11th May 2023
A recent tribunal hearing in Canada is a cautionary tale for employees working remotely. Karlee Besse has been ordered to pay damages to her former employer for “time theft”, after she was caught claiming for over 50 unworked hours by time-tracking software installed onto her work laptop. What happened? Ms Besse, a home-based company accountant, […]
04th May 2023
The ever-changing nature of UK employment law can make it difficult for both employer and employee alike to keep on top of the duties owed to members of staff in the workplace. Several bills are currently making their way through Parliament which have the potential to change the obligations that employers owe to their staff […]
03rd May 2023
Deteriorating mental health is becoming an increasingly serious cause for concern worldwide. The World Health Organisation (‘WHO’) reports that 15% of working-age adults are estimated to have a mental disorder. Additionally, the House of Commons briefing on mental health reports that 3.25 million people accessed NHS mental health, learning disability and autism services in 2021/22. […]
01st Jul 2022
Given the unstoppable growth of the UK tech sector, it’s not surprising that there is tighter focus on the need to ensure the government properly assesses, procures and manages digital, data and technology products and services. The Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Playbook sets out how that should happen. What are the objectives of the […]
15th Oct 2021
During the disruption of Covid-19 many employees have worked anywhere and everywhere, some juggling their working day with teaching long division and phonics. Now that the initial crisis has passed, employers are thinking about how to take the benefits of these ways of working into the long term. But in the brave new world of […]
04th Jun 2021
The right to disconnect effectively gives employees the ability to switch off from work and not engage in electronic communications, such as emails, during non-work hours. Governments around the world have been looking at enacting laws to give workers the right to log off. The principle has come into sharp focus following the coronavirus pandemic […]
19th May 2021
2020 was a year like no other for the commercial property market. The effects of Covid-19 on the sector were profound and are still being felt today. Many office staff have now been working at home or experiencing hybrid-working for over a year, and shops, pubs, restaurants and other leisure venues closed their doors for […]
07th May 2021
With restrictions easing, many business leaders now face the task of deciding how the future will look for their employees, in regards to where they work and how they work. We teamed with us Business Leader to host this panel debate to explore the future of the workspace. Issues debated included: What are the currents […]
29th Apr 2021
We can all see the battering our high streets have taken over the last year as a result of Covid-19 which hit a retail sector already weathering a storm of closures, falling footfall and the ever-rising growth in online shopping. It is often said that the High Street is dead but perhaps there is a […]
26th Feb 2021
Almost 12 months since working changed forever, many businesses are still struggling to adapt to the demands and intricacies of hybrid and remote working. Leadership has long been an ever-evolving skill but the modern landscape is laden with even more treacherous peaks and valleys. Michael Stokes took part in this Business Leader live debate which […]
10th Feb 2021
With schools shut and most people working from home where they can, combining children’s remote learning with parents’ remote working is a hot topic; Ellis Walby of Cheltenham’s employment team contributed her own experience to Anna King’s BBC Radio Gloucestershire show. They talked about the stresses and strains of the experience for both parents and […]
05th Feb 2021
Ydych chi’n dyheu i fynd yn ôl i’r swyddfa? Ynteu ydych chi wrth eich bodd yn gweithio yn eich lle eich hun gartref? Pa fath o gydbwysedd gwaith fydd yn gynhyrchiol i chi ac i’ch cyflogwr pan fyddwn i gyd yn gallu dychwelyd i’r swyddfa? Mae’r cwestiynau hyn nid yn unig yn bynciau llosg yn […]
10th Jan 2021
The rapid roll-out of flexible working in response to Covid-19 has had many positive impacts. But, if we’re not careful, its long-term deployment may hinder social mobility and undermine equal opportunities. New research, published in our Future Workspaces report, suggests that the hybrid model of blending remote working with time in the office looks set […]
10th Jan 2021
If one thing is clear from our new research, published in our Future Workspaces report, it’s that the 2021 workplace is going to look very different. In spring, it will have been almost a full year since we were regularly visiting the office, and so much has changed since then – legally, culturally, professionally. Hybrid […]
10th Jan 2021
2020 has seen the biggest shake-up of planning uses for decades, providing much needed flexibility for businesses, but also huge uncertainty for the future of the retail high street and the location of employment spaces such as offices. New research, published in our Future Workspaces report, shows that the changes to the way we use […]
10th Jan 2021
Co-working might be a new concept for many of us, but it’s been a common practice in the creative and cyber sectors since the 1990s. From Berlin’s C-Base to San Francisco’s Spiral Muse, community workspaces have been providing freelancers and remote workers with the lost benefits of office working for more than 20 years. And […]
10th Jan 2021
With people spending more time online, and record numbers of people accessing work systems from home networks, cyber security has been a chief concern for employers during this pandemic. Barracuda, which has been monitoring global Covid-19-related cyber incidents, reported a +6,500% increase from January (137 incidents) to March (9,116 incidents) last year. New research, published […]
10th Jan 2021
Both employers and employees are enjoying gains from the work-from-home scenario. So why, if at all, do we need to return to the office? And if we do, what needs to change? We all have unique needs, but there is one thing that unites us all: we are social creatures. We operate best when we […]
10th Jan 2021
Levels of cybercrime increased exponentially during lockdown, as hackers took advantage of the weakened digital defences of home-workers. New research, published in our Future Workspaces report, suggests that Q1 of 2020 saw a +6,500% rise in Covid-19 related cyber incidents. While this doesn’t compare to the severity of human loss during the pandemic, it nevertheless […]
10th Jan 2021
New research, published in our Future Workspaces report, shows that collaborative working is one of the things people are most concerned about missing out on when they work from home. As Claire Batsford, interim Chief Operating Officer of a Housing Association, says: “Working from home sometimes, gives me the kind of balance in my life […]
10th Jan 2021
Flexible working requires agile minds, policies and resources. Are businesses ready to be truly flexible, or just paying lip service? One thing our new research has shown, published in our Future Workspaces report, is that there is no one-size-fits-all. The exceptional circumstances of 2020 led to a government directive to “work from home if you […]
10th Jan 2021
The lockdown-induced work-from-home revolution has given both employers and staff an insight into what life could be like in a virtual world. A better work-life balance, borderless recruitment, the elimination of commuting woes, perhaps. But it has also highlighted the risks that offset these rewards, the employer’s long-term health challenges of a hybrid home-and-office working […]
10th Jan 2021
Hybrid working is looking like the biggest change for workplaces in 2021. As the vaccine rolls out and the UK begins to recover from the impact of Covid-19, we will, inevitably, go back to the office. With it likely being less frequent, and offices being less busy, it gives employers to repurpose their space and […]
10th Jan 2021
The evolution of the high street is not new. Changing lifestyles and consumer trends have been shaping and re-shaping our neighbourhoods for decades. In-town vs out-of-town; shopping centre vs pedestrianised courtyard; megastores vs independents; bricks vs clicks. What was exceptional in 2020 and now as we are in a national lockdown again, was the wholesale […]