Monthly Archives: June 2020

Home Working, News, Research

Remote workers may be more dishonest than office workers – and its women that could be to blame

Women are more likely to be dishonest than men when working remotely, according to research by the University of Cologne.

The research, conducted by Dr. Julian Conrads and Dr. Sebastian Lotz, revealed that women were more likely to be completely dishonest if the method of communication is more distant and anonymous.

The study asked the participants to flip a coin four times and inform the researchers what it landed on. Each time the coin landed on tails; the participants received a monetary reward.
The communication channels used to inform the researchers differed – either no technology was used, for example face-to-face, or it was increasingly ‘distant’ or ‘anonymous’, for instance ‘’web-based’.

“The research reveals that an individual’s lying cost may be affected by social distance concerns, and this effect seems to be more pronounced for women than men when it comes to lying to the full extent. Women – communicating remotely from home – were more likely to report landing on tails for four times compared to men,” says Dr. Conrads.

This research is relevant in an organisational setting as decision makers have to decide which communication channel to rely on when organising communication among employees – especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As face-to-face communication is unavailable due to most employees working remotely, the next best thing is video conferencing rather than chat. Dishonest behaviour was prevalent in all experimental treatments but increased as the method of communication became more ‘distant’ and ‘anonymous’,” says Dr. Conrads.

The study was published in the journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics.

Charity & CSR, Healthcare News, News

Disabled children’s charity Footprints hopes to celebrate 40 years of supporting families – but faces funding challenges after COVID-19

Footprints CEC (conductive education centre) has been a lifeline for families of disabled children in the East Midlands and beyond for almost 40 years. Now, it battles to stay afloat after experiencing a 40% funding loss since the coronavirus pandemic began.

The education centre provides weekly sessions for families of children with mobility or communication difficulties across the East Midlands, teaching them everyday life skills that are often taken for granted such as eating and walking.

One family who has been touched by the Nottingham-based charity’s services is the family of 19-month old Jesse who has a number of health conditions which affect his development.

Mum Beth Fisher had been attending Footprints’ conductive education centre with Jesse for nearly a year when the pandemic forced its closure.

Jesse was born prematurely at 31 weeks, and as result was very ill when he was born, having a collapsed lung at one day old. When he was just three and a half weeks old, his family were told he had severe bilateral brain damage/Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) – which is a type of brain injury, most common in premature babies, that causes damage to the white matter of the brain. They were told before birth and in the first few days he might not survive, but he continued to go from strength to strength and was discharged after spending the first four weeks of his life in hospital.

Doctors said that Jesse was likely to have a number of physical and learning difficulties and may have epilepsy. It was also said to be likely he would have cerebral palsy, and he has recently been formally diagnosed with the condition which affects his movement, coordination and sight.

Jesse’s development is delayed, and he is just learning to sit on his own at 19 months – something that is often done by babies between six to eight months. It is unclear if he will ever be able to walk, and if he does, he may need some form of walking aid.

Jesse was attending Footprints weekly where he works on his mobility and communication, as well as learning things other children would generally pick up naturally.

Beth said: “Footprints is a place of physical, emotional and social support for children and parents of disabled and special educational needs children.

“Through the weekly sessions, I’ve made great friends who understand how it feels to raise a disabled child. It can be difficult to go to regular baby groups where other children are all developing neurotypically and can all do the same things, so having other parents to relate to who understand how you feel means the world to us.

“At Footprints, Jesse gets the opportunity to work on everyday skills such as rolling over, standing and learning to turn pages in a book. Through the programme and conductive education classes, we can monitor things such as how he responds to certain activities like reaching or using his hands, and put these ideas into practice at home. The weekly sessions are amazing because he learns by repetition – he knows what’s coming and he learns what to do next time.

“The sessions are very social, and since the temporary closure of the centre we have missed the simple things like sitting with the other families to have a snack, and just the support that being at the centre gives us as a family.

“It would be more than a massive disappointment for the children and their families if the centre had to close, it’s our children’s development which is at risk. We have come to rely on the centre and there aren’t many other places like it, certainly not in our area, we don’t know where else we would go to help Jesse.

“I can’t thank the Footprints team enough for the way they have supported me and Jesse – it’s life changing. I sincerely hope they are able to secure more funding to help the centre reopen in due course.”

