At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 16-22 July 2021
Here are the headlines you might have missed between 16-22 July 2021.
Employment tribunals at breaking point
HR Magazine: Employment tribunals are functioning at a snail’s pace, according to a survey from the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA), threatening access to justice for both workers and employers. The ELA has called on the Ministry of Justice to urgently invest in more staff and judges to ensure tribunals run smoothly and quickly after overuse and loss of staff due to the pandemic. Read Story.
Young people accessing mental health benefits double – Aviva
Healthcare & Protection: Aviva has seen a 100% increase in the number of young employees and dependents covered by group private medical insurance (PMI) seeking help through its mental health pathway since the start of the year. Read Story.
Feelings of anxiety heighten as workforce prepares to return to the office
HR Review: New research indicates that the majority of UK professionals feel anxious about the prospect of returning to the office imminently. A new study by CV-Library indicates that, in the lead-up to restrictions being lifted in England, over half of UK professionals feel anxiety about going back to the office. 55 per cent reported feeling some kind of anxiety about the impending return to work after over a year of working from home. Read Story.
Firms who prioritise working culture enjoy better financial performance
Workplace Insight: Heidrick and Struggles has released the results of a new global CEO study Aligning Culture with the Bottom Line: How Companies Can Accelerate Progress which found that intentionally building a company’s working culture can impact the company’s financial performance in a number of ways. The survey of 500 CEOs across nine countries examines how working culture propels organisational performance in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the USA. Read Story.
Employee productivity damaged by notification overload and urgent demands
Workplace Insight: More than two-thirds (68 percent) of employees in the UK have admitted they get so many distractions and message notifications during work that it’s affecting their productivity. This is according to new research from Advanced which also claims 22 percent have so many distractions that their working day is never spent fully on actual work. Read Story.
Workplace health and safety will need ‘common sense’ as restrictions end
Incentive & Motivation: With lockdown finally lifting on 19th July, many businesses will be wondering how they are going to navigate the end of lockdown restrictions. With no legal obligation to wear a face covering or maintain social distancing, much of the responsibility for mitigating pandemic risk will fall to individuals, and businesses must choose how they themselves shall respond. Read Story.
8 out of 10 bosses face backlash for not preparing staff for post-Freedom Day work conditions
Incentive & Motivation: 80% of UK office workers could fight back against short sighted bosses who are not planning future place of work options or not preparing effectively for flexible working after Freedom Day on July 19th. This is according to research from the UK’s largest online venue booking platform, VenueScanner. Read Story.
Changing expectations: flexible benefits are key for staff
Incentive & Motivation: The past 18 months have brought healthcare and wellbeing to the forefront of the public conscience. The pandemic has forced people to think about their health in a much more proactive way, and as a result many have started to reconsider their healthcare plans, insurance, and the benefits they receive from their employers. Read Story.
70% of organisations are still developing a workplace strategy
Incentive & Motivation: According to a new survey from XpertHR, 69.9% of organisations are still actively planning or considering permanent changes to where employees carry out their work as lockdown restrictions are lifted. Fewer than one in 20 (3.8%) are not contemplating any changes. Read Story.
145% spike in counselling needs as lockdown eases
Incentive & Motivation: Employers may think that the easing of lockdown will result in an improvement in mental health, but figures released today by Towergate Health & Protection suggest that employees may be in greater need of support than ever. Read Story.
Employees urge workplaces to focus on mental health as world reopens
Workplace Insight: Access to workplace counsellors, mental health training and support groups are topping the charts on what workers want on their return to the office, according to new research by CERT Property. Read Story.
Unemployment levels for women over 65 increase by 193 per cent in a year
HR Review: Unemployment levels for women aged 65 or over have more than tripled over the past year, new research has warned. An analysis by Rest Less found that between March 2020 and 2021, unemployment levels amongst women aged 65 and over have increased from 7,200 to 21,000 in a single year. This is an increase of around 193 per cent. Read Story.
Working mothers lacking childcare for summer holidays
HR Review: With the upcoming summer holidays on the horizon, almost two-thirds of working mothers do not have sufficient childcare for this period. New research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) shows that the majority of working mothers who have children of primary school age do not have enough childcare for the summer holidays. This impacted 63 per cent of working mothers and over three-quarters (76 per cent) of single mothers. Read Story.
Pensions industry finds flat rate tax relief of “marginal benefit” to lower earners
Corporate Adviser: Moving to a flat rate of pensions tax relief would not significantly improve the retirement incomes of lower earners according to a new report from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association. Read Story.
