At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 25 June-1 July 2021
Here are the headlines you might have missed between 25 June-1 July 2021.
A third of millennials not saving for their future
HR News: Their research found that 3 in 10 millennials aren’t saving into a pension pot at all, 1 in 4 find pension rules very confusing. The pension provider wanted to learn more about the younger generations, and their attitudes and behaviours towards saving for retirement. More than half (53%) said they wished their employer would explain pensions and their benefits to them. Read Story.
Poll reveals 84% think COVID-19 has affected employees’ retirement plans
HR News: A recent poll* conducted by WEALTH at work found that 84% of respondents think employees have changed their retirement plans in light of the pandemic. Read Story.
Many firms uncertain over implementing hybrid working, research finds
People Management: British businesses are uncertain about how they will implement hybrid working, according to a recent survey, but intend to consult their staff on how they would prefer to return to work after Covid restrictions are lifted. Read Story.
Gen Z reject ‘right to work from home’ proposal
Workplace Insight: Amid news that the UK government is mulling plans to grant Brits the right to work from home permanently, a new Clockwise survey claims that a majority of Gen Z workers would in fact prefer to work from an office. Read Story.
UK staff working £4.2 billion worth of unpaid overtime weekly
HR Review: According to new research, UK workers are working an average of almost eight hours per week in unpaid overtime, amounting to £4.2 billion in unpaid labour. A new study by the ADP Research Institute highlights how the pandemic has heightened the amount of unpaid overtime that workers are undertaking. Read Story.
Same-sex parents need inclusivity drives
HR magazine: HR teams are always looking to create the most inclusive workplace cultures possible, but same-sex parents are likely to feel less supported. LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall last month called for employers to replace the term ‘mother’ for 'parent who has given birth'. This caused controversy on social media and among news outlets, raising questions over whether the new term would be applicable to same-sex couples who have not biologically birthed a child. Read Story.
Flexible working boosts wellbeing among construction workers, study finds
People Management: The provision of flexible working has been shown to lead to a massive improvement in wellbeing among construction workers with no effects on project budgets or deadlines, research has discovered. Read Story.
Furloughed workers report feeling ‘forgotten’
HR Review: New research shows that just under a third of furloughed workers (31 per cent) report feeling forgotten by their employers over the last 15 months. According to new research by Westfield Health, almost a third of workers that have been placed on furlough over the past year feel forgotten by their boss. Read Story.
Government must introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting, say TUC, CBI and EHRC
HR Review: The TUC, CBI and Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have issued a joint call for the government to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting. The three organisations penned a letter to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, calling for ethnicity pay gap reporting to become mandatory. Read Story.
HR profession on the verge of talent exodus
HR Magazine: HR directors and chief people officers from around the UK say the stress of the pandemic has made them want to work in much smaller businesses. Over half (70%) of HRDs and CPOs have said they are considering moving from their current roles post-pandemic, according to new research by HR consultancy LACE Partners. The majority of respondents were from FTSE 250 companies or organisations with over 1000 employees. Read Story.
23% of employers have cut staff benefits since pandemic began
Employee Benefits: Employee Benefits poll: Almost a quarter of organisations have either cut or reduced staff benefits since the beginning of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. According to the latest Employee Benefits survey, 23% of organisations reported that they had either cut or offered fewer perks to their employees in response to the global health crisis. Read Story.
Prioritise employee wellbeing alongside company culture or bear brunt of burnout, says Personio
Engage Employee: New research finds only 25% of HR decision makers believe mental health and employee wellbeing-initiatives to be a priority for the HR function. Yet 58% of employees feel that a good work/life balance is a priority for them going forward, highlighting a damaging disconnect. Read Story.
Insecure income, boredom and physical health impacted employee wellbeing most in lockdown
Workplace Insight: Having an insecure financial situation, being bored in both work and free time, and worsening physical health were the biggest factors affecting employee’s wellbeing, during the first covid-19 lockdown, according to new research from emlyon business school. Read Story.
