Stress levels are soaring because of the recession, a new report has suggested.

Workplace stress is on the rise

It warned millions of working days are being lost to stress as it has an effect on overall staff productivity and impacts on personal lives.

Londoners face the biggest problem with nine out of 10 people registering an increase in work-related pressures, it said.

In contrast, people in the North of England were showing the least signs of strain in the study of 2,000 people.

The research also warned of an increased risk of workplace accidents.  One in five of those questioned warned they were more likely to face such an accident because of rising stress levels.

The research by insurance company RSA showed people in the services sector and manufacturing were under the greatest pressure, while those in construction were the least affected.

Phil Bell, from RSA, said: "Workplace injuries cost British businesses hugely and many workers fear that stress will make them more likely to have an accident."He said all employers have a duty of care to their staff and that good employers will take steps to combat the growing problem.

"Big" doesn't mean job security

Employees no longer think large corporate companies will give them job security, a new survey has revealed. The survey, from peer-to-peer website Workology.com and research company Populus, showed that 53% of adults no longer trust large corporates to afford them the job security they require, while three in five adults view self-employment as a way of controlling how they work and 42% of web users anticipate they will exploit the internet more for ‘work-related reasons’.

Sam Gyimah, founder of Workology.com, said: “We are in a transitional age where trust in the workplace is moving away from established but impersonal institutions towards more personal and less formal relationships. “We’ve come to the end of the nice decade typified by cheap flights, digital music and movies, poking each other on social networking sites.  

With the economy slowing we are likely to see the web change to meet a new set of consumer demands, which are less about enjoyment and fulfillment and more about basic productivity.”

Temps proving to be the most flexible recruitment solution

According to a recent survey carried out by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), more and more employers are planning to boost the number of temporary workers in their organisation within the next six months.

This survey has revealed that 84% of the respondents are planning to take on more temporary workers instead of permanent workers due to the current economic uncertainty. Kevin Green, Chief Executive at REC, said: "The credit crunch is continuing to slow permanent job growth, however employers still need to recruit. This is why an increasing number of businesses are using temporary workers to ride the storm. Every week in fact, 1.3 million temps keep businesses in the UK moving."

These latest figures confirm a trend that has been emerging in the last couple of months, due to the current economic slowdown and the need to keep costs variable as opposed to fixed when hiring staff.

Flexible working now needed due to soaring fuel bills

Employers throughout the country are being urged to be more flexible towards their employees, in an attempt to alleviate the financial burden of the cost of travelling to and from work. With the average price of diesel currently set at around £1.30 a litre, it isn't surprising that many workers who own cars are evaluating the financial cost and implication of their daily commute to work.

Croner, the organisation which is part of the Wolters Kluwer group and that provides reliable support for legal compliance and best practice in a number of business areas, is encouraging employers to welcome all suggestions for flexible working from their members of staff that could make their working lives easier. Employment law consultant at Croner, Joanne Pitts, commented: "As fuel prices are going through the roof, the daily cost of driving to work is becoming a real burden for many people, especially for those who live in more rural areas.

As a result, more and more employees will probably approach their managers with requests to have their terms and conditions altered in order to reduce their weekly spend on fuel." Some employees will perhaps be able to start working from home or they will be able to change their start and finish time in order to avoid the rush hour traffic and, consequently, save time and money on fuel.

If you would like to find out more about how to implement flexible working within your organisation please visit www.croner.co.uk where you will find all the information you need!

Here at Flex we've noticed that more and more of our workers are asking for assignments nearer to home to reduce their travelling What's your experience? Are fuel prices affecting you or your workforce? Are you planning initiatives or schemes to support your employees? Let us know at pointsofview@flexrecruitment.co.uk

Less flexibility for British employers and more fairness for agency workers

The government has recently agreed a deal between unions and employers that will give agency workers in the UK the same employment rights as permanent staff after 12 weeks employment. Under this proposal, agency workers will get equal pay and holiday entitlement after 12 weeks in a job but will not benefit from sick pay or pension payments, and will have to work the same length of time as full-time workers in order to be eligible for paid maternity leave.

This proposal, however, relies on a Europe-wide agreement on workers’ rights and only once Brussels approves this directive will the government in the UK be in a position to implement its own legislation on the matter. General Secretary of Trades Union Congress, Brendan Barber commented: “This new deal will finally provide much stronger and well deserved legal protection for agency workers.”

According to the CBI half of agency placements last less than 12 weeks anyway, so firms would be protected when trying to fill short-term vacancies during busy periods. “This proposal will have an effect on employers and recruitment businesses and we suspect that it will be turned into law sooner than originally anticipated” says Adrian Hobbs, Managing Director at Flex. “We will also carry on researching this matter over the coming months and will provide you with opinions from a wide range of sources including our “Flex-ecutive” blog!”

No flexibility when it comes to health!

A recent research has revealed that some computer keyboards have more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat. Some of the keyboards swabbed for the research were regarded as a potential health hazard, as they we carrying bacteria that can cause food poisoning, such as E.coli and staphylococcus aureus.

