Opinion – Page 65
-
OpinionPaul Lefrere: Wearable technology can enhance employee performance
Wearable experiences (WE) and augmented reality (AR) can be used in combination (Wear) to provide important types of work benefit. Examples include empowering people with modest skills so they can perform at a higher level if they want to; giving people ways to explore new work and career options; improving ...
-
OpinionDavid D’Souza: Advances in technology allow us to reimagine the structure of work
The leaps forward made by some key areas of technology allow us to reimagine the structure of how work might be in the near future. There is no doubt that we have opportunities to fundamentally reshape the way that we think about people, places and productivity in this brave new ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Should employers support staff in lifestyle choices?
Last night I attended an event to promote the launch of Joe Wicks’ – the Body Coach’s – latest book. As you might expect, the majority of the people there were health and fitness converts, following his exercise and training plans, recipes and nutrition plans or both.Throughout the course of ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Is the abolition of salary sacrifice actually an opportunity?
This week’s Autumn Statement brought months of speculation to an end when Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the tax and NI advantages on benefits offered via salary sacrifice will be abolished from April next year.Contrary to many reports in the national press over the last week or so, this was ...
-
OpinionDan Sharman: Taking employee share plans to a global workforce needs careful consideration
As part of a global benefits strategy, international organisations often want to expand their share plans to cover employees who are based overseas. Often, this is crucial to attract and retain key talent internationally and to achieve parity in remuneration packages across the global workforce.However, granting employees equity is a ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Are we witnessing the death of email?
Is email dead? This was the subject of a press release I received earlier this week from workplace design firm Crown Workplace Relocation. It suggested that employees’ growing interest in flexible and remote working was driving the growth of alternative forms of communication such as web chats, screen share and ...
-
OpinionCatrina Smith: Sex discrimination case places spotlight on shared parental leave
In the Snell v Network Rail Infrastructure case, a male employee has succeeded in his claim for sex discrimination against his employer, Network Rail, and has been awarded nearly £30,000. His claim was based on the fact that while he would receive only statutory pay for any period of shared ...
-
OpinionSally Wilson: Employers should take steps to ensure re-entry to work is sustainable after absences
Given the range of health reasons an employee may take time off for, and the variable fitness requirements for different professions, there is no one-size-fits-all role that an employer should take in workplace rehabilitation. But broadly the employer’s role is to take appropriate steps to support the individual back to ...
-
OpinionKaren Ovenden: How can SMEs approach family-friendly working?
Flexible working has become a bit of a buzzword. But, for me, this is where small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should start if they want to support family-friendly working.When I say flexible, I really mean agile, working patterns that can scale up and down when both the individual and business ...
-
OpinionTom Godwin: Physical activity should become part of an organisation’s culture to boost staff morale
There has been a growing number of organisations in the UK that have physical activity and healthy eating as a core part of their occupational health policy. This involvement by employers in trying to create and promote the importance of healthy living to employees can help improve attendance, performance, and ...
-
OpinionSean Nesbitt: Uber by numbers – what next for worker status?
The Uber judgment is only the end of the beginning for the gig economy and the debate on worker status. You would need an algorithm to track the implications. Here are some:3-4: Months for an appeal to get to the Employment Appeals Tribunal. A speedy hearing is possible, but up ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Redrawing boundaries in employer/employee relationships
How comfortable would you be offering relationship advice via the workplace? Would this be seen as a valuable source of support by employees or as crossing the boundaries of the employee/employer relationship?According to research published by Relate and Relationships Scotland, The way we are now: labour of love or labour ...
-
OpinionCharles Cotton: Voluntary benefits can help organisations engage and retain talent
Offering a voluntary benefits scheme can be an important tool in the way that employers retain and engage their talent.This approach can be important for public and voluntary sector employers competing against parts of the private sector. While public sector employers can often offer a generous pension scheme and leave ...
-
OpinionElizabeth Slattery: Impending Brexit could pose dilemma around holiday pay decisions
Many things are uncertain following the outcome of the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, including the timing of any exit and the form that it will take. In the meantime, employers still have to grapple with the ramifications of Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Is the industry in a state of flux?
This week saw the Employee Benefits team head to Olympia for this year’s Employee Benefits Live.One of the (many) things I personally enjoy most about the event is the opportunity to meet and catch up with so many people from all corners of the industry. While we always strive to ...
-
OpinionPoppy Jaman: Mental health first aid training can guide employees to the right support
We all have mental health just as we have physical health, but it can seem more difficult to spot the signs of mental ill health.The key thing to look out for when it comes to mental ill health are changes in an employee’s usual behaviour, such as unusual irritability or ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Looking forward and looking back
It may be a sign that I’m getting older, but time seems to fly past scarily quickly these days.It certainly doesn’t seem like a year, for example, since our last Employee Benefits Live.Reaching milestones in the year such as this always seem like a good time to stop and take ...
-
OpinionPeter Reilly: How can employers build empowerment into their reward policies?
Empowering staff is an understandable objective for organisations operating in today’s knowledge and service economy. Releasing employees’ discretionary effort can lead to higher productivity and better customer service, and one key way of getting greater employee engagement is through giving colleagues more autonomy. This means offering them access to more ...
-
OpinionGeorgina Beechinor: Key pensions considerations for employers in the wake of the Brexit vote
Pension schemes have been grappling with volatile markets in the run-up to and in the wake of the vote for Brexit. As the dust settles, we examine some of the wider issues for employers.Employers with schemes based on members’ final salary, also known as defined benefit (DB) schemes, need to ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: People strategies in a gig economy
What does the gig economy mean for your business?Does this freer, more fluid way of working mean your business can source the manpower it needs in a cost-effective way, enabling you to scale your workforce according to business demands? Or is it a way of avoiding some of the cost ...