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News & Events

Jul 81 min read

📣 agilab research featured in new NHS staff standards

After 5 years of rigorous academia-practice research in partnership with the NHS and NHS Emplorers, we're delighted that decent, agile working features in the 'Promoting flexible working' section of the newly published NHS staff standards. Thank you to all of the NHS colleagues who have been part of agilab, sharing their knowledge and voices. For more on applying decent and agile flexible working, read the blog by Dr Emma Russel (agilab's direcotr) and Sam Owen (Assistant Dir

 
 
Jul 81 min read

📣 agilab research featured in advice on the increasing issue of staff burnout in the NHS.

Research from NHS Employers and agiLab points to a trend called "work indifference," where employees feel completely checked out and emotionally disconnected from their jobs. It's often a late-stage warning sign of burnout, especially in agile work settings, and it hits people who highly value their work identity the hardest. Because of this, managers need to notice when someone is disengaging and step in with genuine support. 📖 Read the full report "Work indifference: a sig

 
 
Jul 81 min read

📣 agilab featured in hybrid working event at the Palace of Westminster

On 23 June, agilab's director, Dr Emma Russell was invited to attend the Industry and Parliament Trust Evolving Workplaces: Adapting to Hybrid Work event at the Palace of Westminster on 23 June. Emma spoke about her work with agilab on how managerial mindsets can impact the implementation of hybrid working policies in organisations.

 
 
Jul 62 min read

🧭 Let's think about flex — new from NHS Employers & agilab (University of Sussex)

Flexible working policy is not the same as flexible working practice. That's the core message from Dr Emma Russell (Director of agilab, University of Sussex) and Sam Owen (NHS Employers; agilab steering committee member), drawing on five years of NHS research. The finding: statutory rights (the UK's nine types of flexible working) too often get applied as a rigid, one-off contractual change — ironically inflexible in itself. What actually determines whether flexibility works

 
 
Jun 181 min read

🗓️ Could a four-day week be one of the most overlooked levers for disability inclusion at work?

🗓️ Could a four-day week be one of the most overlooked levers for disability inclusion at work? A new briefing from Disability Rights UK, Patchwork Hub and the 4 Day Week Foundation makes the case that it could be — and the evidence is worth a closer look. Drawing on focus group findings from Disabled workers, alongside the wider evidence base on flexible and remote working, the briefing argues that a genuine 32-hour week (not compressed hours, with no loss of pay) can: ✅ Re

 
 
May 222 min read

📧 That email that made you wince? New data suggests you're far from alone.

Teacher Tapp has just published findings on incivility in school emails -- and the numbers are striking. Only 44% of primary teachers and 30% of secondary teachers reported not receiving an email from a colleague this academic year that left them feeling uncomfortable or frustrated. Among senior leaders, that figure drops to just 19%. Of those who did receive one, the most commonly reported features were: 🔴 Aggressive or hostile tone -- reported by 47% of teaching staff and

 
 
May 111 min read

📻 Our founder and Research Director, Dr Emma Russell recently appeared on the BBC's All in the Mind podcast to talk about email incivility -- and it's well worth a listen.

Some of the key insights Emma shared: → Email incivility is distinct from bullying or abusive supervision -- it's lower in intensity and intent is often ambiguous. But its organisational consequences are far from minor: reduced productivity, lower well-being, increased absenteeism, and higher staff turnover are all well-documented outcomes. → How we instigate incivility maps onto the stress response -- fight (hostile tone, strategic CC-ing of senior colleagues to 'put someon

 
 
May 111 min read

We've been working with NHS Employers to develop a practical new resource for NHS managers - and it's now live.

Working closely with the NHS, agilab developed a framework to help NHS managers take an inclusive, fair, evidence-based approach to decent and agile flexible working. The resource helps managers to look-up common workforce challenges and learn how decent and agile flexible working can assist with improving service provision, strengthening recruitment and retention, and reducing burnout and sickness absence. Lots of examples are provided from agilab research with NHS workers,

 
 
May 51 min read

🏛️ Big news for flexible working researchers and advocates.

The UK's Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) has just launched a new parliamentary inquiry into flexible working and disability and it's asking some important questions. Despite the post-pandemic cultural shift towards flexible working, the employment rate for working-age disabled people in Q2 2025 was just 52.8%, compared to 82.5% for non-disabled people. That gap is stubbornly persistent and this inquiry seeks to know why. 🔍 The inquiry will examine: ➡️ The effectiveness

 
 
Apr 281 min read

🔥 Burnout in 2026: The crisis isn't easing — it's embedding itself.

Mental Health UK's Burnout Report 2026 (4,500+ UK adults) makes for sobering reading: 91% of adults experienced high or extreme stress in the past year — unchanged for the third year running. 1 in 3 workers don't feel comfortable discussing stress with their manager — and that number is rising 🏥 1 in 5 workers took sick leave due to stress-related poor mental health 📋 Only 17% of those returning from stress-related absence had a formal return-to-work plan And for 18–24 year

 
 
Sep 19, 20251 min read

agiLab's 13th conference!

A big thank you to everyone who attended the recent 13th online agiLab conference and provided such useful and valuable input. The...

 
 
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