Opinion – Page 6
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OpinionMartin Williams: Will a return-to-work policy pose risks for employers as Covid rules end?
How are we to frame the lifting of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) restrictions in the workplace? The virus is still with us and people are being admitted to hospital in a way they would not if this were the common cold.All good employers will need to be mindful of the risks involved ...
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OpinionHarriet Calver: Is the four-day week worthwhile for employers?
A four-day work week is not a new phenomenon. Many employees in the UK already have this pattern, typically agreed on a case-by-case basis between employee and employer following a flexible working request. It tends to be accompanied by a corresponding reduction in pay, except in the case of compressed ...
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OpinionAntonia Blackwell: How ESG is changing the future of employee benefits
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations underpin the decisions and behaviour of a business. Employees want to see ESG in action and employers will need to take steps to address ESG if they want to attract and retain the best talent in the future.The way businesses operate in practice has ...
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OpinionAlan Lewis: What a recent court case can teach us about vicarious liability
Whilst employers can draw some comfort in terms of defending vicarious liability claims from the recent Court of Appeal case of Chell v Tarmac Cement and Lime Limited [2022] EWCA Civ 7, they ought not be complacent and there are lessons to be learned.Chell was a fitter employed by a ...
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OpinionBecky Lawton: Will new staff family rights come into force in 2022?
The government has committed to introducing several new family rights following a number of consultations over the last couple of years.The introduction of neonatal leave and pay will create a new statutory entitlement for employees whose babies spend an extended period of time in neonatal care. The intention is to ...
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OpinionGethin Nadin: How the future of work will affect employee wellbeing and engagement
The way employers care for and support their people has come under increasing focus over the last two years. But the long-term effects of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic will mean changing employee expectations and growing wellbeing issues are driving employers to have to commit more to employee wellbeing.We have seen ...
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OpinionClare Kelliher: The pandemic has prompted employers to review their benefits strategies
The experiences of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic: business disruption, furloughed employees and extended, enforced working from home, have changed the employment relationship.Our research at Cranfield School of Management during the pandemic found that the physical distancing of working from home sometimes led to psychological distancing, too.Maintaining the connection became harder ...
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OpinionRichard Fox and Ozlem Mehmet: Removing vaccination as a condition of employment
Health secretary Sajid Javid has announced that the government will launch a consultation on removing vaccination as a condition of employment in health and all social care settings.The regulations requiring front line health workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 (Coronavirus) as a condition of employment were due to come into ...
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OpinionEmma Kosmin: How to support staff going through gender transition
Many of us spend most of our lives at work, so it’s vital that people feel free to be themselves in the workplace.Going through a transition while at work can feel daunting and exposing. It is so important that employers understand this and provide trans and non-binary employees who are ...
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OpinionLaurie Ollivent: Covid-19 is reshaping gender and diversity reporting
Working parents comprise a key demographic of the workforce. As mid-tenure employees, they are experienced and often have a level of institutional knowledge which can rarely be replaced with a lateral hire.However, reports suggest this demographic is more likely than others to be re-evaluating their roles coming out of the ...
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OpinionTom Moyes: Encouraging conversations with employees around mental health
At any one time, one-sixth of the working age population of Great Britain experiences symptoms associated with mental ill health, and this causes around 40% of all days lost through sickness absence, according to the Mental health and work report published in 2008 by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.So why ...
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OpinionHenicka Uddin: Employees should be involved in updates to absence policies
If employers are considering introducing or updating absence policies, it is good to include staff in the process by consulting with them on plans. There might even be an agreement in place to consult on changes, in which case this will need to be adhered to. Either way it is ...
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OpinionDavid Jepps: How Covid-19 affects statutory sick pay
At the start of the pandemic, statutory sick pay (SSP) rules were changed to include Covid-19 (Coronavirus) scenarios because self-isolation or having tested positive with no symptoms were not covered by the SSP definition of incapacity. Those rules have since been tweaked many times and are expected to stay in ...
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OpinionKerry Hudson: Is a change ahead in flexible working laws?
UK employees seeking flexible working arrangements to help manage their work-life balance could be caught short unless they have completed at least 26 weeks of service for their current employers.With a great many businesses and employees still away from the office since the start of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, and ...
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OpinionDr Zofia Bajorek: Good work holds key to mitigating the 'Great Resignation'
Over the past few months, there has been a lot of discussion about the ‘great resignation’: the idea that employees are leaving their jobs at unprecedented rates.The post-Covid labour market suggests that there are a high number of vacancies but not enough staff to fill them, and so workplaces need ...
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OpinionEmma Clark: Will there be more menopause-related employment tribunal hearings?
Recent analysis of figures from the HM Courts and Tribunals Service showed that the menopause was cited in five employment tribunal cases in the last nine months of 2018. That rose to 10 cases in the first six months of 2021.While there has been a rise in claims which refer ...
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OpinionIan Hodson: 2022 will be the year to reset reward strategies
Covid-19 (Coronavirus) has certainly impacted the last couple of years, and for many agendas has served as an accelerator in respect of its impact on the ways we work, our wellbeing priorities and how we interact with our colleagues and balance work and home.I believe 2022 will give reward professionals ...
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OpinionRebecca Florisson: What managers can do to make hybrid working inclusive?
Many employers and employees have experienced first-hand both the joys of enhanced flexibility remote working affords and the lack of a commute against pressures on wellbeing resulting from the feeling of living at the office and being unable to disconnect.With the return to the office now well underway, many employers ...
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OpinionDr Christine Grant and Professor Gail Kinman: How can employers address presenteeism among a virtual workforce?
Covid-19 (Coronavirus) has presented organisations with a major challenge regarding how they manage and stabilise their staffing resources. Many organisations are experiencing considerable uncertainty during the post-pandemic recovery phase and there are concerns about retention of key staff as individuals re-evaluate their working and personal lives. The move to remote ...
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OpinionSophie Wahba: What can employers do to manage stress in the workplace?
Managing the mental wellbeing of employees is a matter of growing concern for many business owners, as the stress of the last 18 months has taken its toll on the workforce.A 2020 Perkbox survey called The 2020 UK workplace stress survey suggests that an astonishing 79% of British adults commonly ...