Over the past three years, International Workplace has been commissioned by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to present case studies demonstrating the innovative work FM companies are doing to professionalise and showcase the industry. Previous case studies have focused on FM as a brand, ‘critical’ FM, and strategic planning. The launch of the latest – the fifth edition in the series – takes place at RICS HQ in Parliament Square, London, on Wednesday 8 November and is free of charge.  It’s open to anyone interested in st... Continue reading

Turning on the news each day brings a fresh story regarding workplace harassment, more and more cases are coming to light of historic or recent cases where inappropriate behaviour has occurred. Recent complaints raised in Westminster have prompted the government to promise urgent action to improve how complaints are handled and address how MP’s are treated.  The Government has vowed to look at putting increased measures in place to address complaints of harassment as more cases come to light. On the back of this, business should look to re... Continue reading

The UK government’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department of Health (DoH) have published an independent review of mental health and employer, authored by Lord Dennis Stevenson and Paul Farmer. Thriving at Work (PDF download) sets out what employers can do to better support all employees, including those with mental health problems to remain in and thrive through work. It includes a detailed analysis that explores the significant cost of poor mental health to UK businesses and the economy as a whole. Poor mental health costs... Continue reading

New guidance to help employers manage mental health in the workplace has been launched by ACAS, following a recent report by Business in the Community, which found only 11% of people questioned felt able to disclose a mental health issue to their line manager, while half of line managers said they would welcome training on the issue. Tom Neil, Head of ACAS guidance, said: "Most managers are used to dealing with physical ill health but can be less confident on the best approach for handling mental ill health. With one in six workers experien... Continue reading

For the first time, employed parents who lose a child under the age of 18 will have the right to two weeks’ paid leave under new laws published in the form of the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Bill. There is currently no legal requirement for employers to provide paid time off for grieving parents. But, under the proposed new laws, parents will be granted paid time off to grieve the loss of their child; a move which will honour the manifesto commitment to introduce a new entitlement for parental bereavement leave. The bill goes signi... Continue reading