08 Apr 2020

REBA Research #2 : Impact of the coronavirus crisis on pay, bonuses and employee benefits

REBA conducted its second snapshot survey between 31 March and 6 April 2020, to gain fast-track insight into decisions about pay and benefits being taken by employers in response to the huge economic impact of coronavirus and Covid-19 on UK and global businesses.

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The week before the survey went into the field, the UK government launched its Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) on 26 March 2020. This temporary scheme allows businesses that cannot maintain their current workforce due to coronavirus to furlough employees and apply for a grant to cover up to 80% of their monthly wage costs, up to a maximum cap of £2,500 a month, plus associated employer National Insurance and minimum auto-enrolment employer pensions contributions.

This survey looks at how employers plan to use CJRS, as well as their wider reward and employee benefit intentions both now and in the future.

REBA received 213 responses to the survey from its members, including organisations such as the BBC, BP, Costa Coffee, easyJet, Ikea, Marks & Spencer, Santander and Wells Fargo.

In total, the businesses that responded to the survey represent around 1.3 million employees, across industry sectors including financial services, technology, retail and engineering. Eight out of ten (81%) respondents were from the private sector.