NHS Workforce risks being further demoralised by hospital car park charging
An article in the British Medical Journal has warned that employee morale in the NHS, already hit hard in recent years, is at further risk from the introduction of hospital car park charging. Figures released earlier this year indicated that around a third of NHS hospitals already charge their own staff for car parking. At the top end, charges average out at around £2 per hour, or the equivalent of an £80 charge for a doctor or nurse working a 40 hour week. To highlight the scale of the issue, new figures this month suggest that the English NHS made a profit of £69.5 million last year from car parking charges levied on their own employees.
Over 20,000 Google employees walkout over Sexual Harassment Policy
On Thursday 1st November over 20,000 employees and contractors of Google across the world walked out in protest against sexual harassment, misconduct, lack of transparency and workplace culture. The move was triggered by the revelation of sexual misconduct allegations against Android co-founder Andy Rubin, who was reportedly paid $90 million to resign from Google and keep quiet about the affair. Google employees in countries around the world, including the UK, issued a set of demands including an end to forced arbitration for issues of sexual harassment and discrimination, commitments to equal pay and opportunity, clearer sexual misconduct reporting process and the addition of an employee representative to the board of directors.
Gender pay gap among senior executives may have shrunk significantly in 2018
Research by The Pay Index has found that the UK gender pay gap among senior executives in the UK has almost halved, from a reported figure of -22% in March to -12% in September 2018. The introduction of mandatory gender pay reporting in large firms has shed light on where major disparities exist and there has been growing pressure on employers to eliminate pay disparities. Globally, amid a climate of increased attention and focus on gender pay issues, The Pay Index found the gender pay gap for senior global executives shrunk from 17% to 9%, with an average male executive salary of £396,810 set against a female average of £327,240.