The issue of sex equality and pay in the workplace has been a major issue for decades. In fact, the UK has had laws governing this for nearly half a century; but with new regulations set to come into force on the 1st October 2014, could there be a huge step in the right direction?

What Are These New Regulations?

For years many have been petitioning for equal pay, in other words for male and female staff to get paid the same for doing the same job.

The changes that will now be in place are an amendment to the Equality Act 2010. These state that if an employer loses a case of equal pay they are legally obligated to undertake an equal pay audit (EPA) of their entire company. More...

Having a child is a wonderful experience and attending antenatal appointments is something that couples should experience together, so imagine the upset when many partners find they cannot attend appointments with their pregnant partner.

The Current State of Affairs

At present, pregnant women may attend antenatal appointments during work hours, that by law, bosses must pay for. This paid time off however, is not an option for partners, to go with them for support. But the law is changing…

New Antenatal Rights for Partners

As of October 1st 2014, new antenatal rights for fathers, or any other ‘qualifying persons’, will be introduced. This new entitlement will allow partners to take unpaid time off to attend two appointments that last up to 6.5 hours per session. And this should not be influenced by their length of service with a company in any way.

Further to this, ‘qualifying persons’ can include many different individuals, allowing more than one person to require the time off. Those able to have this time off include: More...

Absenteeism at work is well known to have a highly detrimental impact on the ability of a business to maintain productivity and service standards. It’s estimated that almost a million people in the UK are absent from work for more than four weeks every single year.

Not only is this disruptive to the employer and the other employees of the organisation, it’s also very costly in terms of sick pay, overtime for replacement staff and lost taxation income for the government.

A recent report estimated the cost to the British economy to be an eye watering £14 billion pounds a year!

But what can be done to reduce the negative impact of absenteeism? Obviously, there will always be unavoidable absences from work for genuine reasons however those that are abusing the system need to be dealt with swiftly. More...

A four-day weekend is something many of us dream about, but could it soon become a reality?

Carlos Slim, allegedly the richest man in the world, has raised eyebrows recently by suggesting employers should introduce a three-day working week, claiming that working fewer days would create a happier, more efficient workforce with a higher quality of life. The idea being that we would work 11 hours per day for 3 days, before having 4 leisure days by way of reward. The flip side of this extra time off is that we would be expected to work on until our mid-seventies to make up for the reduced average hours worked per week.

Rehashing an old idea

The idea of reducing working hours is not a new one; it’s actually the continuation of a trend that began after the industrial revolution. It was Henry Ford that created the modern five-day week back in the 1920’s. Modern technology has now made it possible for many workers to perform their role from home or on the move, meaning there’s often no need to work set hours at a static location.

Whether or not you are able to work flexibly will invariably depend on your role/ employers’ flexibility/ external commitments as well as those jobs with health and safety implications. In fact, a recent report indicated that for certain roles, productivity can actually fall as the number of hours worked increases.

Will it ever happen? More...

We have entered those few weeks of the year when the sun comes out and the temperature rises – causing office work to become at best uncomfortable and at best unbearable. The good old British Summertime!

With forecasters predicting the heat wave to continue into August, the question regarding what amounts to acceptable office attire is being pondered the length and breadth of Britain.

 Of course, it varies greatly depending on your working environment: whether or not you are customer facing; the industry in which you work, health & safety requirements of your role etc. Clearly, a customer-facing environment will generally have a less relaxed approach to worker attire during the summer months than say, the construction industry.

Whilst there are legal limits on minimum working temperatures, currently 160C or 130C for those doing physically exertive work, there are no such maximum working temperatures. 

Keeping work comfortable

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