According to microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson, keyboards very often reflect what is in people’s noses and guts and are sometimes filthier than a lavatory seat. If somebody in an office has a cold or worse, gastroenteritis, everybody else in the office is very likely to get ill as well by picking it up from a keyboard. One of the main causes of dirty keyboards is people eating lunch at their desk, for example, as crumbs encourage the growth of bacteria.

A further cause is represented by poor personal hygiene, such as not washing hands after using the toilet. The solution to the problem is to regularly clean your keyboard with a soft, lightly dampened cloth, as well as with alcohol wipes!

Flex acquires Satchwell's business

Flex Recruitment stepped in to pay the wages of nearly 400 members of staff from Satchwell Associates, the Nuneaton based recruitment company, who were set to lose their jobs when the company went into administration on Friday 14th December 2007.

As soon as Flex heard the news the Managing Director of the Flex, Adrian Hobbs, started negotiations with the administrator of Satchwell Associates to agree a package which would suit all parties involved, and would bring some festive cheer to the many temporary and permanent warehouse workers, lorry drivers and secretarial staff who faced a dismal Christmas.

Flex arranged to pay all workers the weeks they worked wherever the former Satchwell clients had agreed for Flex to do that and, in the end, over 60 workers gained permanent jobs from Satchwell’s former clients.

Flex has successfully absorbed Satchwell’s business into its own business and Satchwell’s former clients are now benefiting from improved service and quality levels, which Flex has a reputation for providing.

Will rise of minimum wage give people more flexibility?

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced that in October 2008 the national minimum wage will rise by 3.8% from £5.52 to £5.73 an hour.

Over one million people are expected to benefit from this increase, two-thirds of whom are women. The national minimum wage - according to the Business Secretary John Hutton – represents one of the most important rights for workers. It protects the lowest-paid workers from exploitation and creates a level playing field for business which boosts the economy.

The government is also determined to stop all employers who are still paying their employees less than the minimum wage, by increasing the maximum penalty to an unlimited fine.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber believes that the latest increase in the minimum wage will benefit workers, and employers will be able to adjust to these sensible increases without too many problems.

However, according to Unison representatives the increase in the minimum wage is still too low to protect the poor from the constant price rises in fuel, food and housing and a far more realistic figure would be around the £6.75 mark.

Happy Flexmas as 400 workers get paid before xmas!

A leading Midlands recruitment company has stepped in to pay the wages of nearly 400 staff whose company has gone into administration.

Flex Recruitment, whose headquarters are in Hinckley, has also agreed to employ 20 full-time staff from Satchwell Associates who were set to lose their jobs when the company went into administration on Friday December 14)

Satchwell Associates, which has offices in the UK in Nuneaton, Hinckley, Banbury and Lutterworth, were unable to pay the wages of its temporary and permanent warehouse workers, lorry drivers and secretarial staff.

But Flex Recruitment has put together a rescue package to bring some festive cheer to people who worked for the recruitment specialists.

Adrian Hobbs, Managing Director of Flex Recruitment, said: “When Satchwell Associates went into administration, that left over 400 workers who wouldn’t get paid and with Christmas on the horizon that would have caused a great deal of misery to their families.

“When we heard the news, Flex Recruitment started negotiations with the administrator to agree a package which would suit all parties and time was not on our side.

“We are going to pick up the wage bill and pay them for the weeks they worked wherever the former Satchwell clients agreed for us to be able to do that. We have worked continuously over the weekend to process timesheets and with the support of customers we managed to get the majority paid by Monday night. Over 60 staff gained permanent jobs from Satchwell clients.

“We will also retain 17 of Satchwell’s full-time office staff and we are now working to absorb Satchwell’s business into Flex Recruitment’s business.

“Satchwell’s had provided temporary work in similar sectors that we operate in so I am sure we will be able to help other workers fill the vacancies that we have across the West and East Midlands.”

Flex Recruitment, which has branches in Hinckley, Nuneaton, Coventry, Rugby and Leicester, supplies temporary and permanent production, distribution, call centre, secretarial and administrative staff.

Flex Opens New Office in Enderby

A leading Midlands recruitment company is moving into Leicester – and is already planning to open another two offices. Flex Recruitment, which has offices throughout the West and East Midlands, has opened its first recruitment centre in Enderby. Alison Potter will be in charge of the team at Dunn House in Warren Park Way.

Managing Director Adrian Hobbs said the site had been carefully chosen to be near several key business locations in Leicester. “We will be well placed to serve the Grove Business Park, Enderby, Narborough, Braunstone, Desford and the entire south west of Leicester. “We specifically targeted this area to open a new recruitment centre because we have a growing customer base requiring both temporary and permanent staff for their businesses. “Another reason for opening an office in Leicester is to get closer to our job applicants and make it as easy as possible for them to access our business rather than them travelling to our Hinckley office. “We want to bring together their web applications with the personal touch and experience of Flex staff.

“This is the first of three recruitment centres that we plan to open in Leicester over the next two years. “We are currently looking at a site towards Loughborough and then in central Leicester.”

Flex Recruitment provides temporary and permanent production, distribution, call centre, secretarial and administrative staff. The company currently has recruitment centres in Hinckley, Nuneaton, Rugby and Coventry.