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April 27, 2024

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U.K Office

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Month: July 2019

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Flexible working should be default, says MP Helen Whately

Flexible working should be the default position for all employees, rather than it being up to individuals to request.

That is the call from Conservative MP Helen Whately, who introduced a flexible working bill in Parliament on Tuesday.

It would help close the gender pay gap, assist parents to share childcare, and help businesses keep staff, she said.

Anna Whitehouse, founder of the campaign Flex Appeal, said it was “a huge moment”.

Ms Whately’s Ten Minute Rule Bill was given approval to go to a second reading on Wednesday.

‘Entrenched assumptions’

Introducing her bill, she argued that unless employers had a sound business reason for having specific working hours, firms should introduce flexibility to every job.

“The 40-hour, five-day working week made sense in an era of single-earner households and stay-at-home mums, but it no longer reflects the reality of how many modern families want to live their lives,” she said.

“At the moment, too many women are reluctantly dropping out of work or going part-time after having children because their employers won’t allow them flexibility.

“This entrenches the assumption that men are the breadwinners and women are the homemakers.

“As a result, men don’t get to spend as much time as they might like with their children, women miss out on career opportunities, and the country loses out on the contribution they could and would like to make – if only they could do slightly different hours or work some days from home.”

 

Read More – www.bbc.co.uk

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New qualifications to boost teacher career progression

The Department for Education has set up a panel of experts to develop new professional qualifications for teachers in England, to help them progress their careers.

The panel will advise on the scheme, which is to be introduced during the academic year 2020-2021.

The focus is on those who want to progress in non-leadership roles.

But unions said there was a lack of transparency about how the experts were recruited to the advisory panel.

The qualifications form part of the teacher recruitment and retention strategy in England, which was launched in January.

School standards minister Nick Gibb said the new qualifications would provide recognition for those teachers who want to develop their skills and progress their careers.

“Our ambition is for teachers to be able to do so without having to pursue traditional leadership routes, instead expanding their expertise in vital areas such as curriculum or behaviour management,” he said.

 

Richard Gill, chairman of the Teaching Schools Council, said: “There is a need to ensure that the current programme of qualifications meets the needs of the current educational landscape.

“These new bespoke qualifications will provide practitioners with an excellent opportunity to develop and progress their careers, building stronger and more effective classroom practice without the need for them to follow traditional leadership roles.”

But the announcement has drawn criticism from teaching unions.

 

Read More – www.bbc.co.uk

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Workers could be compensated for cancelled shifts

Zero-hours and “gig economy” workers who have shifts cancelled at short notice could be paid compensation under new government plans.

The proposal is part of a package of measures aimed at improving the rights of low-paid flexible workers.

Under the proposals, they could receive the full value of the shift cancelled or three times the hourly minimum wage for each hour cancelled.

The government is canvassing views on the proposals over the next 12 weeks.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said one in six low-paid workers on flexible hours received no more than a day’s notice of a cancelled shift.

In addition, nearly 40% of all UK workers said their hours varied from week to week, with 1.7 million people saying they were very anxious that their working hours could change unexpectedly.

 

Business Secretary Greg Clark said new business models had opened up “a whole new world of working patterns and opportunities”.

He added: “It’s vital that workers’ rights keep pace with these changes, reflect the modern working environment and tackle the small number of firms that do not treat their staff fairly.”

The proposals are intended to build on an earlier set of reforms introduced in December last year.

Those were based on the findings of a review into modern working practices led by Matthew Taylor, a former aide to ex-PM Tony Blair and chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts.

As part of that process, the Low Pay Commission was asked to look into the issue of “one-sided flexibility”, and their ideas are at the heart of the latest consultation.

Bryan Sanderson, who chairs the commission, said it was “delighted” that the government was taking it further.

“The proposed changes, part of a package of policies we suggested, have the potential to improve work and life for hundreds of thousands of people,” he added.

But the TUC said the proposed changes did not go far enough.

General secretary Frances O’Grady said compensation would be “a step in the right direction”, but repeated the TUC’s call for zero-hours contracts to be banned.

 

Read More – www.bbc.co.uk

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The do’s and don’ts of getting a pay rise

How much are you worth? Or rather – is the answer to that question equal to the sum paid into your bank account by your employer?

