If there's anything you can trust about the British weather, it's that it's unpredictable. Therefore it’s vital for businesses to start preparing early for freezing weather and the subsequent increase in employee absences. Extreme weather conditions tend to cause a dramatic rise in staff absences because road and rail disruption, combined with school closures, make it difficult for employees to make it in to work. Effective absence management and flexible working options can help maintain staff productivity and reduce the cost to businesses. Here are…
What can you possibly do in an office around Christmas that puts life and limb at risk? The answer you’re searching for is hanging up decorations around the office. Many people don’t consider the risks attached to readying the workspace for festive fun. Trips/slips or falls, electrical incidents and manual handling/lifting are the top three causes of accidents at work. Therefore, we've created a short guide to decorating the office safely and spotting the risks that are right in front of your eyes. Hanging decorations…
Christmas may be ‘the most wonderful time of the year’, but for many employers it can be a time-consuming and administrative nightmare. Think seasonal trading spikes, an influx of annual leave requests and the challenge of coordinating the Christmas rota. Holiday entitlement and how effectively requests are managed directly impacts employee satisfaction. Getting the basics right is crucial to creating a positive employee experience. We’ve pulled together a list of the top three most commonly asked questions to help you prepare for the festive season from…
'My employee is off sick - what am I allowed to do as an employer?' Questions about sickness absence are some of the most common calls our Advice Line receives. Did you know that sickness absence costs small business around £300,000 a year? The average employee takes seven days of sick leave per year, at an average cost of £550 per employee. Despite the major impact sickness absence has on their organisation, many employers fear taking any action. Why? Because of the myths surrounding what they can and can’t…
Does your annual leave entitlement renew in January? Have you got employees with weeks' worth of holidays still left to take? Can they carry it into next year? Read on for everything you need to know about the importance of employees taking annual leave and the rules for carrying days over. Why is the management of annual leave so important? From a business perspective the impact of getting holiday planning wrong can be significant. I’m sure you remember when Ryanair were forced to cancel 40-50…
Summer holiday season has been and gone and it's time to ask yourself a question. Were my holidaying employees really taking a break from work? If they obsessively checked their work emails and regularly took calls; is it just a healthy love of the job, or is it a work addiction? The medical community recognise work addiction as a real mental health condition. People with a work addiction are likely to engage in compulsive working - which can be hard to spot in a culture…
UK businesses are facing some of the most pressing recruitment challenges in living memory. We're seeing near-full employment with the number of jobs outstripping candidates by a ratio of 5-to-1. This has led to severe pressure on employers to recruit and retain. 83% of employers say their employees are looking for more than just pay At the same time, wage growth has stagnated for many years, UK businesses are facing a chronic productivity problem, and employee wellbeing has gone to the top of business…
Fire Door Safety Week runs 23 - 29 September this year. It's all about raising awareness on the importance of fire doors. So, we thought we'd give you some handy hints on how to make sure your fire doors are up-to-scratch. Why are fire doors important? Fire doors play a crucial role in restricting the spread of fire and smoke. Buildings are compartmentalised to delay the spread of fire from one area to another. These compartments are usually linked by fire doors to allow the flow…
Many of us would like to think that sexual harassment in the workplace is a thing of the past. Something our progressive modern world has left behind. However, according to expert’s sexual harassment is on the increase. The MeToo movement has highlighted types of sexual harassment and gender discrimination and captured the attention of the media and general public. One in ten retail workers experience sexual harassment A new survey of 1,330 retail workers conducted by Foot Anstey has found that one in ten (11%)…
It’s the first thing you look at in the morning and the last thing you look at before going to sleep. From arranging your next girls’ night out, to sharing photos with your family. WhatsApp is our go-to platform for communicating with friends and family. It's also useful for letting your colleagues know you’re running late or for sharing a new idea you had over the weekend. Consequently this swift form of communication is becoming an increasingly popular platform for workplace communication. Real-time informal workplace…
