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                                Thursday 7th March 2019

THE HOT STORY

Bank scraps home working to enable 'better collaboration’
BNY Mellon plans to scrap a policy enabling UK employees to work from home, saying
bringing an end to a flexible working policy that allows staff to work remotely several
days a week will ensure "better collaboration and quicker decision making." The
Evening Standard says a number of staff have criticised the proposal, saying some have
consulted conciliation service Acas, with several considering legal action over a breach
of contract. The paper cites a staff member who described the move as “a massive step
backwards for diversity and inclusion which hits our most vulnerable demographics
including carers, working parents and those with mental health issues.” BNYM said it is
“reviewing all remote working arrangements in order to maximise the benefits of
people working closely together while maintaining some degree of flexibility.”
The Daily Telegraph Evening Standard Financial News

WORKFORCE
European countries are top for gender equality
The latest edition of the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law index, which
examines legal rights across the world’s labour markets, ranks Denmark, Sweden,
Belgium, France, Latvia and Luxembourg in the top cohort. "Six economies - Belgium,
Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg and Sweden - score 100 in the Women, Business

and the Law index, meaning they give women and men equal legal rights in the
measured areas. A decade ago none of these economies scored 100, indicating they all
reformed over the past ten years,” the report said. Austria, Canada, Estonia, Finland,
Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the UK followed the top six with scores of 97.5,
ahead of Australia, Iceland and Serbia, with scores of 96.88. Germany scored 91.88, and
the US registered 83.75. Saudi Arabia came in last on a score of 25.63, and the bottom
five was rounded out by the UAE and Sudan (both 29.38), Iran (31.25), and Qatar (32.5).
Copenhagen Post

Glasgow councillors to take next step on settling equal pay
The city administration committee of Glasgow City Council is to be asked to back the
introduction of a Job Evaluation Scheme, the next step towards implementing a new pay
and grading system as part of moves to fully settling the council’s equal pay issues.
Workforce convener Cllr Michelle Ferns said of the new scheme that: “Equality will be at
the centre of the implementation and the required training for those involved in its
delivery will include the principles of equality and the concept of equal pay for work of
equal value.”
Glasgow Evening Times

TECHNOLOGY
Executives use new technologies to do more with less
A new survey suggests US executives are turning to artificial intelligence and other new
technologies to do more with less in the wake of efficiency gaps following budget and
staff reductions spurred by concern about an incipient US economic slowdown. The
survey of 150 human resources, finance, information technology and procurement
executives by consulting firm The Hackett Group found that 91% of respondents rated
digital transformation and maintaining a competitive cost structure as either highly
important or critical. "Using digital tools, technology platforms, companies . . . can
answer these cost challenges but at the same time maintain high levels of service
quality,” said Hackett's Nilly Essaides.
Wall Street Journal

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
Special Report: Women at the Start
The FT looks at issues around how young women should prepare for the world of work,
including the importance of alumni contacts and the advantages of becoming a reverse-
mentor.
Financial Times

UK workers of all ages need to embrace learning
In a letter to the FT, Andrew Harding of the Association of International Certified
Professional Accountants highlights the need for UK workers to embrace the learning of
new skills.
Financial Times

LEGAL
Race for equality in the legal profession continues
With 2019 marking the centenary of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act – which
gave women the right to qualify as barristers and solicitors, sit on juries and volunteer
as magistrates – Christina Blacklaws, president of the Law Society, says the race for
equality in the profession is “far from over” and that the sector “needs to be at the
forefront of the fight for equality in the workplace.” Meanwhile, Baroness Hale, in an
interview with The Times, looks at the status of women 100 years on from the 1919 Act,
highlighting that there is a need for women to gain access to senior leadership roles and
positions. She notes problems around managing a work-life balance in a career where
hours and unpredictability make child or parental care difficult, noting the need for
support and adding: “I look forward to the day when this is seen as a joint problem, not
a women’s problem.” Elsewhere in The Times, Catherine Baksi considers the challenges
for women who are both lawyers and mothers, highlighting the case of Charley Pattison
at Albion Chambers who arranged breaks during a trial so she could breastfeed, saying
this “shows that the traditionally conservative and male-dominated legal profession is
being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the modern world.”
The Times The Times The Times