Nathalie Bailey-Flitter, manager at Footprints CEC said: “Despite the pandemic, we have seen some incredible support from the public and our ambassadors. We’ve been humbled by those trying really hard to fundraise and putting themselves out there to help us survive. We have a 40 year history of successful conductive education and we dedicate our services to people like Jesse and Beth.

“It’s heart-breaking to think that we may have to rethink our strategy to survive, possibly making some difficult choices regarding our services. We desperately need more people to support us, particularly through annual corporate partners as that length of kind support helps us forward plan financially and helps us ensure we help as many families as we can.”

Footprints currently supports 60 families and must raise a minimum of £17,000 a month to survive.
If you would like to support the charity, you can donate to its Keep Footprints Afloat campaign: http://bit.ly/KeepFootprintsAfloat

News, Property

Seven considerations for ensuring a property is a ‘forever home’

Homebuyers looking for properties with a ‘forever home’ appeal can look to these seven simple considerations for finding and ensuring a happy home for life.

The concept of the ‘forever home’ means finding a space that suits your needs, is flexible and can adapt with you in the future – so it’s important to consider a number of things to ensure what you’re looking for is right and can grow with you.

From location, to interior, scope for improvement and quality of fixtures – the property experts at North Sands Developments have shared their top considerations for finding the ‘forever home’.

James Hartley, director at North Sands Developments, said: “Whether you are new to the property market or have moved multiple times, finding a home can be difficult, especially somewhere you would like to stay for the long run. It’s important to take into account a number of considerations when looking for the ‘forever home’, to ensure it’s a space that can suit and evolve with you.

“In these uncertain times – we can learn a lot about how to safeguard ourselves and our families by future proofing our homes and livelihoods, so these considerations talk about the importance of ensuring our forever homes include spaces to accommodate remote working and ensure comfort, if spending a lot of time in the home.

“At North Sands Developments, we design homes with futures and families in mind, and it’s important to consider the needs and priorities of your family and how finding a home may change your lifestyle and family dynamic for the better. From looking at its location near schools and good commuting routes, to checking the viability of extensions, we’ve put together a list of seven simple considerations to keep in mind whilst you’re searching for the ‘forever home’.

Here are seven considerations when searching for a ‘forever home’:

1. Location
Undoubtedly one of the most important aspects of finding a ‘forever home’ is finding the right location. This is crucial to the needs and priorities of everyone in the household now and in the future. Consider the property’s location in regards to school catchment areas and do some research into how those schools are performing and how well they would suit your children.

Whilst a garden is a wonderful feature, it’s also important to ensure that there are nearby outside locations for you and your family to enjoy outside of the garden – whether that’s parks, woodland, walking or cycling trails or any nearby countryside where you can enjoy fresh air and exercise with family and pets.

It’s also important to ensure that transport links are convenient for getting to your place of work and to the nearest city or town centre and nearby major motorways for commuting, so be sure to do your homework.

2. Budget
Having a ballpark budget figure in mind will allow you to search for homes, but dependant on what you find, it’s always important to keep money aside for sprucing up the interior and for future extensions. It gives you a good guideline as to what you can realistically afford and what you need to compromise on, but don’t forget additional fees on top of the deposit for the cost of solicitors, mortgage booking fees, arrangement fees, valuation and surveyor fees, as well as lender/broker fees if you choose to use them.

3. Interior
From the quality of fixtures and fittings, to the size and placement of rooms – the interior of a home is obviously a very important consideration. Consider the internal layout of a home to ensure it works for your family’s lifestyle and provides plenty of space. Again, ask yourself some questions about your preferences: is the kitchen the heart of your home? Would you like an open plan living space? Do all the bedrooms need to be the same size? Will you need all bedrooms moving forward, or will you need more?

4. Spaces with value
Based on the interior of the home – think about where you can create spaces of value for yourself and your family. In these uncertain times, with many having spent time at home, living and working remotely, it is important to ensure that your property possesses suitable spaces to ensure that your living quality is good should a pandemic arise in the future. Quiet, tranquil spaces for relaxation and reading, a study for remote working, and a good-sized garden are just a few suggestions when considering how to ensure your property is a ‘forever home’.

