Opinion – Page 10
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OpinionClaire Brook: Can employers require employees to return to the workplace?
Over the past few months, various businesses have shifted their stance on flexible working to require employees to return to the workplace. But, following four years of homeworking for many triggered by the Covid-19 lockdown, what are the types of things employers must consider when enacting changes like this?Employees should ...
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OpinionRicardo D'Ash: Are employers right to recall employees back to the office?
We have come along way since the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a clear argument that Covid actually accelerated remote working by several years but only for certain jobs; key workers come immediately to mind where in the main it is not possible to work remotely.I believe it is all about ...
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OpinionClaire McCartney: Are employers right to recall employees back to the office?
Flexibility around time, scheduling and place of work can be transformative in opening up opportunities for people to get into and stay in work, especially those who have health conditions, caring responsibilities, or other life choices they want to make. With an aging population, and rising levels of economically ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Is the government right to reform the fit note?
What is your view of the government’s plans to reform the fit note system?In a speech on 19 April, prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that the government will take steps to transform the sick note culture in a bid to reduce the number of individuals that are deemed unfit for ...
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OpinionNick Hurley and Annie Green: The impact of dropping the real living wage pledge
Earlier this year, Brewdog announced that due to trading losses and financial instability, it will drop its real living wage pledge from April onwards. While many employers will have suffered similar financial difficulties as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, the business’ decision to pull out of the real living ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Should we be concerned about employee wellbeing levels?
How well is your workforce? While minor illnesses are a fact of life, what does your workforce’s health look like overall? Have absence rates improved or declined in recent years?Several pieces of research published in the last couple of weeks suggest that, overall, employees’ health and wellbeing levels have fallen ...
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OpinionNick Bustin: What are the benefits of pension salary sacrifice schemes?
Pension salary sacrifice schemes are not a new concept, but one that all employers should consider, especially at a time where the tax burden on both employers and employees is high. These schemes, which see employees sacrifice some of their monthly salary in return for increased employer pension contributions, are ...
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OpinionConfessions of a benefits manager: Candid runs manager training on incentives
I don't want to sound like a shirker, but it really is not my job to manage the incentive programme. Yes, bonuses fall under total reward, but there is a separate incentives team headed up by Iris who purportedly do all that. And they do. Well as far as managing ...
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OpinionRachel Webb Wiles: How to manage shared parental leave
We have all heard of shared parental leave (SPL), but should employers be encouraging employees to take it or is it just a headache for the business?SPL was designed to address the gender imbalance in care giving and to give parents more choice and flexibility in their child’s first year. ...
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OpinionLisa Hand: Will the government’s childcare measures open up potential talent pools for employers?
Any progress with support for working parents is welcomed, but we need to go further, in particular to support women who want to maintain their career, or return to work, alongside raising their family. Competition for talent has never been so fierce and with the increasing presence of AI and ...
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OpinionRosie Woods: Will the government’s childcare measures open up potential talent pools for employers?
Credit: Scott Mains-Ingrained.co.ukThe [extended hours childcare] initiative is great on one level, but if the ultimate goal is to get more parents back to work, it solves only a third of the problem.The scheme gives 'free hours' but in most instances, it acts as a subsidy within the nursery system ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Should ethnicity pay gap reporting be mandatory?
As we approach this year’s deadline for gender pay gap reporting, we have seen an increasing number of organisations choosing to voluntarily publish their ethnicity pay gap data alongside this.In the past few weeks alone, these have included Greggs, which reported a 5.78% mean ethnicity pay gap for 2023, Nationwide ...
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OpinionSarah Tahamtani: Advice on menopause as a potential disability
Over the years, menopause has often been stigmatised and seen as a taboo both in and out of the workplace, leading to many women facing discrimination. This group represents a significant proportion of the workforce and attention needs to be paid. While there has been progress, more can still be ...
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OpinionBen Gorner: New protections for primary carers in employment
April marks both World Parkinson's Day (11 April) and Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week (22-28 April), two conditions that over time will often require those suffering to receive significant care. It may well be that those caring for affected people are family members also in employment, so how can employers ensure ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Turning assumptions on their head
By now, many of us will have seen the brilliant video by CoorDown, aimed at challenging assumptions around what is possible. If you haven’t, I highly recommend seeking it out. In a nutshell, it features a young woman with Downs Syndrome highlighting the assumptions that are so often made about ...
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OpinionClaire McCartney: What are the benefits of supporting staff with specific conditions such as endometriosis?
Despite menstruation being a normal part of life, and the prevalence of menstrual health challenges, these issues are often shrouded in stigma and silence in the workplace. This taboo is linked to broader societal attitudes around menstruation and menstrual health issues, but also because dedicated menstruation and menstrual health policies ...
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OpinionAmanda Lowe: What are the benefits of supporting staff with specific conditions such as endometriosis?
With a predominantly female workforce, around 75%, we launched a women’s health policy in June 2023 to demonstrate our commitment to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees.This policy focuses on two of the most common issues affecting women’s health: endometriosis and osteoporosis, and it supports those who ...
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OpinionMelanie Morton: Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2024: How to support employees
Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2024 this year takes place on 18-24 March. Neurodiversity refers to the natural range of differences in human brain function. We all think, move, process information and communicate in different ways. Many people use neurodiversity as an all-encompassing term used to describe alternative thinking styles such as ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Celebrating progress
This week I had the pleasure of judging the Employee Benefits Awards 2024. This is something I always love to do as I find the insight it gives into employers’ strategies and their reward offerings to be absolutely fascinating. I always find that I learn something new and come across ...
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OpinionSally Hulston: EHRC guidance on menopause in the workplace
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published new guidance on menopause in the workplace and set out employers’ legal obligations. The guidance reasserts the fact that women experiencing menopausal symptoms, particularly in severe cases, have certain protections under the Equality Act 2010.While the menopause is not itself a ...