Opinion – Page 60
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OpinionLiz Egan: How to ensure staff and managers feel comfortable discussing cancer in the workplace
Each year, almost 120,000 people of working age are diagnosed with cancer in the UK, according to figures sourced from the Office for National Statistics, Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, ISD Scotland, and Northern Ireland Cancer Registry for UK 2012 cancer incidence among those aged 15-64. And with survival ...
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OpinionOlga Tregaskis: Workplace learning provides an opportunity to improve wellbeing
The joy we feel when we master a new skill, the sense of accomplishment we get from a job well done, the buzz we get from helping others or the fading of our anxieties as we see solutions yield results. This is wellbeing.We might reasonably expect, then, that training that ...
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OpinionJudith McNulty-Green: A holistic approach can support staff health at all ages
By 2030, it is expected that older workers, those aged over 55, will make up more than 30% of the UK’s workforce, according to Priorities for occupational safety and health research in Europe: 2013-2020, published in 2013 by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.This is influenced by ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Are government measures enough to curb CEO pay?
Where do you stand on chief executive (CEO) pay? Do they receive a fair salary reflective of their role and responsibilities? Or have their pay and remuneration packages reached unjustifiable heights?Earlier this week, the government announced it is to introduce new laws requiring listed organisations to publish the pay ratio ...
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OpinionIan McKenna: Advanced tools can help employees get more value out of their pension
Over the next 18 months employers that only started providing workplace pensions when this became a legal requirement under auto-enrolment will see the cost of their contributions triple. From April 2018, the current 1% employer contribution doubles to 2, and then increases to 3% 12 months later. Also, employees will ...
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OpinionHannah Ford: Avoiding the legal pitfalls around summer events and staff socials
Summer events and staff socials can be effective ways of motivating or rewarding employees, building team morale, and increasing job satisfaction. However, when employees leave the confines of the workplace and enter a relaxed and social environment the risk of employee misbehaviour, and consequent claims, obviously increases.Employers should be mindful ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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OpinionGreg Burgess: Back to the drawing board on employment tribunal fees?
The fact July 2017’s decision of the Supreme Court concerning the employment tribunal fees system made it on to the main evening news on all channels, shows just how significant the decision was.The court’s decision effectively said that the fees system was denying lower earners access to justice because the ...
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OpinionClare Gregory and Kate Hodgkiss: Global reward strategies - supporting diversity and inclusion legitimately
From an employment law perspective, there are two primary issues to consider when creating a global reward strategy. The first is ensuring that the strategy does not breach discrimination laws in any country where it is implemented. The second is ensuring that the rewards provided comply with legally mandated minimums, ...
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OpinionSamantha Mann: Employers can learn from others that have reported gender pay gap details
The 2017-18 fiscal year introduced a new obligation for employers in the private and voluntary sector requiring those with a headcount of 250 or more ‘relevant employees’ as at the snapshot date of 5 April 2017, and each subsequent year, to calculate statistics to demonstrate the gender pay gap that ...
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OpinionChris Curry: The changing face of retirement in the UK
The process of retirement in the UK has changed. It used to be a relatively simple process. As soon as you reached state pension age, your employer would thank you for your service, tell you that you were free to go and you would stop working and settle down to ...
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OpinionBeverley Sunderland: Tribunal finds holiday pay should include regular voluntary overtime
In Lock v British Gas Trading the European Court of Justice (ECJ) confirmed that commission must be included in the calculation of holiday pay where commission is intrinsically linked to the job. Six months later, in May 2017, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in Bear Scotland Ltd v Fulton confirmed ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Global lessons on work-life balance
At the end of July, 900 Japanese organisations, including The Japan Times and Tokyo Metropolitan Government, took part in the country’s first Telework Day. The day was the first in a series planned by the Japanese government in the run up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, aimed at encouraging ...
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OpinionPhilippa Connaughton: Lessons from the Walker v Innospec ruling
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has settled a long-running pensions dispute.In 2012, John Walker brought a claim for unlawful discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, having calculated that his civil partner, later his husband, would receive a pension on his death of £1,000 per annum, not the £45,000 ...
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OpinionJohn Pryor: Employers need to look at the total cost of mobility as staff travel options unify
Employee travel choices for business journeys have never been more numerous than they are today.Consequently, the opportunities for employers to implement a diverse, multi-faceted, sustainable mobility plan and simultaneously display corporate social responsibility have never been greater.Travel options range from the established, such as cars, whether organisation-provided, a hire car ...
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OpinionDr Paul Litchfield: BT supports employees in all aspects of wellbeing
At BT, we have a philosophy of promoting the wellbeing of our people: it’s the right thing to do and it’s good for business. The drivers of wellbeing that we focus on are not just physical and psychological health but also security, relationships, the environment and purpose. In these uncertain ...
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OpinionKate Hurn: Taylor Review advocates enhancing rights for dependent contractors
The government-commissioned review of modern working practices by Matthew Taylor calls for legislative change to help determine employment status more easily and recommends enhancing rights for workers.Taylor acknowledges the confusion created by the current category of workers, made up of bona fide employees and so-called limb (b) workers who are ...