UK falls short of 'basic employment rights' in lack of menstrual leave
HR Magazine: Women want workplace period leave policies as they don’t believe UK employment law supports those who experience severe menstrual symptoms. Nearly all (96%) women surveyed by period care company Yoppie said their employer does not offer any sort of menstrual leave. Read Story.
Thousands of employers took advantage of job retention scheme
HR Magazine: HMRC have carried out over 12,000 investigations relating to misuse of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Eat Out to Help Out (EOHO). Law firm BLM undertook a Freedom of Information request which found the CJRS had the highest number of ongoing investigations at 7,384. The SEISS scheme had 5,020 HMRC investigations whilst the EOHO scheme had the fewest at 424. Read Story.
76% of UK Employers to Offer Hybrid Working as New Job Perk
HR News: 76% of UK Employers to Offer Hybrid Working as New Job Perk, HRLocker Survey Finds An overwhelming majority (84%) of employers plan to embrace hybrid working – a mix of home and office working – for the foreseeable future, according to a survey by HRTech solutions provider, HRLocker. Read Story.
Scotland and Wales are top for remote working in the UK
HR News: The pandemic has seen many people work from home for almost a year now to comply with lockdown measures. As such, individuals have had to adapt their homes, and in some cases their home insurance, to fit their new way of living. Read Story.
Sickness absence rate falls to lowest level in 15 years
HR Review: According to new research from XpertHR, the absence rate has fallen to its lowest level in 15 years – despite the global pandemic. New data from XpertHR, an online HR resource, shows that sickness absence in the UK fell to just 2.2 per cent over the last year (2020). This is compared to the sickness absence rate of 2.7 per cent in the year prior and 2.5 per cent in 2018. Read Story.
Half a million employees could return to workplace before they are ready
Cover magazine: Over half a million UK workers could be made to return to the physical workplace even if they are not comfortable enough to do so, according to research from healthcare provider Benenden Health. Read Story.
HMRC data shows more pension savers caught by annual and lifetime allowance
Corporate Adviser: The number of people affected by both the annual and lifetime limits on pension has increased again, according to latest HMRC data, fuelling calls for simplification of these restrictions. LCP partner and pension tax specialist Karen Goldschmidt says both are progressively catching more and more taxpayers. Read Story.
Employers struggle to record impact of staff sickness post Covid
Corporate Adviser: Employers have found it increasingly difficult to measure the impact of staff sickness since the onset of Covid-19, with furloughing and working from home both masking sickness absence. New figures from Group Risk Development highlight these difficulties. Grid says that while 85 per cent of firms record employee absence, only 63 per cent measure the impact of this absence on their business. Read Story.
New Bill could give employees the right to flexible work post-pandemic
HR Magazine: Today (30 June), Tulip Siidiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, has proposed a new Bill to parliament that would give workers the right to flexible work. Co-sponsored by MPs from the Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem, Green, SDLP and SNP parties, the Flexible Working Bill would give all workers a right to flexible working from the first day in a job and ensure that employers advertise flexibility in job adverts. Read Story.
Job flexibility will drive workforce diversity
HR Magazine: If businesses want to cultivate a culture of equality, they need to change their views on flexible working, says business psychologist Jess Hornsby. Speaking at the Flexpo Business Digital Summit yesterday (30 June) Hornsby said to make a truly diverse workforce business leaders must be brave and change their systems to allow all job roles to be flexible. Read Story.
Unequal flexi work options creating two-tier workforce
HR Magazine: The difference in flexible working arrangements being offered to different regions across the UK risks fracturing the workforce, cautions the CIPD. The professional body for HR analysed data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and ranked UK regions and nations by use of flexible working arrangements. Read Story.
Advisers have "critical" role in dealing with Covid-19 health fallout
Cover magazine: Advisers have a "critical role" to play in helping clients, as well as wider society, ahead of what could be a significant health fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, a panel of industry experts have stated. Read Story.