Feature Articles

As we move towards the summer season, employers are likely to face disruption as a result of employees making the most of the lifting of Covid restrictions and the return of many public and social events. This is now, therefore, the time to put plans in place to manage this and limit the impact on productivity.

A coalition of more than 1000 business leaders are calling on the Government to amend s.172 of the Companies Act 2006 to make businesses legally responsible for benefiting workers, customers, communities and the environment while delivering profit.

The Government’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities recently published its updated Covid-19 mental health and wellbeing surveillance report. This report looks at population mental health and wellbeing in England during the coronavirus pandemic. Its information is used when deciding on policy, planning and commissioning in health and social care. However, individual organisations can also benefit from the findings of the report and use these to develop their own HR strategies.

A number of GB organisations have announced their intention to introduce domestic violence leave, or “safe” leave, for those in their workforce who are subjected to abuse in their personal lives. While not strictly a workplace matter, employers are increasingly recognising that suffering trauma outside of the office can have a real, and often significant, impact on their employee’s professional lives.

To commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, there will be changes to bank holidays in 2022. The late May Bank Holiday, which would have fallen on Monday 30 May 2022 will be moved to Thursday 2 June 2022 and there will be an additional Bank Holiday on Friday 3 June 2022. The adjustment will take effect in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

As workplaces constantly change, L&D is faced with the challenge of supporting individuals, teams and the organisation as a whole with the future-fit skills that will allow everyone to thrive going forward. In this article Judith Christian-Carter considers the value of five evidence-based principles, each one of which has at its heart the need to connect in order to ensure that the end result is a mature learning organisation.

With a continuing focus on making workplaces more diverse and inclusive in order to support and grow a workforce that is made up of individuals from all walks of life, we take a look at how businesses can be more understanding of neurodiversity.

The Equality Act 2010 (EqA) is explicit in its prohibition of pregnancy and maternity discrimination. Yet, in the period 2020–2021, the employment tribunals in the UK heard 1435 cases of pregnancy and maternity-related detriment or dismissal, making it the 5th most common discrimination claim.

Looking back to December 2019, before the world was irrevocably changed by the Covid pandemic, employers had another issue on their minds: the Employment Bill. This much lauded piece of legislation, containing many of the recommendations from the Taylor Review and subsequent Good Work Plan, was set to bring in a raft of new rights for employees and make Britain the “best place to work in the world”.

From 6 April 2022, parents in Northern Ireland will finally be given rights that parents in England, Wales and Scotland have had since 6 April 2020: the right to take time off following the death or stillbirth of their, or their partner’s, child.