At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 1 - 7 January 2021
The headlines you might have missed between 1– 7 January 2021.
The path ahead for pensions in 2021
Pensions Age: Pensions play a vital role in shaping the financial security of the nation and our commitment to net zero by 2050. That’s why my focus in 2021 will be to deliver on the essential measures included in the Pension Schemes Bill to create a safer, better and greener pensions system in the United Kingdom. Read Story.
FTSE 350 DB pension deficit almost doubles in 2020 amid Covid and Brexit
Pensions Age: The accounting deficit of FTSE 350 companies’ defined benefit (DB) pension schemes nearly doubled last year, increasing from £40bn at the end of 2019 to £70bn at the end of 2020, according to Mercer. Read Story.
XPERTHR warns employers not to force employees to take COVID-19 Vaccine
HR News: UK employers can’t force their employees to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available, XpertHR warns as it launches new HR resources on vaccinations for staff – but they should inform their workforce about the vaccination programme and encourage them to be vaccinated. Read Story.
Top HR tips for helping employees return to work in 2021
HR Grapevine: Getting back into the swing of things in the New Year is a challenge that many employees face after downing tools for the Christmas period. Yet, with many employees continuing to work from home in light of the coronavirus crisis and local lockdown restrictions, it is possible that many will find the return to work more challenging this year. Read Story
Lockdown appears to have improved employer/employee communication
The HR Director: Employees are happier with how information is being shared with them at work compared to when they worked in the office earlier this year, pre-Covid-19, as revealed in the annual Information Sharing Research. Read Story.
52% of UK employees enjoy a better work-life balance after home working
Employee Benefits: More than half of UK (52%) employees said they feel closer to their families and enjoy a better work-life balance after working from home due to the Covid-19 (Coronvirus) pandemic, according to research from Future Strategy Club (FSC). Read Story.
‘Belonging’ will drive employee engagement in 2021
Incentive and Motivation: Qualtrics, the leader in employee experience and creator of the experience management (XM) category, today released the 2021 Employee Experience Trends Report. Learnings from the report include emerging drivers of employee engagement, the importance of taking action on feedback, and key actions HR leaders can take to improve the experience for their people going into 2021. Read More.
A four day week ‘will increase productivity’ for most firms of over 50 employees
Incentive and Motivation: A new report, by progressive independent thinktank Autonomy, analysed profitability statistics from more than 50,000 UK firms and used hypothetical scenarios to gauge the impact of an imposition of a four-day week. It found that a four-day week was affordable for most firms of over 50 employees. Read Story.
Third lockdown pushes workplace inequalities to brink
HR Magazine: As many non-essential businesses are facing further closures into mid-February, chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a new £4.6 billion support package for employers including one-off top up grants of up to £9,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure venues. Read Story.
Government exposes employers who failed to pay workers minimum wage
HR Review: The Government have released a list of over 100 employers that have failed to pay their employees the National Minimum Wage, amounting to £6.7 million not being paid out in total. This is a continuation of a scheme that the Government introduced in 2013 which was intended to “name and shame” employers who did not pay staff according to the legal requirements. Read Story.
Employees could be missing out on £4,785 a year from extra hours working from home
PA Life: 87% of UK workers want to keep some level of home working after the COVID-19 pandemic, despite over half (52%) saying they work extra hours. According to a survey carried out by furniture ecommerce site Furniture at Work, (30%) people said that they work an extra three-four hours a week when working from home, with nearly half (45%) saying they do over five hours extra. Read Story.
Covid ‘worst ever wellbeing challenge’ for 28pc of expats
Corporate Adviser: Two in five expats feel as though their mental health has deteriorated as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, new research from Axa has found. A survey of 578 expats found that 39 per cent had seen their mental health deteriorate. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, nearly two-in-three – 62 per cent – would have described their general state of mind as good. But this fell to just 35 per cent during the pandemic. Read Story.
