Opinion – Page 3
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OpinionAnna Dabek: Creating a menopause friendly workplace for womens’ wellbeing
More women are citing menopause as a reason for claims of discrimination or unfair dismissal at tribunal. The number of cases which did so increased by 44% in 2021.Menopause is not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. That said, over the last couple of years, women have brought ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Supporting domestic abuse survivors
One in five people over the age of 16 have experienced domestic abuse of some kind, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics in November 2022. This means that in any workplace, or indeed, within the majority of teams, statistically, you may well know someone who is ...
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OpinionJenny Arrowsmith: The growing issue of menopause in the workplace
HM Courts and Tribunal Service’s June 2023 data revealed an increasing number of employment tribunal cases citing menopause as a contributing factor. There has been a steady rise in cases over the past few years. In 2017, there were five cases, increasing to six in 2018 and seven in 2019. ...
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OpinionLaura Tracey and Rubina Kakuji: How to support your employees during Baby Loss Awareness Week
Baby Loss Awareness Week is held every year in the UK from 9 – 15 October and is a time for people to come together to commemorate the lives of babies lost in pregnancy or at or soon after birth.Regardless of the stage of the pregnancy that loss occurs, it ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Supporting staff who are childless not by choice
This week (11-17 September) is World Childless Week, which is aimed at raising awareness of those who are childless not by choice.According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in January 2022, in the UK, 18% of women who reach the end of their childbearing years do ...
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OpinionDanielle Ayres: How employers can ensure future resilience for workplace absences
It is crucial to ensure employers have crystal clear practices and policies for managing employee absences. Employers which properly invest in handling absences in the right way will see a marked improvement in staff performance, retention, productivity and business resilience.Absence management is central to ensuring ongoing business operations, helping minimise ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Dreaming of enhancing sleep quality
Do you get enough sleep? This is a question I frequently ask of myself, especially since becoming a parent five years ago. If it isn’t children waking in the night, good intentions for an earlier bedtime are often thwarted by a seemingly never-ending list of household chores, life admin and ...
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OpinionHelen Burgess: Back to school and the impact on employees
It’s nearly that time of year again where parents and their children start planning for the return to or start of school. The school day and the typical 9am to 5pm working schedule are not aligned and parent employees may request to change their start and finish times permanently, or ...
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OpinionTony Ark: Invesco supports UK workforce with comprehensive health benefits
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has long recognised that great health and wellbeing is a core enabler of employee engagement and organisational performance. Promoting wellbeing by taking a proactive approach to benefits that help prevent stress and create a positive working environment is therefore a priority for ...
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OpinionAmanda Trewhella: Supporting employees with menstrual health and menopause transition
Women’s health, and in particular the menopause transition, is a topical issue that has finally received significant coverage in the media during the last year or so.In the UK there are currently no legal regulations specifically requiring employers to provide support to people affected by menstruation issues or the menopause. ...
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OpinionCharlotte Dodge: Clifford Chance supports men's health with range of benefits
Research shows that men visit the GP 32% less than women during working years, that one in five men die before they retire, and it is estimated that 50% of premature male deaths are preventable. These sort of statistics are the reason why Clifford Chance launched Peppy Men's Health last ...
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OpinionKatie Ash: Can a flexible-working request be reversed?
For many, the Covid-19 crisis is starting to feel like a distant memory. However, there are still changes to the way we live and work today that were influenced by the restrictions that were put in place. The biggest example in employment law is the shift to working from home.Employers ...
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OpinionPaul Gilshan: Are employee benefits as important as salary?
Employee benefits are an important aspect of any job, but can be overlooked when thinking about changing roles. Depending on those on offer, benefits can be just as valuable as a pay rise, and in some cases, even more valuable.It is quite natural for us to focus on salary. After ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Should the office be the default working environment?
The working-from-home debate was reignited this week following Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s comments that the office should be the default location for workers, unless they have good reason to work from home.Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce conference, Hunt said that despite the exciting opportunities offered by working from home, ...
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OpinionJoanna Powis and Alison Heaton: Is a four-day week the future of work?
Coming out of the pandemic, there has been an increased focus on work-life balance, mental health and wellbeing, and employers’ roles in supporting staff on these fronts. Employers in some industries have also seen a talent war emerge as they find it harder to recruit and retain the best employees.These ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Why dying matters
This week (8-14 May) was Dying Matters Awareness Week. Part of Hospice UK’s Dying Matters campaign, the week was launched with the aim of encouraging people across the country to come together to speak about death, dying and grief in the workplace.According to research by Marie Curie, Respecting and supporting ...
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OpinionKathy Abernethy: The correlation between menopause and stress in the workplace
April marks the start of Spring, but did you know that April is also stress awareness month? For employers, this is an important annual reminder of the modern-day stress epidemic, its causes and cures. Now is the time to check in on your own wellbeing, as well as your ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: The changing shape of employee wellbeing
When I first entered the world of employee benefits more than 20 years ago, many organisations’ approach to health and wellbeing was markedly different. Back then, the focus was on more traditional healthcare benefits, such as private medical insurance (PMI) and health cash plans. Wellbeing benefits were often viewed as ...
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OpinionAlexandra Farmer: Further protections needed for pregnant employees
The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill is well on its way through the House of Lords. Currently at committee stage - at which point every clause of the bill has to be agreed and votes on amendments can take place - the bill will give further protections ...
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OpinionRiaan van Wyk: What positive versus negative resilience means for employers
UK employees have not had it easy over the last few years. Pressures on their finances, mental wellbeing and physical health have been almost ever present since the start of the pandemic in 2020, and the last six months has seen a cost-of-living crisis amplify these pressures further.To understand how ...