National Living Wage and Real Living Wage - finance matters
As an employer you must pay the minimum wage but are you an employer who has voluntarily signed up to the ‘real living wage’? This November it has had a rise of 2.8%. A high number of the UK population have admitted that they are struggling financially. Last year it was reported that half of all UK adults are financially vulnerable. They are failing to pay bills and are resorting to borrowing money to make ends meet. This week is Talk Money Week, is your workplace supporting staff?
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Poor workplace training - the cost to your business
With the well documented skills shortage, why are so many UK workplaces failing to prioritise learning and development?
Businesses that do not invest in L&D are more likely to have a decreased turnover and higher turnover of staff.
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How to manage remote workers
It is National Work Life Week providing employers and employees an opportunity to focus on well-being at work and how to strike a work-life balance. With an increasingly remote workforce and flexible working, come new challenges for leaders and managers. For example, how can a business develop future leaders and successors and how can you build a cohesive team?
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Is career development for women as big an issue as the gender pay gap?
Recently the gender pay gap issue has been at the forefront of headlines and addressing the imbalance has become a major issue for organisations. A recent survey from The Happiness Index looks into workplace happiness and it found that women do not feel as valued as their male colleagues. The study found that feeling valued was directly correlated to career progression. How can employers ensure that career development and opportunities are open to all of their workforce?
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Zero-hours contracts: employers back stable contract requests
Zero-hours contracts have faced much controversy over recent years. Some believe they offer flexibility and freedom to both the worker and employer. Others argue that they are exploitative and lead to insecurity and low pay for workers. A recent response to the government's Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices from CIPD has found that most employers support the right of a modern worker to request a stable contract.
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Older people facing discrimination and bias in the workplace
A recent report 'Older People and Employment' has found that older workers face discrimination in the workplace. It found that too little is being done to enforce the age discrimination law and as a consequence it has led to a waste of talents of more than one million people over 50 who are unemployed.
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Can part-time roles benefit your business?
Work-life balance has been a buzz word for some time now and has put pressure on the individual and employers to achieve this utopia. In recent years we have seen a big shift towards flexible working to enable us to achieve work-life integration creating a better balance in our lives. Part-time work has traditionally been accommodated for those with childcare responsibilities, who were viewed as less career motivated. Employers who promote part-time and flexible working are benefitting from a broader talent pool to grow their business.
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Using recruitment agencies effectively
Recruiting a new member of staff is a huge step for any business, it is both a time consuming and costly process. Employing the wrong person can have serious implications for the business, so it might make sense to minimise this risk by outsourcing to an experienced recruitment agency. In recent years recruitment agencies have suffered from a poor reputation, in part this is due to some unscrupulous agencies doing the bear minimum. How can you ensure your business gets the most when using a recruitment agency?
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Probationary period
Employers often require new employees to complete a probationary period at the start of their employment. They can protect the employer when a new employee isn’t suitable for the role. What are an employer’s legal obligations and how can the probation period be used most effectively?
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Do job vacancies have to be advertised externally?
For any business, recruitment is a challenging process and hiring the wrong person is time consuming, expensive and costly to the work environment. Does your organisation always advertise roles externally or do you have to offer vacancies to existing employees first?
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