Engagement, dedication rise with time off • Whistle-blower hotline service • Extended hours, extra costs • Italians strike over pensions • Ruling against breastfeeding
Engagement, dedication rise with time off
Braunschweig, Germany — Research at the Technical University of Braunschweig has linked leisure time to increased staff engagement. A study of 147 employees at six public-sector workplaces showed that even one evening of doing nothing work-related resulted in staff who were more proactive, more dedicated, took more initiative and more readily pursued on-the-job learning.
Whistle-blower hotline service
Perth, Australia — Australian firms are being offered a new service that aids whistle-blowing. A hotline, marketed successfully in South Africa by Deloitte Forensic, allows employees to report fraud, theft and harassment. In South Africa the service receives 4,000 annual calls from employees at 300 companies.
Extended hours, extra costs
Lexington, Mass. — Irregular work schedules, night shifts and other extended-hour positions can add about $11,000 per employee to the cost of doing business, consulting firm Circadian Technologies estimates. The costs come from lower productivity, higher absenteeism, greater turnover, increased health costs and more job-related injuries.
Italians strike over pensions
Rome — Millions of Italians went on strike last month to protest plans to change the retirement age. The government is proposing raising the number of years people must work before retiring with full pensions. Parliament has yet to vote on the matter. Italy’s pension system swallows about 15 per cent of the gross domestic product.
Ruling against breastfeeding
London — A British employment tribunal reversed an earlier decision entrenching a mother’s right to breastfeed at work. Last year an air force servicewoman, who sued after leaving the RAF over a dispute over her wish to breastfeed at work, won a landmark sex discrimination case. But the appeal tribunal ruled there is no legal protection for breastfeeding.
Braunschweig, Germany — Research at the Technical University of Braunschweig has linked leisure time to increased staff engagement. A study of 147 employees at six public-sector workplaces showed that even one evening of doing nothing work-related resulted in staff who were more proactive, more dedicated, took more initiative and more readily pursued on-the-job learning.
Whistle-blower hotline service
Perth, Australia — Australian firms are being offered a new service that aids whistle-blowing. A hotline, marketed successfully in South Africa by Deloitte Forensic, allows employees to report fraud, theft and harassment. In South Africa the service receives 4,000 annual calls from employees at 300 companies.
Extended hours, extra costs
Lexington, Mass. — Irregular work schedules, night shifts and other extended-hour positions can add about $11,000 per employee to the cost of doing business, consulting firm Circadian Technologies estimates. The costs come from lower productivity, higher absenteeism, greater turnover, increased health costs and more job-related injuries.
Italians strike over pensions
Rome — Millions of Italians went on strike last month to protest plans to change the retirement age. The government is proposing raising the number of years people must work before retiring with full pensions. Parliament has yet to vote on the matter. Italy’s pension system swallows about 15 per cent of the gross domestic product.
Ruling against breastfeeding
London — A British employment tribunal reversed an earlier decision entrenching a mother’s right to breastfeed at work. Last year an air force servicewoman, who sued after leaving the RAF over a dispute over her wish to breastfeed at work, won a landmark sex discrimination case. But the appeal tribunal ruled there is no legal protection for breastfeeding.
