Opinion – Page 22
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Is workplace gender equality out of reach?
In a week that included International Women’s Day on 8 March, it is perhaps unsurprising that we have seen the launch of a number of initiatives by both government and employers designed to support female employers and tackle existing workplace inequalities.The government, for example, launched a pilot initiative aimed at ...
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OpinionClaire McCartney: Employers need to listen to the needs of young adult carers
There are an estimated 3.7 million carers in England and Wales and a growing number of people are having to juggle their jobs with caring responsibilities. So, how can organisations best support their staff and what are the benefits?First, employers need to identify which of their employees are balancing caring ...
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OpinionOscar Hodgson: Is unlimited holiday really without limits?
For the Zoom-weary worker emerging from the depths of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, a holiday sounds like a fantasy. It is no wonder that mention of unlimited holiday captivates the most sceptical workers.Imagine an unlimited number of days off each year, no holiday requests, and the ability to take it ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Moving forward
Today marks two weeks since I returned to Employee Benefits following 13 months’ maternity leave. While my time away once again seemed to fly past, the industry I’ve returned to appears quite different to the one that I left in many ways.When I went on leave in January 2021, the ...
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OpinionDanielle Ayres: Communication is key when considering a four-day week
As news circulates of the four-day working week trial set to get underway in the UK in the second half of this year, co-ordinated by 4 Day Week Global, both employees and employers alike are starting to wonder whether this would work practically for them.There are multiple factors to look ...
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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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OpinionDale Critchley: Value for members should mean greater value for employers too
With headlines focused on a rise in the cost of living, the need to obtain value for money has never been greater. When it comes to a workplace pension it is no different. Employers need to make sure their pension scheme is valued, acts as a tool to attract and ...
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OpinionElena Visser: The argument for giving employees growth shares
The benefits of giving employees a stake in the business by way of equity participation are well rehearsed.Often the decision comes down to a choice between allocating shares upfront, effectively making the employee a day-one shareholder, versus granting them a tax-efficient enterprise management incentive (or EMI) share option.Making employees a ...
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OpinionProfessor Peter Wells: There’s never been a better time for employers to go electric
There has never been a better time for employers to encourage electric car ownership, or for employees to appreciate the benefits.There are major savings to be had for individuals, including with the plug-in car grant, benefit in kind, and salary sacrifice schemes, while several car manufacturers are offering to help ...
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OpinionDale Critchley: How to keep members engaged with ESG investing
Thanks to automatic enrolment the staff pension scheme is now ubiquitous and employee awareness of the need to save is high. Employees know they’ll receive at least a minimum contribution paid into their workplace scheme. Many employees might understand that the minimum is unlikely to be enough, and value the ...
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OpinionTracy McMullen: Ashurst engages all staff in pension savings
At Ashurst, we closely consider the pension and benefits we offer and focus particularly on how we engage our people in these offerings to ensure they are of maximum benefit.We all benefit from employees feeling equipped and able to perform at their best, and a critical component of this is ...
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OpinionJeremy Harris: How can employers reduce the gender pensions gap?
The fact that both personal and workplace private pensions are closely aligned to paid work means that employers play an important role in determining post-retirement financial wellbeing. So what can employers do to close the gender pensions gap?Women are more likely to work fewer paid pensionable hours than men over ...
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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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OpinionLynda Gratton: We need to understand how hybrid work motivates employees
I’ve been observing and researching the impact of the pandemic on work since mid-March 2020.It is clear to me that hybrid work, with flexibility about both where and when work is performed, is here to stay.This is in part because these new ways of working have captured and amplified a ...
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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 ...