Feature Articles

10 June 2019 marks the start of Diabetes Week in the UK. This article looks at the condition and how it may affect health and safety in the workplace.

Imagine the scene: a sun lounger by the pool, skiing down a mountainside, fine dining in cities of culture — all interrupted by the incessant ringing of your company mobile phone.

Stuart Chamberlain, senior author and employment law consultant explores the different forms of sickness absence.

Staff members with certain ailments need time off work for treatment and recovery. How does the process work? Health Assured, the wellbeing services provider, describes the current system of sick notes (or statements of fitness for work) and how employers can obtain them, and outlines what details a sick note should cover.

Thoroughly unpleasant and hard to deal with at the best of times, panic attacks at work are even worse. We consider the causes, signs and triggers of a panic attack and advise on how to help.

With asthma now affecting one in eleven children in the UK, it is essential that early years providers can support any young sufferers in their care. Asthma affects each individual differently and practitioners need to work closely with families to ensure continuity of care while children are away from home. Elizabeth Walker discusses the importance of developing an asthma policy which sets out the provision’s commitment to meeting the needs of children with asthma.

Pregnancy can be an exciting but challenging time for your employees and it is vital that you know how best to support them in this situation, writes Croner consultant Carol Smith.

With the UK producing around five million tonnes of plastic waste every year, it is time for all of us to consider how we can improve our environmental sustainability. The Government has now urged all schools to eliminate single-use plastics by 2022 and early years providers will inevitably have to follow in their footsteps. Elizabeth Walker looks at the practical changes nurseries can make to reduce their use of plastic and how they can teach the next generation about their role in looking after the environment.

Research suggests that transitions are central to young children’s development and emotional wellbeing, and the way in which the first transitions are handled could have a significant impact on the child’s capacity to cope with change in the short and long term. Early years practitioners should ensure children are fully supported through these key transitions and plan for them appropriately, writes Elizabeth Walker.

When employees are off sick, they may be eligible for some form of sick pay.