At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 15-21 January 2021
The headlines you might have missed between 15–21 January 2021.
‘Disappointment’ at TPR’s DB funding code response
Corporate Adviser: The industry has responded with ‘disappointment’ at The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) aninterim response to its first defined benefit (DB) funding code consultation, which one consultant says is ‘light on detail’. The response sets out how new principles would be applied in practice through the proposed twin-track regime (Fast Track and Bespoke). Read Story.
Staff in small companies need less employer support than those in larger firms
Workplace Insight: According to a recent Kaspersky survey, people who work in companies with fewer than 50 employees, on average, need less employer support when working remotely, compared to staff in larger businesses. Emotional or psychological support is an exception. Read Story.
Increased mortality must shape wellbeing and benefits decisions in 2021
The HR Director: 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. In the working world alone, Covid has changed almost every aspect of our lives, from how we interact with others, to what constitutes the workplace. Read Story.
Brexit could jeopardise UK workers’ rights
HR Magazine: The UK government’s alternative to EU labour market rules could be putting UK workers’ rights at risk. The UK’s business department has put together a package of new employment law measures, and some are concerned about the effect this could have on the 48-hour working week. Read Story.
An eighth forced into work amid Covid safety complaints
Personnel Today: One in eight (12%) UK employees has been ordered into work when they could have easily and more safely worked from home, despite government advice to avoid workplaces where possible. A poll commissioned by the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) found that pressure to go into work while people should be staying at home to curb the spread of coronavirus, was higher among those in insecure work or self-employment. Read Story.
Remote working job adverts trebled in a year
Personnel Today: The number of jobs advertised as a home working role more than trebled in 12 months, with indications that businesses are cutting office space and allowing staff to work remotely in the longer term. According to analysis of Emsi figures by leadership and people solutions consultancy New Street Consulting, the number of jobs advertised as remote working opportunities increased by 203% to 80,700 in November 2020, from 26,600 in November 2019. Read Story.
Unions promise to fight working week and holiday pay ‘dilutions’
Employee Benefits: Trade unions have vowed to vigorously oppose any so-called ‘deregulatory measures’ impacting the working week and rules for calculating holiday pay that are reportedly being considered by the government as part of its post-Brexit plans. According to reports, the Department for Business is now actively preparing measures that include scrapping the maximum 48-hour week and ‘tweaking’ rules that govern rest breaks, and discounting overtime when calculating holiday pay. Read Story.
Blue Monday: Prioritise mental health support to reduce absence during a pandemic
HR News: On “Blue Monday”, employers have been reminded to make workers’ mental health a priority in order to reduce absenteeism. Absence management software firm Activ Absence said that Monday 18th January – billed as the most depressing day of the year not only are we having to tackle the January blues, there’s also the matter of being in the middle of a global pandemic. Read Story.
Quarter of adults prioritised mental & physical health last year, but money worries not considered
HR News: The prevailing economic uncertainty and restrictions on people’s social lives prompted a quarter of the population (25%) to prioritise their mental and physical health last year. New research from Tilney shows that adults who put their mental health first during lockdown periods improved their career and overall wellbeing. Read Story.
Pop music revealed as the most popular genre with employees to increase productivity
HR News: Asking 2,000 respondents, a survey conducted by Sodexo Engage, the UK’s leading experts in employee engagement, has revealed the most productive genre of music to listen to whilst working. From rock, dance, classical music, and hip hop being amongst the favourites, pop music is the most popular genre to improve productivity whilst working. Read Story.
Employee burnout is 'greater risk than ever'
Cover Magazine: Employees are at greater risk than ever of suffering burnout, Debra Clark, head of specialist at Towergate Health & Protection, has warned. "Employers must look at tackling burnout in a sustainable way, eradicating the factors and issues before they take hold," she said. "The past year has been incredibly tough for everyone. With the effects being cumulative, for some people they may only just be beginning to show. Now is the time for employers to ensure they have everything in place to offer employees the support they need, and clearly communicate it or risk burnout." Read Story.
COVID-19 has caused a shift in leadership skills
HR Magazine: Harder skills deemed important to leaders before the pandemic are no longer significant, according to a new report from The Global Alliance in Management Education (CEMS). The CEMS Leadership in a Post-Covid-19 World report found that COVID-19 had led to a shift in the way business managers think about leadership. Read Story.
Company culture no longer a core priority
Reward Strategy: Company culture falls to the side lines as employees priorities turn to wages and rewards during the pandemic, new research finds. HR and payroll specialist SD Worx examined what employees in Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK consider important in the context of their work. On the topic of wages, findings show that 28 percent of UK employees feel as though they are able to comfortably negotiate or ask for a pay rise. Read Story.
New survey finds ⅔ of employees believe there will be a greater focus on workplace mental health once Covid has passed
HR News: According to fresh research from the workforce training course comparison site CoursesOnline, 66% of employees think that moving forward, more time and resources will be dedicated to mental health in the workplace due to Covid. This data comes from an anonymous survey of UK employees from 300 companies carried out since the New Year which sought to identify attitudes towards mental wellbeing and how they have been shaped throughout the pandemic in advance of Time to Talk Day on February 4th. Read Story.
