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12 Feb 2021
by Annie Makoff

At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 5-11 February 2021

Your quick-read round up of the reward and benefits stories appearing in the press in the past seven days.

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The headlines you might have missed between 5 - 11 February 2021.

Employers embrace wellbeing benefits
Employee Benefits: industry body Grid has unveiled what it calls an “encouraging increase” in employer-provided wellbeing benefits provision in response to Covid-19 (Coronavirus). In a poll of HR directors, it found 48% now felt they had greater responsibility for the mental health of their staff than they did before the pandemic. Read Story.

Pandemic may permanently change how employees access health and wellbeing
Personnel Today: Employers will need to adapt to long-term behavioural changes in how employees access health and wellbeing support because of the pandemic, argues Brett Hill. Employees have had to engage with health and wellbeing in a different way during the pandemic, and this has enlightened many about the variety of wellbeing services that are available remotely and digitally. Read Story.

Three quarters of SME business owners have one or no rest day after strain of pandemic
HR News: The 2021 Business Challenges report carried out by card payments specialist takepayments Limited, has revealed the true strain the pandemic has put on the wellbeing of SME business owners, including making difficult staffing decisions to keep financial costs down. Of those asked, one in three (29%) business owners even expect their business to close in 2021. Read Story.

Workplace worries as January 2021 declared ‘saddest’ month of past decade
Healthcare and Protection: January 2021 was the “saddest” in the past ten years, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that for Britain’s mental wellbeing, this January was the worst on record. The previous low came 2012, when the UK entered its first double-dip recession since the 1970s. Read Story.

Employers urged to turn to EAPs as pandemic litigation alarm bells sound
Healthcare and Protection: Employers are being warned to take urgent action after it emerged that two-fifths of employee claims management firms expect to see an increase in claims related to Covid-19 over the course of the coming year. The warning comes after it also emerged that 70% of the same firms have already seen an upturn in new claims in the first month of the year. Read Story.

Just 1% of Brits view putting money away for later life care as a priority, major study finds
Healthcare and Protection: The pandemic has put the issue of care homes and long-term care – often at the back of most people’s minds – firmly in the spotlight and yet many still fail to understand the financial implications of what happens in later life. Read Story.

Don’t withdraw flexible working, report warns
Employee Benefits: Less than a week after the CIPD launched a campaign demanding staff are given flexible working from day one, a Bright Horizons’ report has warned employers face an ‘iceberg of staff discontent’, if flexibility is removed once Covid-19 (Coronavirus) restrictions are over. Read Story.

Neurodiverse workers desire more support whilst remote working
HR Review: Over four in 5 employees that have neurological conditions have stated that they believe their employer could be doing more to provide them with support whilst working from home. New research conducted by O2 has shone a light on the positives and negatives of working from home for employees with neurological conditions and highlighted where further support could be useful. Read Story.

Employers failing on staff wellbeing: Health Shield
Corporate Adviser: Almost one in two employers are failing to adequately address issues of staff wellbeing, according to a new survey by friendly society Health Shield. The survey also found that employee awareness and understanding of wellbeing services remained low, with 55 per cent of workers unsure what benefits they are entitled to through their employer. Read Story.

Workers demand more financial protection
Employee Benefits: Covid-19 (Coronavirus) has caused a surge in employee demand for greater employer-provided financial protection, according to a new study. AIG, which commissioned research among nearly 1,000 workers, found 37% said the pandemic had caused them to consider that life insurance, income protection or critical illness should now be offered by their employer. Read Story.

Government expands access to workplace Covid-19 rapid tests
Personnel Today: More workplaces providing essential services during the current lockdown will be able to offer rapid Covid-19 testing to their employees, which the government hopes will detect coronavirus in people not showing symptoms. Read Story.

Pay care workers in full when sick, urges union
Personnel Today: Care workers are resorting to taking annual leave if they fall sick rather than be paid £96 a week statutory sick pay (SSP). According to the trade union Unison, a number of care home employees have been in contact to complain about the practice, which has raised fears that staff with Covid may attend work rather than self-isolate. Read Story.

Minority ethnic talent progression impossible without the "deep work" of stakeholders, report finds
FE News: New report calls for senior leaders to use the new year to “surgically diagnose” their HR data to take action against the practices and bad actors that produce disproportionate outcomes for ethnic minority professionals. Read Story.

One in four workers report worse relationship with employer since Covid, poll finds
People Management: Research reveals half of employees that say relations have deteriorated have also seen their productivity fall. The majority of workers believe their relationship with their employer has changed since the start of the pandemic, with one in four saying it has got worse, according to a new poll. Read Story.

