In this HR article we share a summary of some interesting statistics that were released in 2018.
Most dads take 6 months shared parental leave at Aviva
This news follows the government’s announcement to launch a campaign about shared parental leave after poor levels of take up across the country (2%).
The insurance company introduced a policy last year, which meant that new parents could take the same amount of paid and unpaid time off as each other, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or how they became parents (surrogacy or adoption). This policy includes 12 months of leave, 26 weeks of which are paid on full basic pay.
They have found that 67% of fathers who were eligible took six months off work, and 95% took more than the statutory amount of 2 weeks. They also found that female staff took an average of 47 weeks away from work, compared to an average of 43 weeks in the previous year before the policy was in effect.
Caroline Prendergast, interim chief people officer at Aviva commented: “The feedback from our returning parents has been fantastic. Many dads have said it’s helped them to understand what women have experienced for generations, so this fresh perspective is invaluable.” “If we are going a create diverse, inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive, we must avoid viewing people as just one thing – a woman, a carer, an older worker – and instead see the value they can add.” “By better understanding one another as employees, we can better understand our customers, so there are benefits all round.”
Majority of workers over 50 want flexible working
Currently in the UK there are 10.2 million people over the age of 50 in employment. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) arranged for a large-scale survey of over 12,000 workers over 50, and found that nearly 80% wanted more flexible hours and 73% wanted to see more part time positions offered. 63% said that they wanted training schemes to help them gain new skills and to deal with technology.
Read more at People Management.
Fastest ever fall in number of EU workers
Figures released by the Office for national statistics have shown that the number of EU workers in the UK has taken the sharpest fall since records were first taken back in 1997. In the period between July and September 2018, numbers fell by 4.5% compared to the same period in 2017, which equates to 107,000 people.
The CIPD recently advised that employers are finding vacancies harder to fill due to the decline in migrants coming to the UK since the vote to leave the EU. More than two in five employers have reported finding it “more difficult” to fill vacancies over the past 12 months and seven in ten said some of their vacancies were proving hard to fill.
Read more at People Management.
Health conditions in work
The new Work and Health Challenge Fund will see nearly £4million shared between 19 innovative projects which will support people with health conditions to stay in work. The plan is part of a 10-year government strategy to get 1 million more disabled people in work.
Projects include a new mobile phone app which aims to ease lower back pain by giving sufferers a personalised self-management plan; and an app to help individuals understand signs of mental ill health, including access to a Vocational Rehabilitation trained advisor.