Only a third of workers have received financial support after self-isolating
HR Review: New research from the CIPD shows that only a third of financial support claims have been paid out to workers instructed to self-isolate. According to new data, only one in three workers (35 per cent) have been paid any financial support after being instructed to self-isolate by the NHS Test and Trace app. Read Story.
Working parents lying over home-schooling
HR Magazine: A lack of flexible working options has forced many employees to lie to their bosses during lockdown. One in three (33%) working parents have admitted to bending the truth around home-schooling according to a new poll by HR payroll advisor MHR International. Read Story.
1pc of DB transfers go to workplace pensions – DB advisers halved
Corporate Adviser: Just 1 per cent of DB transfers end up being moved to workplace pensions, despite the FCA now requiring advisers to benchmark funds’ proposed destination against a low-cost workplace pension option. Read Story
Three-quarters of businesses didn’t offer new mental health resources during the first lockdown
OnRec: According to the latest study by the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, nearly three-quarters (73%) of UK businesses didn’t offer any new mental health resources during the first lockdown. This news comes despite research from Mind UK, revealing that depression among adults almost doubled during the pandemic. Read Story.
Work-life balance is the key to workplace happiness
Workplace Insight: Research by Ezra, digital coaching provider, claims that work-life balance is the driving factor behind happiness in the UK workplace. The survey claims that a notable 78 percent of those in employment are happy in their current job. Read Story.
A fifth of workers feel employer prepared for hybrid working
Personnel Today: Only one in five workers feels that their employer is prepared to support a more hybrid working model, combining home working with the workplace, according to a survey from Sony Professional Solutions. Almost three-quarters (72%) expect to work remotely at least one day a week once pandemic restrictions ease, and 65% believe they will work from home at least two days a week. Read Story.
Line manager training ‘central’ to closing disability employment gap, MPs hear
People Management: Well-trained line managers are central to enabling disabled people to enter and stay in the workforce, a group of MPs have been told. Giving evidence to the Work and Pensions Select Committee this morning, Professor Dame Carol Black, who advises the government on the relationship between work and health, said employers needed to take a people-centred approach to closing the disability employment gap. Read Story.
Government considering scrapping some EU labour laws
Fresh Business Thinking: The government is considering scrapping some of the EU’s labour laws, business secretary Kwasi Kwarten has confirmed. One of the rules under consideration is the 48-hour working time directive. It comes just days after he insisted the government had ‘no plans’ to cut workers’ rights following a report by the Financial Times. Read Story.
Over half of parents feel more stretched at work during lockdown
HR Review: A new survey finds that more than half of parents with young children are working late, leading to a greater need for flexible working hours. GlobalWebIndex (GWI), a market research company, has found that over half of parents (54 per cent) with young children feel more stretched at work, leading to frequently working late. Read Story.
Typical pay awards could fall to 1%
Employee Benefits: Annual pay awards have steadied at a median of 2% in the three months to the end of December 2020 and are unchanged for the third consecutive rolling quarter, but early indications suggest pay settlements in 2021 could be half as much. Read Story.
Employers more confident about offering pay rises
Employee Benefits: Growing numbers of employers are feeling more confident about offering pay rises, according to research by Morgan McKinley. The study found that nearly half (49%) of employers surveyed are optimistic about awarding pay increases this year, with 53% expecting their organisation’s activity levels to rise to allow for it. Read Story.
Employees urged to report forced unpaid leave for home working
Employee Benefits: City workers are being urged to confront the emerging practice of being threatened with unpaid leave for refusing to travel to the office during the national lockdown. The City of London Corporation is calling on staff in the Square Mile to send it an anonymous complaint if they feel bosses are breaking lockdown rules by forcing them to take unpaid leave if they insist on working from home. Read Story.
One in five say pandemic has prompted them to improve health and lifestyle, Simplyhealth poll finds
Healthcare and Protection: One in five people in Britain say that the wider societal and financial impact of the pandemic has encouraged them to take better care of their health and lifestyle, research shows. A poll carried out for Simplyhealth, the healthcare plan provider, suggests that recent events have prompted 19% of the population to make a greater commitment to improving their health. Read Story.
New AE limits unveiled – threshold unchanged
Corporate Adviser: The Government has confirmed that it will keep the auto-enrolment earnings threshold at £10,000 and will not remove the lower earnings limit at this stage. It says this represents a real terms decrease in the value of the trigger when combined with assumed wage growth and will result in an estimated additional 8,000 savers. Read Story.
ONS paints bleak financial picture for millions of Britons
Corporate Adviser: By December this year more than 9 million Britons had to borrow more than they normally do while at the same time credit card balances actually fell by 14.7 per cent in 2020, according to figures from the ONS and UK Finance. At the end of March 2020, 31.6 per cent of people said they would be unable to save for the year ahead, but this figure had increased to 38.4 per cent in December, according to the ONS. Read Story.