Listed below are the biggest stories you may have missed this week.
Micro-breaks at work leads to faster thinking employees
It has been found that when an employee takes a micro-break they are able to think faster, feel more confident and understood better by others.
This research was undertaken by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) Business, who help employees become better communicators. Their “Thinking On Your Feet” report states that 42 per cent of employees are able to think faster when relaxed, 41 per cent said they feel more confident and 34 per cent said they feel better understood by others.
UK workers more vocal about climate change and the environment
UK employees are becoming more vocal on the topic of climate change and the environment in the office, with the amount of times employees mentioning the environment in the office skyrocketing in 2019.
This is according to Peakon’s report “2020 Employee Expectations” which found that in 2019 employee comments that mentioned environment-related issues nearly doubled, up 85 per cent on 2018’s total.
Budget 2020: COVID-19 measures and the HR implications
Rishi Sunak, announced his first ever Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer today (11/03/20) where he outlined that all workers advised to self-isolate will be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), self-employed or gig economy workers will find it easier to access benefits and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), SSP for their employees will be refunded by the Government for up to 14 days.
Dean Russell MP: ‘IR35 not a reason for businesses to discriminate’
Dean Russell, Conservative MP for Watford has said that the message needs to go to businesses that IR35 is not a reason for them to discriminate against contractors.
Mr Russell said this at the Houses of Parliament during the ‘Parliament Street Skills Summit-Closing the Gap’ talk which discussed the UK’s growing skills shortage.
World Sleep Day: work can impact employees’ sleep
Today (13/03/20) is World Sleep Day, a day intended to celebrate sleep, however, a health and wellbeing provider has questioned whether work related stress is making UK employees sleep less, as they are getting less than the recommended amount.
Experts suggest we should get between seven to nine hours of sleep a night, however, the average UK employee only receive six hours. Towergate Health and Protection have said that “hectic work schedules and pressure to meet deadlines can exacerbate the sleeplessness issue.”
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Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.