If not then you need to ask for more, and that means you have to negotiate with the person who pays your wages. It’s something that puts the frighteners on a lot of people. It shouldn’t.

“No one ever got fired for asking for a pay rise” said Pip Jamieson founder of the professional networking site, The Dots. “In fact rather the opposite – asking for more money shows ambition and shows you want to stay with the company.”

But there are good ways of asking for a pay rise and there are bad ones. So here are some dos and don’ts when it comes to asking for a bigger salary.

DO: Research properly

Go to a salary comparison website or talk to a recruitment agency or your Human Resources department (HR) to find out the kind of pay your job should be getting. You need hard evidence to back your pay rise – sales targets reached, contracts signed, goals met. Remember, it’s surprising how little the person who decides your salary, especially in a big organisation, may know about what you do.

“Work at it,” says Dulcie Shepherd Swanston, author of It’s Not Bloody Rocket Science and founder of the business training company Profitably Engaged. “The sort of qualities you need for getting a pay rise are the same sort of qualities you need for being a good employee.”

DON’T: Randomly demand more money

Tessa Fyson had been working in the NHS for six months when she decided to ask for more money.

“When I got asked the inevitable question, ‘Why should we give you a pay rise?’ – I froze!” she said. “Any type of meeting with management can make you nervous and I lost all ability to speak. It made me feel and look incredibly naïve and I was told to think of the reasons why and then come back.”

Ms Jamieson insists employees should see pay as a commercial contract, not a favour, which should be negotiated seriously.

So you should not argue that you need the money to pay the rent or buy Prada handbags on a monthly basis.

But Lou Goodman, marketing director at the employment website Monster for the UK, Ireland and Benelux cautions: “It’s always worthwhile for a company being empathetic about your personal life, because if they lose an employee, the resources needed to find, recruit and train up someone new can be considerable.

“But in the end, pay should reflect someone’s performance and the performance of the company itself.”

 

Read More – www.bbc.co.uk

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National go home on time day: What is it and who invented it?

“National go home on time day” might not sound like a legitimate holiday, but in today’s hardworking culture, it could be a necessary one.

Burnout is now a recognised medical condition and according to a recent study of 2,000 UK employees, one in four people feel that overworking prevents them from improving their mental wellbeing.

Additionally, 36 per cent said they’re unable to improve their physical fitness because of their working hours.

On Friday 21 June, people around the UK will be encouraged to stick to their contracted hours and leave work on time.

Read on for everything you need to know about National go home on time day, from who invented it to why we need it.

Read More – www.independent.co.uk

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Four-day working week could boost productivity and lead to a cleaner environment

A four-day working week could save UK businesses an estimated £104bn a year, according to new research.

A survey of more than 250 companies indicated that adopting a shorter working week could add to businesses’ bottom lines through increased staff productivity, as well as improved physical and mental health.

Furthermore, the study conducted by Henley Business School, suggested it could also lead to a cleaner environmental footprint.

Henley’s Four Better or Four Worse paper exploring the growing trend for a four-day working week found that nearly two thirds (64 per cent) of those who have already adopted the scheme reported improvements in staff productivity.

The research also found that this working style increased overall quality of life for employees, with more than three quarters (78 per cent) of businesses saying staff were happier, less stressed (70 per cent) and took fewer sick days (62 per cent).

 

Read More – www.independent.co.uk

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Half of British workplaces now dress smart-casual

Only one in eight British workplaces now enforce a smart dress code, according to a new survey.

Research revealed the trend set by Steve Jobs and Sir Richard Branson in staff, managers and directors abandoning shirts and ties in favour of more comfortable day-to-day attire, is still growing.

Half of workers now follow a casual or smart casual dress code at work, allowing for jeans and other dress-down styles, according to the poll.

Just 12 per cent of those surveyed said management still insisted on a smart dress code and 16 per cent said they are required to wear a specific uniform.

 

One in five considered the rules at their place of work to be “mostly smart”, allowing freedom for casual items of clothing.

Three quarters believed that workplace attire has become more casual across different industries in the last decade.

“As work hours have increased and the ‘always on’ culture has come to prominence thanks to developments in tech and connectivity, the lines between our work lives and our home lives have blurred,” said a spokesperson for search platform Lyst, which commissioned the poll. “This meeting of worlds is reflected in our expected work dress codes.