5. Quality appliances and electronics
Once you’ve decided if a property and its spaces are a good fit for you – to keep your home running smoothly it’s important to choose quality appliances and electronics to improve your quality of living. Do your research online, ask trusted friends and family and choose a good standard of main appliances and electronics – such as ovens, fridge freezers, internet, tech, heating controls and good WIFI, should you need to work remotely. The better the investment, the longer these will last, so it’s worth paying out for quality.

6. Scope for extension
It’s also a good idea to consider if the property has potential to be extended in the future, providing you with further space that will help to raise the value of your home. Increasing the space in your home with an extension can be a great investment for your family, and is another option to consider rather than moving to a larger house and paying stamp duty.

It’s worth looking into the viability of whether a property can legally be extended and dimensions for any potential works before saying yes, so you can have an idea of what you can do with the property in future.

7. Future plans
A property is one of the biggest purchases of a lifetime, so it’s important to think about what the future may bring as this decision will affect the entire family. For example, a growing family might need more space in years to come while a family with older children may wish to downsize after retirement.

Marketing, PR and SEO, News

COVID-19 has left journalists wanting more (and better) PR

The majority of journalists have suffered from a general lack of PR since lockdown began, according to research by Energy PR.

56% of journalists have noticed a drop in PR activity from their industry contacts, with one in four complaining that PR has gone completely quiet.
The research, which surveyed trade and national media professionals to get their view on how things have changed since COVID-19, found the majority of journalists are struggling to get hold of spokespeople and marketing teams, and feel that companies have become more cautious and reluctant to make media decisions.

As a result, 53% of journalists are receiving fewer pitches and press releases from companies or their agencies. And, while one third of journalists are receiving the same volume of PR as before COVID-19, 27% felt the quality has declined.

According to journalists, other common PR errors include trying to be COVID-relevant when they’re not (53%), not being creative (17%) and pitching stories that jar with the general mood of the situation (11%).

Louise Findlay-Wilson, Managing Director of Energy PR, says, “COVID-19 is uncharted waters for all of us, and it’s understandable that companies would take a conservative approach to PR in the first instance, and not get it quite right when they do try to kick things off again.
“But to continue to socially distance your business by cutting comms is a huge mistake. Now more than ever, companies need to be communicating with their target audiences, through their normal comms channels and through the media, so they can get on the front foot as lockdown eases.

“This research just goes to show that there is a huge opportunity to generate coverage as long as you’re pitching quality, creative stories and are sensitive to the situation and to journalists’ needs. With a strong comms team or PR agency, this shouldn’t be difficult. You just have to be brave.”

To view the full report, click here. For more information about Energy PR, visit www.energypr.co.uk.

News, Technology

CooperOstlund adopts digital oil sampling

CooperOstlund, the UK’s leading provider of gas engine specification and maintenance services, has partnered with Lubetrend to provide clients nationwide with a completely digital oil sampling process.

Via Lubetrend’s bespoke app platform, engineers can digitally scan engine oil samples before sending them off for analysis – reducing paperwork and eliminating inaccuracies. Once analysed, the results are accessible via the app and can be logged for ongoing comparison requirements.

Alongside improving processing speeds, digitising sampling allows CooperOstlund’s engineers to quickly access oil condition reports. This provides faster data analysis for the customer, which can prove vital when dealing with a serious engine issue.

Tim Broadhurst, Chief Commercial Officer at CooperOstlund, commented: “Partnering with Lubetrend to digitise our oil sampling capability is the latest step in an ongoing programme of activity to further improve service capability for clients across the UK.

“The app will speed up our oil analysis process and provide a comprehensive log for ongoing comparison. All in all, a highly effective tool for our engineers.”

For more information about CooperOstlund, or to find out about the company’s gas engine specification and maintenance services, visit www.cooperostund.com.

Education, News

University students facing food insecurity due to pandemic

Four out of ten university students have reported they are worried that they will run out of food as they deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report.

A collaboration of universities in the UK and USA surveyed students on their levels of food insecurity during April, after universities in both nations ceased campus-based teaching.

The preliminary findings outlined in the report, Food Insecurity and Lived Experiences of Students, reveal students have high levels of food insecurity and low levels of mental wellbeing, alongside a high level of lost jobs and income since the outbreak of COVID-19.

