Results from XpertHR Absence survey 2016 has found that the national median absence rate in 2015 was 2.6%, which translates to 5.8 days per employee. Among the 602 survey respondents that provided data on absence rates, the national average stood at 2.8% of working time, equivalent to 6.3 days per employee.

The autumn is upon us and so is the start of the flu season. To combat the illness, every year a flu vaccine is put together to fight the current known strains of flu. In the UK, the flu jab is only offered free of charge to people in known risk groups but individuals can buy […]

Rio Summer Olympics 2016 are fast approaching. The games officially start on 5th August and the closing ceremony takes place in the very early hours of Monday 22nd August UK time. As with any major sporting event, the likelihood that employees will want to catch some of the action is high. Due to the time difference, […]

Using certain types of tools creates vibration, which transmits to the operator’s hands and arms. Prolonged exposure to hand-arm vibration can cause serious medical issues and trigger HAVS – hand-arm vibration syndrome. Employers, whose staff uses vibration tools, such as drills, chainsaws, strimmers, sanders and power mowers, must carry out risk assessments and annual health […]

The Resolution Foundation published a report titled Retention Deficit in June 2016 to discuss the challenge of increasing employment level among disabled people. This article provides a summary of the report and recommendations. All the recommendations put forward here are those of the report authors. Despite the employment rate sitting at a record high, the […]

The Institute of Employment Studies (IES) published a review of presenteeism in May 2016. Occupational Health & Wellbeing reported that the headline finding of the report was that presenteeism can be beneficial. Reading the report itself, it is obvious that the writers use a different definition of ‘presenteeism’ from the one we at Honeydew would […]

Wellbeing champions are employees, who choose or are chosen to focus on improving the wellbeing of their fellow colleagues as part of the company wellbeing initiatives.

Employee wellbeing is not just a nice company value but it can become an important factor in productivity. As Susan Silcox outlines in her report published by XpertHR, poor wellbeing has many detrimental consequences to the business.

Fit Note – 5 years on The Fit Note was introduced in 2010 and it has been in use for a little over 5 years. IOSH, the Chartered body for health and safety professionals recently conducted a study into the Fit Note titled‘Getting the best from the fit note’, which found that there is still widespread […]

1 in 10 employees admits to ‘pulling a sickie’ or faking an illness to avoid work. These sickies can be a nuisance at the workplace and are tricky to manage due to the contention involved in accusing someone of lying. Employers are also potentially on thin ice taking on the task of proving the employee […]