Fear of being ordered back to office affecting UK staff wellbeing, poll finds

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A fear of being ordered back to the office is having an impact on workers’ wellbeing, according to a poll, after a string of companies issued return-to-office mandates.More than a third (38%) of workers surveyed said recent news stories about companies hardening their stance on office attendance had negatively affected their wellbeing, highlighting the tug-of-war between employers and their employees.More than four in five (84%) employees who work in a hybrid way – splitting their time between the office and a remote location, such as home – said it had a positive effect on their overall wellbeing, including their mental, physical, social and financial wellbeing.More women (87%) than men (80%) said they believed hybrid working had improved their wellbeing in the survey of 3,600 UK employers and employees across a range of industries in the public and private sectors between late April and early May by the recruitment company Hays.The main worry about returning to the office more frequently was cost, potentially additional commuting expenses, as almost six in 10 (59%) of those polled said worries about their finances would affect their willingness to spend more time in the office.

Hybrid working had become the standard pattern for more than a quarter (28%) of working adults in Great Britain by the first three months of this year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics,However, a string of businesses, particularly those in the financial sector, have hit the headlines in recent months after increasing their office attendance requirements,HSBC told staff in its UK high street banks in May that it might cut their bonuses if they did not spend at least 60% of their time at their office desks,Barclays and Santander have also tightening their rules around remote working,The world’s largest listed hedge fund, Man Group, ordered its London-based analysts to temporarily return to the office five days a week at the start of June as its seeks to recover from a period of poor performance.

Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionHannah Pearsall, the head of wellbeing at Hays, said: “The popularity of hybrid working shows no signs of wavering any time soon and the role this flexible working pattern plays in improving wellbeing should not be overlooked,A lack of awareness around the impact of RTO [return to office] on wellbeing, particularly financial wellbeing, could be catastrophic for the sustained success of their business,”More women (42%) responding to the poll said their wellbeing had been negatively affected by news stories about return-to-office mandates than their male counterparts (32%), while younger workers aged 20 to 29 were also more concerned by the possibility of increased office attendance requirements than colleagues aged 50 and over,
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Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for cashew rice bowls with stir-fried tofu, broccoli and kimchi | Quick and easy

These were an absolute hit with my children, albeit minus the cashews, and as any parent with toddlers who refuse to let their food touch other food will know, that’s a breakthrough. It’s well worth making the whole quantity here, because any leftovers are perfect for fried rice the next day – just make sure you cool the rice after making it, then refrigerate immediately and reheat until piping hot the next day.Kimchi brings a lovely contrast, so if you have or can get some, do add it.Prep 15 min Cook 20 min Serves 4200g white or basmati rice4 garlic cloves, peeled, 3 finely grated, 1 left whole 75g cashew nuts2 tbsp sesame oil 7-8cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced1 small head broccoli, roughly chopped into 1cm pieces280g firm tofu, roughly chopped into 1cm cubes1 tsp flaky sea salt½ tsp turmeric Juice of 1 limeTo serveKimchiSliced red chilli (optional)First, cook the rice, and this is my magic microwave method: you’ll need a large Pyrex bowl and a plate that will neatly cover the top and act as a lid. Put the rice, 400ml just-boiled water and the whole garlic clove in the bowl, cover with the plate and cook on medium (that is, if your microwave’s maximum power setting is 1,000W, you want to cook it at 800W) for 11 minutes

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Grilled sardines and tomato and anchovy pie – Irina Janakievska’s Balkan recipes for summer

Along the Adriatic coast, sardines are usually grilled over an open fire (na gradele) and served with lemon, excellent local olive oil and blitva, a side dish of young swiss chard, potato and garlic. Fresh sardines are key (they should smell of the sea) and do cook them whole (the heads add wonderful flavour and the small bones soften during cooking). On the Croatian island of Vis, two beloved pogačas (bread)– viška and komiška – tell a tale of friendly rivalry. Both are savoury bread pies (pogača being the word for bread and similar in both composition and etymology to Italian focaccia) filled with onions and salted fish (typically anchovies or sardines), a nod to the island’s ancient fishing and seafaring heritage. The key difference? Tomatoes

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How to make perfect bún chả – recipe | Felicity Cloake's How to make the perfect …

When I visited Hanoi a decade ago, I was living in Hackney, east London, an area with a large Vietnamese community, so I felt, if not quite an expert, at least a little familiar with the cuisine. But it turned out no number of nights out on Kingsland Road could prepare me for the assault on the senses that was my first meal in the city, crouched on a plastic stool by the roadside and enjoying what Uyen Luu describes as “the irresistible sweet, treacly smell of barbecued patties and caramelised pork”, all mingled with traffic fumes.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more

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Lapin, Bristol: ‘We’re not in Cafe Rouge now’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

Peculiar, meta, slightly earnest, definitely deliciousThe French, at least at one stage in culinary history, would not have balked at eating the entire cast of Watership Down in a robust dijon sauce. The British, on the other hand, have always been rather less keen, so it was surprising to hear reports that Lapin, a new French restaurant in Bristol, had been struggling to keep fluffy bunnies on its classic, single-sheet menu due to supply reasons, apparently because its game dealer couldn’t shoot them quickly enough to meet Lapin’s demand. Instead, its diners had had to settle for confit duck leg, coarse sausage and deep-fried pig’s head.Lapin patently aims to offer actual French cooking, albeit stopping short of the likes of pungent andouillette, complete with its tubey innards escaping on to the plate. That said, I’d bet that chef Jack Briggs-Horan and restaurateur Dan O’Regan tinkered with the idea before accepting that serving something quite so smelly in a small, repurposed shipping container was probably one Gallic step too far

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It’s sexy! It’s Swedish! It’s everywhere! How princess cake conquered America

This spring, something strange started happening at the Fillmore Bakery in San Francisco, which specializes in old-school European desserts.Excited customers kept asking the bakery’s co-owner, Elena Basegio, “Did you see about the princess cake online?”The dome-shaped Swedish layer cake, topped with a smooth layer of green marizipan, had suddenly gone viral, increasing sales of the bakery’s already-bestselling cake.After nearly a century of demure European popularity, “prinsesstårta” suddenly seemed to be everywhere: on menus at hip restaurants in Los Angeles and New York, trending on TikTok, even inspiring candle scents at boutique lifestyle brands.The Swedish consulate in San Francisco confirmed the phenomenon, telling the Guardian that the trend appears to be driven by innovative American pastry chefs such as Hannah Ziskin, whose Echo Park pizza parlor has offered up a sleek redesign of the palatial pastry, as well as by online food influencers, some of whom have offered American bakers more “accessible” versions of the elaborate dessert.The reinvention of one of Sweden’s most cherished desserts as a trendy indulgence might seem like just another retro fad, like the renewed popularity of martinis or caviar

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Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for passion fruit jaffa cakes | The sweet spot

I don’t buy jaffa cakes nearly as often as other biscuits, but when I do, I’m reminded how much I love them. They’re surprisingly easy to make from scratch, too. The base is an incredibly light genoise sponge that’s topped with a layer of jelly, and it’s this section that allows for some creativity. I chose to go down a summery route with passion fruit. Juicing enough passion fruit to get 200ml of liquid is tedious (and expensive), so by all means use a carton of juice instead