The findings have been submitted to the UK Education Select Committee inquiry into the impact of COVID-19 on education and children’s services.

The survey was completed by more than 1,200 students. The results reveal that 41% of students were worried that their food would run out and almost 35% of students reported high or very high, levels of food insecurity.

Those students who lived either alone or with other students were much more likely to face food insecurity than students who either lived at home already or who returned to their family home when lockdown began.

The situation was more positive for 56% of those students who were able to return home and live with their parents, as their parents purchased food and there was shared responsibility for preparing meals.

Financial worries were also a cause for concern. Almost 60% of students who responded to the survey said they were employed and reliant on this income to fund their education and living expenses. However, as many students are employed in the hospitality, leisure, and retail sectors they face a disproportionate loss in their jobs and income when businesses closed their doors.

There is already a known correlation between food insecurity and mental health and wellbeing, and this was confirmed further in the findings. One in five students report they are experiencing high levels of food insecurity and poor mental wellbeing, with many saying that they are eating unhealthy, ultra-processed foods and skipping meals

The authors of the report have called on the government and stakeholders in higher education, including Universities UK and the Office for Students to provide increased support for students.

In the UK, their recommendations include an increase and expansion in maintenance grants and loans and increasing the value of the hardship fund provided to UK universities.

Northumbria University’s Healthy Living Lab is one of the UK’s leading research centres into issues around the impact of diet on educational attainment and wellbeing, holiday hunger and food insecurity in children and young people. Researchers from the Lab worked in collaboration with internationally renowned academics from City, University of London; the universities of Sheffield and Ulster and Oklahoma State University in the USA, as well as representatives from the Students’ Unions at Northumbria and Ulster universities to proactively investigate the emergence of wellbeing issues as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold

Professor Greta Defeyter, Director of the Healthy Living Lab, explained: “Unfortunately we have become accustomed to seeing food banks on the high street, but I was surprised to hear that many universities around the world operate food banks or food pantries to alleviate student food insecurity.

“As in the wider society, this issue is not just about young people not being able to manage budgets. Rather, our research suggests that this issue is much more fundamental, it is a poverty issue, and challenges our perceptions of student equality and our belief systems of the stereotypical ‘poor student’.

“Our research has shown that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a disproportionate number of higher education students face a primary loss of income, high levels of food insecurity, and poor mental wellbeing both in the UK and USA.”

Dr Michael Long, Associate Professor for Sociology at Oklahoma State University, said: “It is clear from this study that food insecurity in university students is alarmingly high since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will likely increase the existing inequalities in the food systems in the United States and the UK.

“While food insecurity is a substantial and potentially growing problem for university students in general and within Oklahoma, we hope that this research will lead to evidence-based solutions aimed at reducing food insecurity and inequality.”

Dr Christian Reynolds of the Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London and a visiting Researcher at the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food, added: “This research is some of the first to have linked food insecurity and the COVID-19 lockdown through to coping mechanisms such as eating unhealthy, ultra-processed foods and skipping meals.

“It was alarming to see that 33% of those who self-reported ultra-processed foods as their main type of food, also experience food insecurity,” he said, but he also reported an appetite for change adding that he had received emails from students who were hopeful that sharing their experiences will lead to wider support and structural changes.

Dr Sinéad Furey, Ulster University’s research lead for this project commented: “This research provides an essential insight and understanding of the challenges students face in accessing and affording food in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and has worryingly outlined that one in three students reported low or very low levels of food security, and two in five were worried that their food would run out. Our findings will now enable universities to produce revised recommendations for students to alleviate this pressing need. Not to take action is a disservice to the next generation of employment-ready graduates.”

Andrew McAnallen, President of Ulster University Students’ Union, added: “Throughout the COVID-19 lockdown students have been riddled with uncertainty, with many losing jobs or becoming furloughed as a result of the pandemic. For many, this has resulted in financial insecurity and many students are worried about being able to put quality food on the table as a result. This paper offers a really valuable insight into the vulnerable and challenging situation students have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and reinforces the need to create a higher education system which is publicly-funded, lifelong and sustainable.”

The paper Food Insecurity and Lived Experiences of Students is available to view here.

