Glasgow Employer Coalition has joined forces with Healthy Working Lives, Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Works and the Financial Services Agency to offer workplace based Financial Capability Sessions.  These free sessions are available to any employer** who is interested in supporting their staff to be more money aware.  

The sessions take one hour and cover:

• basic financial planning and budgeting;
• borrowing – long-term and short-term;
• insurance;
• saving and investing.

The sessions take place in your workplace and can take place at a time appropriate to you (lasting approximately one hour).  For more information or to download resources and materials visit the FSA website.

or to arrange a sessions during March 2010 contact:
Leona Seaton, Employer Engagement Manager, Glasgow Employer Coalition
lseaton@glasgowemployercoalition.org.uk
0141 800 3363/ 07500946298

** Please note a minimum of 20 participants are needed to run the course effectively.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) recently announced its intention to extend a pilot programme which aims to support people with mental health problems in the workplace. The pilot programme, run in conjunction with the mental health charity Mind, has demonstrated a 90% success rate in helping people remain in employment.

Jim Knight, Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, announced that the Government was now looking to extend the support, with an expectation of rolling it out nationally with a range of providers. Making the announcement, the Minister said: "I know disabled people dearly want to stay in work and their employers want to do everything they can to keep good staff. Our plans to offer the right help early on can end the downward spiral of people falling out of work into sick leave, and onto benefits. We are all agreed that helping people stay in work is good news for them, their bosses and for the taxpayer."

Sophie Corlett, Mind's Director of External Relations, said: "If employers put their mind to it and provide the right support they can keep their staff mentally well and fit for the workplace. People with mental health problems want to work but are often failed by employers who lack the understanding or the skills to provide the necessary support. We welcome the Government's increased investment in mental health, particularly during these difficult economic times, when now more than ever people need the support and understanding of their employers."

The Government also announced that it would be doubling the Access to Work fund, from £69m to £138m, over the next five years. This support, available through JobCentre Plus, provides practical advice and financial support to disabled people and their employers to help them overcome work-related obstacles resulting from disability.

Additionally, the first ever National Strategy for Mental Health and Employment is due to be published in the autumn of 2009.

A report published jointly by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Department for Work and Pensions and the Government Equalities Office has identified that young people, those living in deprived areas and men have suffered the biggest rises in unemployment in the recession so far.

The report examines the state of the economy in the first quarter of 2009 and looks at the impact of the recession across groups by age, gender, race and disability.

The key findings include:

• 16% of young people (or one-in-six) aged 18-24 year olds are currently unemployed, compared to 12 per cent the same for the same period last year.
• Unemployment rates in deprived areas have risen to 11.3% from 8.7% for 2008. This is a larger rise than for those living in more affluent areas.
• The number of men in work is at the lowest level for a decade, having fallen by 1.7% since last year to 77% overall. The unemployment rate for men has risen by 2.4% to 8.1% in the year to March 2009.
• As women now make up a greater proportion of the workforce, they are no longer as sheltered from the impact of recession

More positively, the report finds that employment rates among ethnic minorities, disabled people and older people have remained relatively stable. It also finds that employment rates for lone parents have actually increased, perhaps indicative of successful support services in place.

Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission said:

“The outcomes of previous recessions tell us that we must act now to ensure that the impact of this downturn on some groups does not inhibit our ability to grab the opportunities of recovery when they come. The attention at the outset may have been focused on the revolving doors of the nation’s investment banks, but it is once again groups from across society that are being hit hardest by the recession.

What the data in this report tells us is that, at this stage of the recession, young people, men and those in deprived areas are suffering the greatest impact. We must remember, though, that this report is just a snapshot and that the effects of the downturn could easily spread. The challenge will be not simply to see people through the harsh effects of unemployment, but to endow everyone with the right skills to survive on the other side. The labour market of the 21st century is more diverse, more global and - most importantly - more competitive. The UK needs to prepare urgently to meet those challenges.”

The report is available at:
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/monitoring-impact-recession-demographic-groups.pdf