Covid-19: Government policies ‘exacerbated’ gender inequality
Personnel Today: Government policies launched in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have overlooked well-understood labour market and caring inequalities faced by women. That’s according to a report from MPs on the Women and Equalities Committee which analysed the economic impact coronavirus has had on women. Read Story.

One in eight over 55s hit by loneliness and isolation during Covid-19
Workplace Insight: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has heightened existing feelings of loneliness and isolation among people aged 55 and over, according to a new report by housing provider Central and Cecil (C&C). Read Story.

‘HR must focus on employees’ existing skills’
Personnel Today: HR leaders are finding it increasingly difficult to quickly find and develop talent with the most in-demand skills, yet 58% of the workforce needs new skills to get their jobs done. According to global business consultancy Gartner, the total number of skills required for a single job has been increasing by 10% year-on-year since 2017. Read Story.

Pressure mounts on ministers to reinstate gender pay gap reporting
Personnel Today: Calls are mounting for the government to confirm whether employers will need to report their 2020/21 gender pay gap figures. On 24 March 2020, shortly after pandemic restrictions were announced, the Government Equalities Office said it would suspend compulsory reporting of 2019/20 figures due to be published by 5 April. Read Story.

First-time PMI demand doubles during Covid
Cover Magazine: The number of people buying private medical insurance (PMI) for the first time has doubled in the UK since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to price comparison website and broker firm ActiveQuote. Read Story.

Single working parents unable to escape debt
HR Magazine: Single parents are unable to work their way out of debt despite working full time, a new report by charities Gingerbread and StepChange has discovered. The Single Parent Debt Trap found working single parents are more likely than any other sector of society to be living with problem debt. Read Story.

Shift to real living wage would improve employee loyalty
HR Magazine: Workers’ personal lives have suffered due to pandemic-related pay cuts and a commitment to a real living wage could help retain staff and productivity levels in the still-turbulent months ahead. Read Story.

Working from home causes people to drift into a ‘cycle of fatigue’
Workplace Insight: Working from home is exacerbating an ‘always on’ culture. Data from a study of UK employees, conducted by virtual team building company Wildgoose claims that over half of respondents are struggling to keep their workloads within working hours. Read Story.

Workers with mental health conditions face pay gap of more than £8,000, research suggests
People Management: The annual median income for workers with common mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression is just over two-thirds (68 per cent) of the income of people without those conditions, research has revealed: the equivalent of an annual earnings gap of £8,400. Read Story.

Better LGBT+ programmes needed to avoid conflicts
HR Magazine: LGBT+ employees are experiencing high levels of conflict and low levels of psychological safety in the workplace, according to new research by the CIPD. The report, Inclusion at work: Perspectives on LGBT+ working lives, has found that over 40% of LGBT+ workers have experienced a work-based conflict in the last year, compared with 26% of heterosexual workers. Read Story.

Flexibility and reskilling top priorities for UK employers in 2021
Workplace Insight: The COVID-19 pandemic is driving a fundamental shift in the way companies operate, accelerating the need for an adaptable and agile workforce to drive business success. According to Mercer’s 2021 Global Talent Trends study, the financial impact and work-life disruption caused by the pandemic is causing UK employers to focus on redefining flexibility and skills development to ensure their business and employees become more resilient and agile in the face of disruption. Read Story.

Government urges employers to consider hiring ex-offenders
People Management: The government is urging employers to do more to hire ex-offenders by not asking candidates if they have any convictions in the early stages of the recruitment process. The minister for prisons and probation, Lucy Frazer, said by waiting until the later stages of recruitment before asking about any past convictions, employers would be helping reduce crime while giving former offenders a second chance. Read Story.

One in three people have ‘avoided GP’ during pandemic, research shows
Healthcare and Protection: One in three people have not gone to their GP for ongoing health symptoms since the pandemic began, research shows. Many do not want to ‘waste their doctor’s time’ while others are fearful of attending GP surgeries in case they catch or spread coronavirus. Read Story.

Nearly half of young people put their career plans on hold due to pandemic
Workplace Insight: More than 40 percent of young people aged 16-24 surveyed in the UK say they are putting their career or education plans on hold until the pandemic is over. The research, commissioned by BAE Systems to mark National Apprenticeship Week (8-12 February), looks at the impact the pandemic has had on the ‘lost generation’ and their career aspirations. Read Story.