Listed below are the biggest stories you may have missed this week.
‘Dire December’ will see a rise in unplanned staff leave
Employees take more than twice as much unplanned leave in winter compared to summer, with this peaking in the second week of December.
This is according to e-days, a provider of global absence management solutions. During the week starting 10th December last year, employees took 2 per cent of unplanned leave with sickness rate peaking at 2.26 per cent on the 12th December.
The company has attributed this to Christmas party fall-outs and Christmas shopping.
What has been coined “Dire December” is backed up by NHS employee sickness absence figures which showed that December 2018 saw the absence rate peak to 4.41 per cent.
Women more likely to be offered flexible working than men
A survey conducted by Tiger Recruitment found that 36 per cent of women are being offered remote or home working compared to 17 per cent of men. It also found that informal flexible working is offered more to women than men at 21 per cent vs 13 per cent as well as part-time working with 20 per cent vs 11 per cent.
Also, less than a third (32 per cent) of workers are not satisfied with the flexible working options being offered to them. Only 22 per cent are offered the option of flexi-time, 19 per cent are offered informal flexible working and 18 per cent are given the opportunity to go part-time.
Should companies administer fines to employees who commit office ‘offences’?
More than eight-tenths of UK employees would fine their colleague monetarily if they were unnecessarily rude or offensive as well as other “office” offences.
This is according to research from SavoyStewart.co.uk, a commercial property agent which found that 81 per cent of employees would fine a colleague £25 for being rude or offensive in the office. It also found that 77 per cent of employees would fine a co-worker £30 for not meeting a set deadline.
Can ‘hangover days’ attract young millennials?
A marketing company in Bolton offers employees “hangover days” as it believes it attracts young millennials, promotes trust and is a perk for those who do not have children.
Claire Crompton, co-founder and director of The Audit Lab believes offering these types of perks is key to attracting talent outside of Manchester.
Office romances spike amongst younger staff
Almost three-quarters of employees aged 25-34 have been involved in an office-based romance, however, employees have said it can negatively impact their productivity and stress levels.
Viking Direct an office supplier, conducted this research and found that 74 per cent of 25-34-year-old employees have been in an office-based romance. This comes at a cost with more than a third (37 per cent) of employees stating it decreases their productivity and 21 per cent believing it increases stress.
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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.