“Work is no longer siloed off from the rest of our lives, and therefore it is right that the rules around dress codes in the workplace have become more relaxed.

The research also assessed the position of jeans in British culture, with 75 per cent of the 2,000 adults surveyed viewing  the clothing as a key component of their style and the average respondent owning five pairs.

 

Read More – www.independent.co.uk

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Finance firms sign code in bid to support women-led start-ups

A host of major banks and venture capital firms have signed up for the Government’s latest initiative to boost funding for female entrepreneurs, the Treasury has said.

The financial institutions signed up on Tuesday to the Investing in Women Code, agreeing to a set of measures aimed at improving equality for small business founders including publishing gender funding data.

The banks putting their name to the plans are Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Santander, TSB, Metro Bank, the Co-operative Bank and Bank of Ireland UK.

They are joined by venture capital firms Frontline and Episode 1, angel networks UK Business Angel Association and Angel Academe, and institutional investor British Business Bank.

Speaking at the launch of the Investing in Women Code at a reception in Downing Street, the Exchequer Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Breaking down gender barriers could add billions to the UK economy.

“I’m pleased to see so many of our major banks and venture capital firms support the code, and I call on others to follow suit.

 

“It’s shocking that only one in three entrepreneurs are women and I hope that today’s commitment signals a turning point in attitudes towards investing in female-led businesses.”

It follows the findings of a review led by NatWest’s deputy chief executive Alison Rose earlier this year which showed closing the gap between male and female entrepreneurs could add £250 billion to the UK’s economy.

Challenges facing female founders identified by the report include low access to capital, high risk awareness, disproportionate primary care responsibilities and a lack of relatable role models.

Research commissioned by the Chancellor had previously revealed that female-led start-ups get just a penny for every £1 of venture capital investment in the UK.

Signatories of the new Investing in Women Code pledge to nominate a senior leader to take responsibility for equality, as well as adopt internal practices that will improve access to funding and resources for women-led founder teams.

They will also publish data on funding granted to businesses, showing whether the founding teams are male, female or mixed.

Ms Rose said: “When we began this process, everyone involved was in agreement that raising awareness of the Rose Review’s findings is only one small part of what is needed; what we need is action.

 

Read More – www.msn.com

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Why Britain’s record jobs and pay miracle is not what it seems

Britain has witnessed a remarkable period of high employment, with the number of people in work at its highest since the 1970s.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the unemployment holding steady at 3.8%, its lowest rate on record.

Wages have also increased at their fastest rate in more than a decade, data published on Tuesday shows.

But the reality of Britain’s labour market is a lot less rosy and a lot more complex than some of the headline figures suggest.

Half the new jobs are in self-employed, insecure work

Half of the past year’s employment growth has been in self-employment, which is typically far more insecure and often less well-paid than staff roles, according to the Resolution Foundation.

“One of the big changes in the job market over the past year has been the return of growing self-employment. The number of self-employed workers has increased by 167,000,” the think tank said.

It is part of a growing trend over the past decade, with increased numbers of young people employed in the gig economy and rising numbers of over-65s continuing to work on a freelance basis.

 

Read More – www.msn.com

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Worried UK employees call for changes to proposed immigration reform

A coalition of British industry groups and education bodies, worried by the prospect of Brexit worsening skills and labour shortages, has called for the next prime minister to relax proposed reforms of the immigration system.

The #FullStrength campaign said on Wednesday it had written to both Boris Johnson, frontrunner to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister, and his rival, foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, calling for the government they would lead to lower the salary threshold proposed in draft immigration legislation from 30,000 pounds to 20,000.

In December, Britain set out in a policy paper the biggest overhaul of its immigration policy in decades, ending special treatment for European Union nationals.

Concern about the social and economic impact of immigration helped drive Britain’s 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU.

#FullStrength brings together bodies including London First, techUK, the British Retail Consortium, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, UKHospitality, the Federation of Master Builders and Universities UK. Collectively they represent tens of thousands of businesses and employ millions of workers across all sectors and regions of Britain.

Their joint letter said more than 60% of all jobs in the UK currently fall under the proposed 30,000-pound salary threshold, highlighting the risk in setting the future level too high for vital services such as health and social care.

Read More – www.msn.com

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