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A trial of a four-day working week has launched in the UK in a bid to measure whether employees who work less are more productive and have better mental health and wellbeing. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to shift the global work model, potentially for good, there have been increased talks surrounding the benefits ofRead more

More than half of UK workers would consider leaving their company if hybrid working is removed, according to a new survey. The research found that 51 per cent of UK workers able to combine in-office work with remote work would consider quitting their job if the flexibility of hybrid working is taken away. Microsoft UKRead more

In Australia, the recent Omicron outbreak has delayed the return-to-office plans for many businesses. As such, employers are once again being reminded of the physical risks associated with telework and how best to prevent them in a recent study. Public health researches from Kobe University in Japan studied 1,000 workers as they switched to teleworkRead more

Australian employers have been put on notice by a group of more than 30 unions to escalate their COVID-19 safety measures, who threatened to take action against any workplace that fails to do so. Leaders from national unions met to discuss the ongoing health and economic crisis caused by the rapid spread of Omicron, demandingRead more

New labour laws have been passed in Portugal that prohibit employers from contacting employees by phone, message or email outside of normal working hours. The new laws follow legislation put forward by the Socialist Party to improve the work-life balance of remote workers. With COVID-19 causing a rise in home working, there has been increasedRead more

The number of hours stolen from Australians by employers has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the average employee now providing eight full-time weeks of free work per year. The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work (AICFW) found the average employed Australian is performing 6.13 hours of unpaid work each week in 2021, up fromRead more

There have been around 170 directions issued in South Australia since the start of the pandemic, and with each direction comes new rules, according to Martin Haese, CEO of Business SA. Determining the interplay with existing arrangements each time is complex, to say the least, said Haese: “add to that the speed with which theRead more

Flexible workers feel better rested, more engaged, and have a higher sense of wellbeing than their office-based counterparts, according to a new study. Commissioned by the NSW Government, the Edith Cowan University study analysed the experiences of 1,039 NSW-based flexible workers throughout the 2020 pandemic lockdown to determine their psychological risk compared with non-flexible workers.Read more

Turning cameras off during virtual meetings could reduce employee fatigue, according to a new study, The study looked at the role of cameras in feelings of fatigue experienced after virtual meetings and whether these effects are stronger for certain employees. Study co-author and University of Arizona Professor Allison Gabriel said that while there’s an assumptionRead more

The second phase of a national safety standard for quad bikes will come into effect next month on 11 October 2021. This phase will require all new and imported second-hand general use quad bikes to be fitted with an operator protection device (OPD) or have one integrated into their design, and to meet minimum requirementsRead more