Nordic region’s money laundering noir tarnishes its spotless image
The FT's Richard Milne says the Nordic ‘dirty money’ scandal involving Danske Bank,
Nordea and Swedbank "demonstrates how these supposedly whiter-than-white
countries are an essential part of the alleged corruption." Meanwhile, Yle reports that
the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIVA) is setting up a new unit to combat
money laundering. Samu Kurri, head of the agency's institutional supervision
department, said the new unit will introduce measures "closer to the international
level." He added: "We in the Nordic countries have been too gullible regarding money
laundering. Finland is quick to advise others on how to do things right. Before we can
further do so, we must do as we say and show an example."
Financial Times Yle Uutiset

£1m compensation for civil servants
A UK tribunal has awarded more than £1m in compensation to 49 civil servants who
accused the Home Office of discrimination due to their age or ethnicity. The staff were
told they must undertake a Core Skills Assessment (CSA) if they were to be considered
for promotion, which they all subsequently failed. Reports given to Thompsons
Solicitors, which represented the claimants, agreed with a position that the CSA
unjustifiably treated BAME and older workers unfairly.
The Guardian

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Diversity rather than pay to drive AGM agendas?
The Times’ Patrick Hosking says that while the least popular job in the boardroom has
traditionally been the chairmanship of the remuneration committee – as it is they who
“takes the flak in rows over executive pay” – this could change as shareholders
increasingly focus on diversity, meaning nomination committee chairmen will “start to

get it in the neck.” Hosking considers the "one and done" philosophy that has seen some
companies hire a female board member to “get the governance wonks off their backs,”
saying that this will no longer work, with the Investment Association set to “red top” the
74 of Britain's 350 biggest listed companies which have only one female director.
The Times

CORPORATE
HSBC appeals to shareholders in pension row
HSBC is facing a shareholder vote at next month's annual meeting over an old pension
fund for thousands of UK staff which campaigners argue is "unfair." The dispute relates
to "clawback" applied to the pension payout when a member reaches retirement age
and also receives a state pension. HSBC said it would cost £450m to stop the practice for
members yet to retire and is urging its shareholders not to vote for the resolution on
April 12th.
BBC News

John Lewis staff await bonus news
The John Lewis Partnership will update staff at its John Lewis and Waitrose stores
about their annual bonuses this morning, with some speculating the group could pay
staff nothing at all for the first time since 1953. The bonus for the group's 83,000 staff
was 5% of salaries last year, the lowest level since the 1950s, and chairman Sir Charlie
Mayfield has warned that profits will be lower this year. A decade ago the bonus was
15%.
Daily Mail

Honda workers call on MPs for support
Honda workers in the UK have urged MPs to put pressure on the Japanese car giant to
save their Swindon factory, with a petition to save their jobs reaching 13,000 signatures.
Workers travelled to parliament to lobby MPs over the closure, which Unite says will
see 12,000 jobs lost on top of the 3,500 roles at the Swindon site. Unite representative
Alan Tomala said the Honda workers were not giving up, commenting: "We're not going
to walk off into the sunset and lock the doors to the plant."
Daily Mirror Daily Express

INTERNATIONAL
New ride-sharing app could increase women's access to job market
Israeli researchers from The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology have
collaborated with The Ministry of Transport and women's rights organisation Kayan to
launch a new ride-sharing application that seeks to give Arab women in northern Israel
access to the workplace. Dr. Robert Ishaq and Ebtihal Shety, the application developers
who work for Technion's Transportation Research Institute, said: "Our main target
audience were women who suffer from lack of transportation options both within and
outside their villages. The application's main potential is that the majority of these
women (98%) have access to a smartphone and 73% have a driver's licence.”
Jerusalem Post

OTHER
This really is a job for life
Swedish artists Simon Goldin and Jakob Senneby, in partnership with Public Art Agency
Sweden and the Swedish Transport Administration, have created a genuine job for life.
A "forever employee" will be chosen to turn on the lights at Korsvägen train station in
Sweden’s second city of Gothenburg. Other than that, “the position holds no duties or
responsibilities besides the fact that the work should be carried out at Korsvägen.
Whatever the employee chooses to do constitutes the work,” reads the job description.
The artists' Eternal Employment foundation is funding the venture. When the employee
retires or chooses to leave, another will be selected.
Atlas Obscura

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