07 May 2020

COVID-19 testing introduced by 27% of employers and 44% review implementing it

More than a quarter of employers (26.6%) have introduced or will introduce COVID-19 testing, while nearly half of organisations are reviewing whether to introduce this benefit.

REBA’s latest snap survey revealed the dramatic effect coronavirus has had on reward and benefit strategies, with many employers introducing new benefits to protect the health and safety of their workforce.

Although many employers have already taken the decision to implement new benefits, the majority are still reviewing whether they will introduce these measures.

18.6% offer or plan to offer antibody testing, with a further 54% reviewing it.
22% offer or plan to offer face masks, with a further 52% reviewing it.
11% offer or plan to offer alternatives to public transport, with a further 41% reviewing it.
15% offer or plan to offer tech/app to notify colleagues if positive, with 60% reviewing it.

The survey, Impact of the coronavirus crisis on pay, bonuses, executive remuneration and employee benefits, received 194 responses from REBA’s members, including organisations such as Airbus, British Transport Police, Home Office, John Lewis Partnership, Rolls-Royce, Shell International and Virgin Atlantic.

The research highlights the detrimental effect on the sustainability of respondents’ businesses, with almost three fifths (58.4%) declaring it has had a negative or very negative impact. However, there is optimism about the long-term future sustainability of organisations. Almost a quarter (24.6%) believe the coronavirus will have a positive or very positive impact on the future sustainability of their business, while just 2.7% think it will end up having a very negative impact.

In the more immediate future, there is still a lot of indecision about the best way forward to sustain jobs and businesses. Nearly half of organisations are undecided whether to offer compulsory or voluntary redundancies, or to reduce working hours. In the few instances where redundancies have been necessary, almost a quarter (22.2%) of respondents are in the engineering and construction, leisure and travel, and manufacturing and production sectors.

More positively, many companies are looking to reskill and redeploy their workforce. One fifth of businesses plan to reskill staff, while 19% have plans to redeploy workers.

Pay decisions have also been impacted:

Nearly one in five (18%) organisations have implemented or plan to implement pay cuts in response to the coronavirus crisis.
A further third have opted not to proceed with pay rises as planned.
Just under a quarter (24.0%) have deferred their annual pay review.

Download the full research findings for free to find out more about: the use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme; executive remuneration: pay, LTIPs, bonuses and shareholder AGMS; how COVID-19 is changing employee wellbeing offerings and insurances; the impact on employee financial wellbeing services; and how employers are supporting physical, mental, financial and social wellbeing.