Zurich offers parents ‘lockdown leave’ to help with childcare
Personnel Today: Zurich is offering two weeks’ fully-paid emergency ‘lockdown leave’ to parents and carers affected by school closures. The Swiss insurance company expects that more than one in five of its 4,500 UK-based employees will benefit from the new entitlement, which gives parents and carers an additional 10 days’ paid leave which can be taken individually or consecutively while primary and secondary schools are closed. Read Story.
Gender pay gap significantly wider among older workers analysis finds
People Management: Report claims women over 50 earn £8,000 less than their male counterparts, and face ‘double discrimination’ of age and larger wage disparities. Older women face a greater gender pay gap than their younger counterparts, a study of official data has found, with women over the age of 50 earning £8,000 less a year on average than men of the same age. Read Story.
Increased awareness of mortality needs to shape wellbeing programmes and benefit decisions in 2021
Employer News: Latest ONS mortality analysis– deaths registered from January to November 2020 show significant increase: 550,555 deaths occurred in England and Wales; 68,378 more than the same period in 2019. Read Story.
Only 7 percent of UK professionals want a return to office life
Employer News: New research from TopCV, the world’s largest CV-writing service, reveals that UK employees want ongoing flexibility from their employer, with just 7 percent of professionals ranking an office return as their top priority for 2021. Read Story.
Overloaded fraud police need industry support on scams, MPs told
Professional Pensions: Police and regulators need greater resources to tackle the rising threat of pension scams, the Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) has been told, so the industry should also play its part in reporting all suspected scam activity. Read Story.
Money troubles are more damaging to wellbeing of the self-employed
Workplace Insight: Financial distress is more damaging to the wellbeing of the self-employed than those in employment, claims new research from Trinity Business School. According to the research, authored by Dr Martha O’Hagan-Luff at Trinity Business School, alongside fellow Trinity academics, financial problems are more strongly associated with lower levels of wellbeing for those that are self-employed. Read Story.
Businesses warned of a looming crisis of trust from employees in 2021
Workplace Insight: Organisations face a crisis of trust this year if they continue to make workplace decisions in the dark, according to employee experience platform, Leesman. A study across 145,000+ global employees claims a series of acute factors impacting an employees’ ability to work remotely. Read Story.
British Gas employees begin five-day strike over pay and conditions
Employee Benefits: Staff employed at British Gas have begun strike action today (Thursday 7 January 2021) in a dispute over pay, terms and conditions. The strike, which will take place across several locations in the UK in line with government guidelines, is set to last for five days, ending on Monday 11 January. Read Story.
UK office workers would agree to pay-cut for remote working
HR Review: New research finds that the majority of UK workers – three in four – would accept a pay-cut if it meant they could continue working remotely. New data from Citrix, a company that offers cloud technologies, finds that the majority of UK office workers desire to keep working from home – even if it means a reduction in salary. Read Story.
Safety and reward top priorities during Covid-19 recovery
Personnel Today: Employee safety, reward and recognition are set to be employers’ top areas of focus as they recover from the Covid-19 crisis and establish more digital working practices. Read Story.
Staff encouraged to spend an hour per week learning
Personnel Today: Major employers and L&D providers including Cisco, Lloyds Bank, LinkedIn Learning and The Open University have backed a campaign that encourages individuals to dedicate an hour per week to online learning. Read Story.
Wellbeing ‘timebomb’: Lockdown could spark employee burnout crisis
HR Grapevine: With scientists questioning if current restrictions will have the same positive impact as previous lockdowns on quelling infection rates HR experts are warning that this period could cause an employee wellbeing ‘timebomb’. Read Story.
Employees fear coronavirus restrictions are creating ‘career lockdown’, poll finds
People Management: More than half of office workers are concerned about how coronavirus restrictions will affect their career prospects, with experts warning younger employees in particular still need access to training and mentorship, a study has found. Read Story.