Are your employees aware of your sickness policy?
A survey of 500 businesses has revealed up to 1/4 do not routinely tell employees about any benefits of the sickness policy, leaving many employees unaware of any benefits to them if they fall ill. When asked to elaborate, eight per cent of businesses questioned had a policy in place but preferred to maintain secrecy […]
Wellbeing: Your best posture ever
Bad posture is so widespread – how can we go about improving it and what benefits does it bring? Look around your workplace and you will see numerous examples of bad posture. Many people have rounded shoulders, hunched upper backs, tense necks, overarched lower backs and protruding abdominals. What can be done about it? Get […]
Are you sitting comfortably?
Most employees asked these days would probably answer yes: companies invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in high quality adjustable chairs with ergonomic desks all complying to the latest legislation, so why are muscular skeletal problems still the biggest cause of sickness absence in the UK today and on the rise? The modern day workstation […]
59% want workplace first aid training
Research carried out by St John Ambulance has discovered two thirds of us wouldn’t have the confidence to adminster potentially life-saving first aid. The study of 2045 adults was conducted by ICM, and uncovered several worrying statistics including that 24% would do nothing at all. Some 39% would attempt first aid, despite not being sure […]
Wellbeing – the healthy breakfast choice
Start your day with a great breakfast for a great working day! This advice comes from nutritionist and author of The Food Mood Solution, Jack Challem – take your pick from his healthy breakfast menu. What your mother said is really true -breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eat the right […]
Wellbeing – the business strategy
Jamie-Natalie Cross explains why wellbeing is a business strategy and offers tips to help get your workforce in shape. Now it looks like spring has finally sprung, promising warmer temperatures and gently reminding us about that long-awaited summer holiday, employees may be more health conscious than they have been in recent months. With staff already […]
Is your business ‘fit’ for Fit Notes?
With the introduction of the new “fit note” medical statement system on April 6 2010, both employers and employees have a range of a new considerations for all the stages of workplace absence, and it’s far better to proactively prepare to work with the new process than to learn solely by experience. One of […]
Fit notes – do they fit the bill?
Companies with an existing focus on health and wellbeing could reap the benefits of the change, says Rory Murphy, external affairs manager for Water Wellpoint. From 6 April 2010, the sick note will be replaced by the ‘fit note’ in a bid to reduce sickness absence across the UK. The Department for Work and […]
The fit note – friend or foe?
Rob Woollen from Rightway Employee Wellbeing Solutions examines the new Med-3. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few months you will be aware that the new Med-3 form comes into play next week. Or does it? Some GPs are saying that whilst they have already ordered pads of the new […]
Ask the expert: Sickness in an SME
One of our employees has been off sick 22 times in the past year. Now she claims she has an underlying health condition. How should we handle it? Adam Partington and Esther Smith advise. The question: Sickness in an SME We are a very small company (two full time and one part time), and […]
Ask the expert: Withholding pay
Martin Brewer and Esther Smith advise on whether you can withhold an employee’s pay while you decide if an absence was unauthorised. Withholding pay We have an employee who was employed on a fixed-term contract. They suffered an injury and were absent from work for three weeks in total. The first week was self certified […]
Want engaged employees? Engage with the wellbeing of your employees
In times of financial uncertainty it can be difficult to motivate a workforce, and even harder to motivate and engage with individual members of staff. For an employee, feeling that their boss cares about them is one important aspect of engagement. However, ‘showing you care’ in a genuine and effective way can prove difficult. Showing […]
53% of UK employees express passion for their jobs
With Valentine's Day right around the corner, the Kenexa Research Institute, a division of Kenexa, a global provider of business solutions for human resources, researched, "What makes an employee passionate about his/her job?" Having passion for one's job is defined by the extent to which employees are excited about their work, feel a sense of […]
Snow days: how to cope as a business and deal with employees
Sue Evans, a partner at Lester Aldridge, offers her advice to employers about how to cope when severe weather leaves your employees snowbound or without childcare. Businesses have experienced considerable disruption so far this year as a result of the severe weather that the country has suffered, and it’s a situation likely to repeat. Many […]
HR should be on the lookout for internet addiction
Internet addiction is now a bigger problem in the UK than gambling and one that HR professionals should monitor it’s use due to its link with depression. According to the first large scale study of its kind undertaken by psychologists at the University of Leeds among 1,319 people aged 16-51, 1.2% of the sample group […]
Survey and transform absenteeism
A true story of how a biopharmaceutical company in North Wales transformed its fortunes in five years to secure its future with employee surveys. 2004: Ipsen Biopharm ceases manufacture of their core product and makes around 100 people redundant, a third of the workforce. The future success of the company relies on launching its […]
Sickie Monday – did you notice a high number of sick workers?
Some 350,000 British employees are estimated to have called in sick to work on ‘Sickie Monday’ (the first Monday in February), costing businesses around £30 million in lost revenue. According to research by the Employment Law Advisory Service (ELAS), 25% of employers now accept emails or text messages from staff to say they are ill, […]
Competition: Win a Water Wellpoint Wellbeing review for your organisation
Getting fit for 2010? How healthy do you think you and your work colleagues are? You could win a Wellbeing review worth more than £500 with our competition. The Water Wellpoint online wellbeing review assesses how employees believe their work affects their health and provides a valuable insight for employers on how they can better […]
Stress assessed: 40 million Europeans suffering from stress
Stress appears to be endemic in workplaces across Europe, affecting more than 40 million employees in the European Union and costing the regional economy a huge E20 million. In response, the British Standards Institute and Nottingham University are leading an international team to develop good practice standards for assessing and managing work-related stress. But while European […]
Recession leaves managers demanding more work with menaces
The recession has led to a big increase in bullying in the workplace, with the number of cases doubling from a decade ago, according to a new survey. A poll conducted by the union Unison indicated that more than a third of workers experienced bullying in the last six months – twice the figure of […]
