At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 17-23 May 2019
The headlines you might have missed between 17-23 May.
Flexible working for parents greatest challenge for SMEs
Workplace Insight: Paid leave for new parents is a financial and operational challenge for 90 percent of UK SMEs, according to the findings of new research into the challenges faced by working women and their employers. Read Story.
Working from home up more than a quarter in decade
Workplace Insight: Young woman working from homeThere are 374,000 more employees working from home than 10 years ago, new TUC analysis published today to mark Work Wise UK’s National Work from Home Day implies. Read Story.
52% provide portable technology to encourage home working
Employee Benefits: Employee Benefits poll: More than half (52%) of respondents provide portable technology in order to encourage employees to work from home. Read Story.
Employers ‘must do more to end obesity discrimination in the workplace’
People Management: Employers must do more to fight stigma and discrimination around obesity in the workplace, including prejudicial practices in recruitment, researchers have said. Read Story.
FOS sees 24% increase in pension complaints
Pensions Age: The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) saw a 24 per cent increase in pensions and investments complaints over 2018/19 as pension freedoms continue to have an effect, its annual review has revealed. Read Story.
Industry must do more to educate savers – Altmann
Pensions Age: The industry must do more to educate savers on the benefits of pension engagement while simplifying and invigorating its language, according to former Pensions Minister Ros Altmann. Read Story.
Staff wellbeing improves with age, study finds
Personnel Today: Staff are likely to develop their own ways of improving their wellbeing at work, it has been claimed, with a study finding older employees are more likely to feel happier and healthier at work than their younger colleagues. Read Story.
People with dementia can continue to work
HR Magazine: People diagnosed with dementia are being “shown the door” when simple changes could enable them to carry on in the workplace. Read Story.
Sharp rise in EAP counselling calls from men
Health Insurance & Protection: The number of calls from men seeking mental health support from Personal Group’s employee assistance programme (EAP) has risen 84% over the past year. Read Story.
A third of new dads suffer ‘postnatal depression’
Health Insurance & Protection: More than a third of new fathers believe they experienced a form of “postnatal depression”, following the birth of their baby, research suggests. Read Story.
Two-fifths are most interested in receiving paid annual leave as employee benefit
Employee Benefits: Two-fifths (44%) of employee respondents are most interested to receive between 22 and 35 days of paid annual leave as an employee benefit, according to research by insurance organisation Aviva. Read Story.
Charity workers’ mental health at risk
Personnel Today: Four out of five workers in the charity sector have suffered workplace stress in the past 12 months, and 42% felt their job was damaging their mental health. Read Story.
Hundreds of thousands of grandparents missing out on pension credits
Pensions Age: Hundreds of thousands of grandparents could be missing out on state pension credits for looking after their grandchildren while the parents are working, Royal London has found. Read Story.
Older employees feel undervalued
HR Magazine: More than half of over-60s want to continue working but are concerned about age discrimination and lack of career progression, according to research from Aviva. Read Story.
Majority of Brits ‘failing to plan for care costs’
Health Insurance & Protection: Up to two million people will live with dementia by 2050, yet most are failing to plan for care costs, a financial planning firm has warned. Read Story.
Fathers denied flexible working
HR Magazine: While 40% of dads have requested flexible working, 44% of these requests were unsuccessful, according to research from DaddiLife and Deloitte​. Read Story.
Missing gender pay gap figures: 47 organisations yet to report
HR Magazine: Forty-seven organisations have been named and shamed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for failing to report their latest gender pay gap data. Read Story.
Stressed' Millennials work 780 hours a year less than parents
HR Grapevine: The age-old trope of older generations grilling youths with clichéd soundbites such as ‘In my day we worked more than you youngsters’ are often disregarded as seniors being seniors. Yet, new research conducted by fitness network Hussle, indicates that modern professionals work an average of 783 hours per year less than their parents did – The Sun reports. Read Story.
Young people increasingly sceptical about work and institutions
Workplace Insight: Younger people across the world are increasingly disillusioned with traditional institutions, sceptical of business’ motives and pessimistic about economic and social progress, according to the 2019 Deloitte Millennial Survey. Read Story.
UK ‘most expensive country to send expats’
Health Insurance & Protection: The UK has overtaken Japan as the most expensive location to send expatriates, with the average expat pay package rising by £44,688 to £311,240, research shows. Read Story.
Get the most from Millennials by knowing what shaped them
Actuarial Post: In order for businesses to get the best out of Millennials in the workplace, they need to understand the unique set of circumstances they have grown up in which has shaped their attitude today. Read Story.
New bill will outlaw redundancy for new mothers
People Management: Parliament is today expected to pass a bill that will bring greater protections against redundancy for pregnant women and new mothers, a reaction to studies that suggest maternity discrimination remains rife in British workplaces. Read Story.
Health & Wellbeing the main HR focus this year
Onrec: Health and wellbeing is the top priority for HR departments in UK businesses this year, according to new research from Specsavers Corporate Eyecare. Read Story.
UK professionals struggling with mental health are failing to use company support
The HR Director: Research by global professional services recruiter, Morgan McKinley, reveals that three quarters of professionals in Banking & Financial Services, Commerce & Industry and Professional Services who feel they may have a mental health issue are reluctant to make use of support provided by employers. Read Story.
Shockingly few employees feel connected to the business
HR Grapevine: New research has found that barely one in ten employees feel connected to their business headquarters. The figures, found in Workplace by Facebook’s first ever survey, show the disconnect between organisations and their frontline staff. Read Story.
Bupa calls for employees to be supported during career milestones
Cover magazine: To mark Mental Health Awareness Week last week, Bupa Health Clinics have released a new report which reveals Britons admit to feeling upset or down after comparing their experience of a milestone to someone else's on social media. Read Story.
Recruitment and retention shown to be the biggest challenge facing large corporates, according to GRiD research
Cover magazine: HR decision makers at larger businesses say that recruiting and retaining talent is the biggest challenge their organisation currently faces, according to new research undertaken by Group Risk Development (GRiD), the industry body for the group risk protection sector. Read Story.
Employees keen to get to grips with future of work
Personnel Today: Companies need to do more to prepare employees for the future of work – but employees have a “keen sense of optimism” as to what this future might hold, according to a major survey by the Harvard Business School and Boston Consulting Group. Read Story.
Academic staff suffer ‘epidemic’ of poor mental health
There is an “epidemic” of poor mental health among higher education staff, according to Freedom of Information requests gathered from 59 UK universities. The report, commissioned by the Higher Education Policy Institute, found that at one university, staff referrals to counselling services went up more than 300% over a six-year period (2009-2015); at another referrals to occupational health went up by 400%. Read Story.
Culture shift needed to tackle discrimination against visibly-different staff
Personnel Today: A significant culture shift, driven by leadership teams, is needed to tackle the bullying and exclusion that many people with visible differences experience at work. Read Story.
Workplace protection and benefits providers’ data revealed for first time
Corporate Adviser: Group private medical insurance is perceived by advisers as being the workplace protection and wellbeing benefit most valued by employees, but providers in the sector are less prepared to divulge market information to advisers than those in other benefits sectors, according to the first report to ever publish market share data on workplace protection providers. Read Story.
More support is needed around menstruation in the workplace, survey finds
HR Review: A new survey of 2,000 menstruators by CIPD training specialist DPG has revealed a significant period stigma in UK workplaces. Almost half of workers who experience periods (48 per cent) say there is a noticeable stigma around the issue at the company they work for. Read Story.