 

Coronavirus, News, Return to Work

Mixed messages for businesses on returning to work safely

Business leaders are divided when it comes to the guidelines sent out by the government on returning to work safely. Despite confusion over government guidelines, the majority of businesses feel confident in reopening their business to employees.

As more restrictions are lifted and non-essential businesses are allowed to reopen it is likely that other businesses with commercial premises, not specifically under any form of restrictions will begin taking this as a signal that they are able to begin bringing their staff back from working from home or off furlough.

In a recent survey conducted by Huddersfield based glass manufacturer, Specialist Glass Products (SGP), it revealed that four in ten (42%) businesses felt government guidelines have not been communicated effectively, whereas (40%) felt that guidelines had been communicated effectively.

Regardless of the mixed views, over three quarters (77%) of employers felt that they had adequate PPE and social distancing measures in place to provide a COVID-19 secure work environment and, as a result, 72% felt that they have the measures in place to allow all staff work on work premises, and with four in five (80%) of employees saying that they were confident in returning to the workplace if they were asked to do so it’s likely we’ll see many more businesses begin to return to some form of normal operation.

Hand sanitisers and 2-meter social distancing rules are proving to be the most common measures implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Businesses are also implementing additional washing facilities, face masks, screen dividers and alternate shifts.

Gary Slade, CEO of Teleperformance UK and South Africa, reported that the company has ordered more than 230,000 masks for its UK employees to be safe at work. Teleperformance has also introduced additional measures to support its people, including appointing ‘Social Distancing Champions’ who remind staff of the government advice at all times and more recently ‘Hygiene Heroes’, made up of front-line staff in all offices, ensuring staff deliver in terms of cleaning.

However, not all business leaders were confident in reopening work premises to staff and the public. Nearly two in six (17%) felt they would be unable to have all their staff back in the workplace while following current government advice. A further one in ten (10%) felt unsure when asked if they could allow all staff to return to work. Of those who felt unable to, 24% of those said that they expect redundancies, which is in contrast to just 10% feeling concerned about their job security.

For those returning to their place of work, nearly four in five employees said that they were confident that the employer has the necessary health and safety measures in place to ensure a safe return to work.

Tom Jenane, nutrition and fitness expert at the Natures Healthbox, an online retailer of natural health, beauty and home goods, reported that his employer “has been very thorough at walking through how we can be safe in the office, but also highlighting that I don’t have to come back to the office if I don’t feel comfortable doing so.”

Despite the majority responding positively to getting back to the workplace, some employees expressed concerns that they were being asked to return to work, even though they felt unsafe, citing lack of communication around new safety measures or that businesses were not providing PPE.

Regardless of the mixed messages, employers have a duty of care and employees have the right to feel safe at work. For those who feel unsure about how they can provide a safe work environment for staff, Richard YEO, director at ACI, an office design and fit out company advised businesses should be looking at ways to create space, whether that’s by moving desks to only allowing back certain staff that needed to be in the office. If only a set amount of staff is allowed back at once, YEO predicted that there will be an upswing in offices that have a hot desk layout, where anyone can use any desk at any time when they’re in the office. However, he advised that this requires a good level of cleanliness and responsibility.

With its expertise in glass manufacturing, survey organisers, SGP recently launched glass screen dividers, also known as ‘sneeze screens’ to help prevent the spread of viruses and any other contagious illnesses in response to COVID-19.

Andrew Taylor, managing director at SGP said, “The protective glass screens we manufacture are an ideal solution to enable employees to social distance in the office and other workplace environments. Thinking about and planning for the future, in particular when it comes to health and safety, should be on everyone’s agenda.”

Business Research, COVID-19, News

Small businesses migrate online to keep ventures afloat

One in seven small business owners (14%) say they are transitioning towards becoming fully or mainly online enterprises since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK, according to new research from Hitachi Capital Business Finance.

The findings come at a time when Facebook has announced the launch of Facebook Shops, which gives small businesses that have suffered amid the pandemic the tools to create online stores on Facebook and Instagram. The new Hitachi data suggests the proportion of small businesses that are offering services fully online, has increased by more than 50% since the period of isolation began – rising from 24% to 38%.

The sectors where small businesses were most set up for online operations before the pandemic struck were retail (43%), IT and telecoms (40%) and media (40%). In the last two months, the sectors where small business owners have been most urgently transitioning their ventures to online platforms have been education (29%), medical (22%) and finance and accounting (21%).

