Opinion
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OpinionMartin Williams: The impact of Amazon mandating a return to the office
Amazon recently announced that it wants all staff to return to the workplace and no longer work from home. Granted, those in the warehouses do not work from home, but there are a large number of keyboard workers who do. How easy is it for employers to ...
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OpinionAnn Frances Cooney: Potential impact of the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill
The draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill was announced in the King’s Speech in July. The new Labour government confirmed that the draft bill delivers its manifesto commitments to enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people, and to introduce ...
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OpinionNick Le Riche: Flexible working changes and a four-day week
The Labour government’s planned changes to give employees the right to request a four-day working week under plans to increase flexible working have hit the headlines. According to reports, the government is proposing to make it easier for employees to request compressed hours, whereby employees work their ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: The right to switch off from work
How easy do you find it to switch off from work? Although this is not a new issue by any means, since the Covid-19 pandemic, the blurring of boundaries between work and home life has become more pronounced as a greater number of employees spend at least ...
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OpinionAmanda Glover: Impact of new flexible working laws on employees
The employment law changes that came into effect in April 2024 are likely to have been overshadowed for many by the general election and the multitude of proposed employment law changes that have been put on the table by the Labour party.The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, which came ...
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OpinionSarah Tahamtani: Supporting and celebrating neurodiversity in the workplace
The Buckland Review of Autism Employment, published in February 2024, identified that autistic jobseekers often struggled due to generic job descriptions which they could not satisfy, interview questions and approaches which were not adapted to fit their needs and challenging sensory environments.What is clear, is that there is a significant ...
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OpinionPaul McGrath: Understanding employment law reforms
The King’s Speech on 17 July saw the new UK government reaffirm its commitment to introduce new employment legislation in Parliament within its first 100 days in office. The government plans to do this with a new Employment Rights Bill, that is intended to deliver on the wide range of ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Are employers rethinking DE&I provision?
Has diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) become too ‘woke’? Earlier this week, this was the claim of some commentators after technology giant Microsoft was reported to have laid off some of its DE&I team.In a leaked email seen by Business Insider, an internal DE&I team leader reportedly wrote that the ...
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OpinionGeorgina Cameron: How can employers create a culture of fun?
As a B Corp, looking after the Lily’s Kitchen team is hugely important to us. Having fair and robust HR policies to support our employees is only part of the equation. We strive to enable and empower everyone on our team so that they feel able to work to the ...
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OpinionMaranda Ridgway: How can employers create a culture of fun?
The rapid pace of change and pressures to continually increase productivity have led to rising levels of mental health problems that have negatively impacted personal and working lives. One response that organisations have adopted to combat work-related mental health issues, such as stress and fatigue, is to ...
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OpinionDebbie Coyne: Managing Euro 2024 and staff leave
With Euro 2024 football fever sweeping the country, employers are once again facing the age-old conundrum of balancing productivity and business operations with giving their staff the chance to watch their nation at a major summer tournament.Legally, employers are not obliged to provide time off for employees to watch Euro ...
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OpinionIan Hodson: What role do employers have to play in helping employees work flexibly?
In reality, we have got to our new ways of working at an accelerated rate where the foundations of an operational infrastructure is being built for the 'house' that we are already living in. For me, the point to focus on is the aspect of flexibility as when we talk ...
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OpinionAndrew Rhodes: How to establish policies on belief and expression to avoid claims
With general election campaigning getting underway in the UK and US, as well as the continued culture wars all feeding into increased political polarisation, there is a considerable risk of disagreements spilling into the workplace.In response to this risk, employers should establish or review their internal policies on political beliefs ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Engaging employees with sustainability
How engaged are employees with your organisation’s sustainability strategy? What role do they have to play in helping to achieve targets?Last week, we reported on Lego’s move to link a portion of its salaried employees’ bonus payments to annual emissions. Lego plans to expand this over time in order to ...
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OpinionRena Magdani: How does flexibility help with recruitment and retention in a challenging climate?
With recruitment difficulties set to continue, businesses need to attract applicants and retain staff as best they can. Embracing flexible working could make a business more attractive in a difficult climate. Flexible working is one element employers can control in terms of the talent pool; the time to act is ...
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OpinionSamantha Dickinson: How to build and support a healthy workforce
Stress is an inevitable part of life. In the workplace it can build resilience, pushing individuals to adapt and perform under pressure, which leads to personal growth. However, when stress becomes overwhelming it leads to decreased productivity, burnout and debilitating health problems. Recognising and managing employee stress levels is crucial ...
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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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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. ...