24% wanted more mental health support in lockdowns
Employee Benefits: Almost a quarter of employees said that they would have liked more mental health support from their employer during the various lockdowns, according to new research. A survey conducted by property developer Cert Property, owner of Manchester-based Hilton House and Duke and Parr in Liverpool, found that 35% of respondents felt their mental health had worsened during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Read Story.
OH subsidy and employer information service unveiled but sick pay reform rejected
Healthcare & Protection: A subsidy encouraging the purchase of occupational health (OH) services will be tested by government as part of a range of measures to help reduce ill-health related job losses. Read Story.
Government recognises role of GIP in workplace wellbeing
Corporate Adviser: The government has recognised the important role employers play in supporting the health and wellbeing of staff via employee benefits packages. The comments came as the government published its response to the Health is Everyone’s Business consultation. It specifically recognised the importance of group income protection, and the role it can play helping employees remain in, or return to work. Read Story.
Young workers report feeling ‘disengaged’ and ‘undervalued’
HR Review: Many young workers are looking to move jobs after feeling undervalued and a lack of trust from their employers. New research by Achievers and Censuswide shows over a third of young workers (37 per cent) do not feel trusted or heard, leaving almost four in five looking for a new job. Read Story.
Employers will need to apply for self-isolation exemption for key workers
HR Review: Following news that a very small group of critical workers will be exempt from self-isolation for work purposes, it has now been revealed that employers will need to apply on behalf of individual staff. According to a Downing Street spokesperson, the Government is not planning to release a list of key workers who will be exempt from self-isolation measures. Read Story.
UK workers hesitant to return to the office
Workplace Insight: New research commissioned by Chargifi claims that despite restrictions being lifted, office workers in the UK are resistant to a full-time office return. The survey of 1,500 UK and US office workers claims that over half of British workers (55 percent) still expect to spend fewer days in the office per week, with more than a third wanting to come and go as they please (35 percent). Read Story.
Low-paid workers ‘abandoned’ by lack of sick pay reform, states TUC
HR Review: The Trades Union Congress has accused the Government of abandoning low-paid workers after it reneged on plans to reform statutory sick pay. According to a new TUC analysis, the TUC stated that the Government has failed to support millions of workers by refusing to change rules around statutory sick pay. Read Story.
Government proposes measures to cut disability employment gap
Personnel Today: The government is considering how it can better support employers to help prevent people with a health condition or disability falling out of work. It has published a consultation into measures that it hopes will reduce the disability employment gap and improve the benefits system for those who are able to work in some capacity. Read Story.
Boardroom diversity: Working class men losing out to women
Personnel Today: Working class men could be losing out on top roles as organisations race to recruit more women to meet diversity targets, a report from the Financial Reporting Council has suggested. The FRC’s report on diversity in FTSE 350 companies found that while there had been a significant rise in the number of women on boards (36% on FTSE 100 boards and 33% on FTSE 250 boards), this could be to the detriment of low socio-economic status (SES) men. Read Story.
Employers to be liable if they don’t prevent sexual harassment
Personnel Today: Employers will be held liable if they fail to take all reasonable steps to prevent employees from experiencing sexual harassment at work, the Government Equalities Office (GEO) has said. The government has published its response to the 2019 sexual harassment in the workplace consultation, which includes number of commitments to protect workers from being subjected to inappropriate and lewd behaviour by colleagues and third parties including customers and clients. Read Story.
Pay awards have doubled during the second quarter of 2021
HR Review: New research suggests that pay awards in the second quarter of the year have doubled compared to those in the first three months of the year. New data published by XpertHR shows that pay awards in the second quarter of the year are now worth double those in the first quarter of 2021. Read Story.
European workers positive about post pandemic partial move back to the office
Workplace Insight: With much of Europe having worked remotely for over a year and many continuing to do so for the foreseeable future, new insights from Sharp, claims that there is a significant appetite among European workers to return to the office for some of the working week. Read Story.
Hybrid working poses challenges of culture, morale and training
Workplace Insight: As increasing numbers of companies offer post-pandemic hybrid working for employees, the challenges it poses to maintaining culture, morale, effective training and staff loyalty have been disclosed in a new survey of senior executives. Read Story.
44% of employers to review benefits offering
Employee Benefits: Almost half of employers may need to review their current benefits offering following the move towards greater remote and home working as a result of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Employee benefits consultancy Howden Employee Benefits and Wellbeing surveyed more than 200 senior HR professionals from a range of public, private, and third sector employers. It found that 8% said their employee benefits package does not fully support those who work from home, with 44% answering that it does. Read Story.