The net result is different industry sectors are set to emerge from the lockdown period as the most digitally enabled. Further, the research suggests the pandemic may see a widening of the tech gap between small businesses – with the gap between the most and least digitally enabled sectors widening from 33% to 45% in a matter of months.

By region, the research reveals that the East of England (33%) and Scotland (29%) have now overtaken London as the regions that now have the highest proportion of small businesses online. London (21%), the South West (15%) and Wales (15%) are the regions where small business owners are working the hardest to transition their businesses onto a fully online enterprise.

Gavin Wraith-Carter, Managing Director at Hitachi Capital Business Finance commented: “In recent years, online and digital capabilities have been seen as desirable goals for many small business owners – for others, a consideration for the future. The shock of the Covid-19 pandemic has changed things overnight. Today, online capabilities are essential, many small businesses need them simply to operate and to stay open for business.

“Our own research has revealed that offline businesses where more than twice as likely as online businesses to have had to close their doors since the pandemic struck the UK (39% Vs 17%). Furthermore, the online status of a small business in the current climate correlates with growth outlook for the months ahead. For example, 72% of the businesses that predicted significant expansion in the next three months were online businesses. In contrast, 71% of the small businesses that predicted they would struggle to survive were offline businesses.

“These are stark findings. At Hitachi Capital Business Finance we are investing heavily in our digital channels to support small businesses at a critical time and we expect to see a lot of small business investment and borrowing being directed in enhancing their online capabilities in the second half of the year.”

To learn more please visit: https://www.hitachicapital.co.uk/business-finance/

Appointments, News

Sandvik VP named Female Leader of the Future 2020

Global engineering group, Sandvik, boasts one of industry’s top female leaders — according to Ledarna’s ‘Female Leaders of the Future’ list. Nina Åxman, vice president and head of global operations at Sandvik Rock Tools, is listed as number one in the international list of inspiring women in leadership.

The ‘Female Leaders of the Future’ list compiles 75 female executives from a range of business sectors. Now in its fourteenth year, the Female Leaders of the Future initiative aims to highlight examples of women in leadership and create a meeting place for women in business to inspire and support each other.

Åxman joined Sandvik in January 2020. As vice president and head of global operations at Sandvik Rock Tools, Åxman is responsible for leading 1,300 of Sandvik’s employees across nine countries.

Before beginning her role as vice president, Åxman was keen to capture a true experience of life at Sandvik beyond boardroom meetings and conference calls. Putting on her Sandvik uniform, Åxman gained valuable perspective of working life at Sandvik’s production facility in Sandviken, Sweden — the organisations primary production site and town of the organisation’s namesake.

Åxman’s desire to diversify her working knowledge of Sandvik through hands-on experience is reflected in the company’s efforts to diversify its team. Sandvik works on several levels to increase diversity, including a program providing an introduction to staff on how to work with diversity and inclusion as a manager. As a result of these efforts at Sandvik, the share of women in managerial positions increased from 17.7 per cent to 18.2 per cent in 2019.

Diversity is an important agenda for many businesses. According to data from Catalyst, a global non-profit organisation that works to encourage women in leadership roles, 29 per cent of senior management roles were held by women in 2019 — the highest figure on record. With the ambition of helping this figure continue to rise, Ledarna’s Female Leaders of the Future will become more imperative to showcase the successes of women in a typically male-dominated sphere.

Each year, Ledarna evaluates several hundred resumes before determining its female leaders. Candidates are benchmarked against criteria such as organisational results and achieved position, personal attributes and potential.

In the words of Ledarna’s jury, “Åxman has the courage to make decisions that make things happen, and her modern and value driven leadership is rooted in responsibility, equality, sustainability and diversity.”

“She turns the typical image of a top manager upside down,” continued Andreas Miller, chairman of Ledarna. “[She] crushes the stereotype of a manager in a traditional male dominated industry. We need role models such as Nina Åxman to attract more young women with leader ambitions to the technical field.”

“Sandvik has the goal of achieving a one third share of female managers by 2030, which is something I am passionate about helping to achieve,” explainedÅxman upon receiving the award. “Gender equality and diversity are high on my agenda, and I pride myself on being a visible role model. I want to challenge the image of who can be an engineer or factory manager and use my position to inspire other females to become passionate, successful leaders.”

