According to new research looking at how businesses feel about upcoming changes to legislation concerning shared parental leave, the majority of companies are still confused about their policies and how the changes will affect them when they come into force in April 2015. Shared parental legislation became law in March and as of April 2015 will give families the opportunity to share 12 months of leave after the birth of a child, helping women to return to work sooner and also allowing men to have more involvement in childcare duties. ... Continue reading

To mark National Work from Home Day, which took place on Friday 16 May, new findings were published, revealing that the number of people who say they usually work from home has increased by 62,000 over the course of the last 12 months to reach more than four million for the first time ever. The findings, which arise from a new TUC analysis of figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), also show that the number of regular home-workers has risen by over 500,000 since 2007. In addition, it states that millions of workers across ... Continue reading

Mental Health Awareness Week 2014 kicks off today, with the theme of this year’s event focused on anxiety, one of the leading causes of mental ill-health in the world. Anxiety is known to be a big issue in British society, and according to the Mental Health Foundation, levels of anxiety are rising. The charity revealed that a recent survey found that almost one in five people from around the UK feel anxious all the time, while nearly half of Britons stated that they feel more anxious than they used to. According to its research, approxim... Continue reading

The world of health and safety is being re-calibrated somewhat. A recent invitation to the biggest health and safety conference to date in the Middle East helped to open my eyes to the advances the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is making in health and safety management. To say that the International Exhibition for Security and National Resilience held at the magnificent Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre was laying down the gauntlet would be an understatement.  The exhibition was executed on a grand scale, featuring a simulation of ... Continue reading

Cognitive Neuroscientist, Dr Lynda Shaw, says that employees in the UK are often unmotivated because businesses don’t truly understand the importance of an effective review and rewards system being put in place. In the following article, Dr Shaw discusses further and offers useful tips for employers.   The motivation and reward systems in the brain can help us understand what drives people to go from bad to good, from good to better and from better to brilliant in business. Dopamine is one of the brain's pleasure chemicals. When behaviour... Continue reading