work landscape in the UK is changing rapidly. Compared with a decade ago, more employers have come to recognise that they need to provide support for employees who experience poor health. This has had a number of consequences.First, what gets defined as a health issue has undergone ...
-
OpinionEmma Mamo: Staff should feel able to talk openly about mental health
Every suicide is a tragedy. The causes of suicide are many and complex and vary from person to person. We know that often people struggle in silence and find it difficult to know how to ask for help.Figures from the Office for National Statistics, published in 2014, show that male ...
-
OpinionMichael Jenkins: Empower staff to work in a healthy way to support cardiovascular health
In a world where we are increasingly exposed to longer working hours, reduced time for exercise, an increased sugar intake and weight gain, focusing on health in the workplace could not be more important.The Circulation Foundation, the charity affiliated to the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland, is committed ...
-
OpinionSara Duxbury: Building a successful employee wellbeing strategy
The legal sector has more of a reputation for long hours and tight deadlines than it does for standout employee engagement. With this in mind, firms looking to attract and retain the best talent need to focus on supporting staff, keeping morale high and maintaining standards despite the high demands ...
-
OpinionKaren Walker-Bone: Consider psychosocial factors when addressing musculoskeletal disorder risks
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), for example, back pain and arthritis, are very common and, alongside mental health conditions, cause most of the UK’s burden of sickness absence and long-term work disability.Work factors can increase the risk of MSDs. Interestingly, it is not only physical workplace exposures such as heavy lifting, pushing ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Should employers support staff in lifestyle choices?
Last night I attended an event to promote the launch of Joe Wicks’ – the Body Coach’s – latest book. As you might expect, the majority of the people there were health and fitness converts, following his exercise and training plans, recipes and nutrition plans or both.Throughout the course of ...
-
OpinionTom Godwin: Physical activity should become part of an organisation’s culture to boost staff morale
There has been a growing number of organisations in the UK that have physical activity and healthy eating as a core part of their occupational health policy. This involvement by employers in trying to create and promote the importance of healthy living to employees can help improve attendance, performance, and ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Redrawing boundaries in employer/employee relationships
How comfortable would you be offering relationship advice via the workplace? Would this be seen as a valuable source of support by employees or as crossing the boundaries of the employee/employer relationship?According to research published by Relate and Relationships Scotland, The way we are now: labour of love or labour ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Tackling the mental health pay gap
Inequality and prejudice of any kind are one of my top pet peeves. In this day and age, it never fails to astound me that, despite the progress made in many areas, dealing with such issues is still a daily battle for many individuals.However, every now and then, a finding ...
-
OpinionLorna Ellis: Employers need to consider workplace adjustments for employees with cancer
Because of the increasing rate of cancer diagnoses, it is very likely that most employers will face this scenario with a member of staff at some stage.Employers should be aware that under the Equality Act, cancer is classed as a disability from the point of diagnosis. Therefore, the employee is ...
-
OpinionJoe Ahern: Group risk benefits and the work and health agenda
The changing nature of the UK workforce, driven by an ageing population, presents huge challenges for policymakers, businesses, and other stakeholders. Group risk benefits have a vital role to play in meeting this challenge. Group life, group critical illness, and group income protection (GIP) all address specific risks that are ...
-
OpinionDr Nigel Carter: Employers can help raise awareness of oral health among staff
An unhealthy workplace, physically and mentally, normally equals time off work and lost productivity. Thousands of people miss work because of their oral health every year.Frustratingly, most problems with teeth and gums are preventable with a good oral health routine. Despite this, research conducted by the Oral Health Foundation in ...
-
OpinionAmy Anstey: Putting wellbeing to work
At Lloyd’s of London, we have a deep commitment to promoting the health and wellbeing of our employees. We know that a healthy, fit and committed workforce is better able to achieve their own objectives and help us to meet our business goals.We partner with our health benefit providers to ...
-
OpinionNina Goad: Sun awareness education is first step to preventing excessive UV exposure
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK. Each year there are 250,000 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer and 13,000 new cases of melanoma skin cancer within the UK, and these statistics are rising.UV radiation, as found in sunlight and sunbeds, is a well-known cause ...