To learn more about how Sandvik is inspiring a diverse culture of employees, visit the website.

COVID-19, HR News, Law

“Flexible Furloughing”: the future of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Caroline Harwood, Partner and Head of Share Plans and Employment Tax, Crowe U.K. LLP, considers next steps for employers as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is set to end in October

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is one of the most heavily used government schemes supporting employers through the COVID1-19 pandemic.  The latest statistics (24 May 2020) report 1 million employers having furloughed more than 8.4 million employees and claiming £15 billion in an attempt to protect jobs. This represents more than a quarter of the private sector workforce on furlough, the fewest people working in a generation.

However, as the scheme is set to end, there are some key things employers need to be aware of:-

 

How is the scheme working?

We initially saw 500,000 businesses furloughing employees in April. This quickly doubled in May but anecdotally most employers have now furloughed most/all affected employees. As lockdown eases, some employees are being brought back to work either permanently or to cover specific projects before being re-furloughed.

This represents welcome breathing space for employers who have not been forced to make employees redundant only to be faced with search, selection and training for new staff as the economy reopens – a substantial cost saving and a benefit in terms of maintaining employee loyalty in unprecedented times.

 

What to do if you need to amend errors in claims

The claims process has been complex with unavoidably last minute guidance. HMRC has promised that claims already submitted can be amended in due course, but the functionality is not yet available. If you have made errors in previous claims, do not try to compensate for these in later claims. Instead, you must wait for HMRC to provide the amendment function.

 

What is changing?

June 2020

CJRS will be closed to new entrants from 30 June 2020. So to qualify, three weeks’ furlough must have been completed by 30 June and relevant employees must have been furloughed by 10 June 2020.

This leaves very little time for employers to determine which employees they will need to furlough between now and 31 October when the scheme closes. You will need to consider potential business activity and staffing needs for the next five months. There will be a certain degree of crystal ball gazing for some, but remember you can bring employees back to work part-time from 1 July 2020, however you can’t furlough anyone new after 10 June.

The changes also introduce a new limit to the number of staff who can be included on a claim. This will be based on the maximum staff ever included in any single pre 1 July claim.  This means that staff can be rotated on furlough but take care with the number of workers in each claim.

 

July 2020

From 1 July 2020 furloughed employees can be brought back for any amount of time or any shift pattern.

For the hours that the employee is working, the employer must pay their normal wages. For the time that they are not working, you can still claim 80% of the wages (capped at £2,500 per month) and the associated employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and minimum employer pension contributions.  The split of time is based on the normal number of hours worked in the claim period.  Both hours worked and usual hours will have to be reported in a claim.

31 July 2020 is the deadline for making any claims in periods to 30 June 2020.  Thereafter claims can be made for a minimum period of a week and a maximum of a calendar month.  Claims cannot be made for periods which overlap calendar months going forward.

 

August 2020 onwards

From 1 August 2020, employers will continue to be able to bring furloughed employees back to work, but the funding from the government will reduce to:

  • August – 80% of wages (capped at £2,500 per month) for the periods where the employee is not working, but employers will be required to fund the associated employer NICs and employer pension contributions.
  • September – 70% of the wages (capped at £2,187.50) for the periods where the employee is not working, employers fund the additional 10%, plus employer NICs and pension contributions.
  • October – 60% of wages (capped at £1,875 per month) for the periods where the employee is not working, employers fund the additional 20%, plus employer NICs and pension contributions.

The scheme will end on 31 October 2020.

 

Actions employers need to consider

  1. Plan your staffing needs now for the next five months.
  2. Furlough any further staff by 10 June 2020.
  3. Consider new HMRC guidance being issued on 12 June 2020.
  4. Consider bringing back furloughed staff on a part time/flexible basis from 1 July 2020. Their written agreement must be obtained first and this represents a change of terms of employment.
  5. Keep records of hours worked/not worked each week on which to base claims.
  6. Check your software/agent is capable of making claims on the flexible basis.
  7. Make all claims for the period(s) up to 30 June by the new deadline of 31 July 2020.

 

If you need any help or advice, I am able to help – get in touch by email: caroline.harwood@crowe.co.uk