At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 7-13 May 2021
Here are the headlines you might have missed between 7-13 May 2021.
Societal change is driving businesses to focus on purpose
Workplace Insight: Increasing pressure from investors, customers and employees are causing CEOs to focus their businesses on purpose, resilience and long-term sustainability, according to a new report from the Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA) and Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB). The report, ‘People risk – why the need for change is urgent‘ claims a shift in business focus away from short term gains in favour of emphasising long term value creation as one way of managing people risk. Read Story.
Office is the new social hub for a third of workers
Workplace Insight: More than a third (37 percent) of US and UK office workers describe the prospect of going back to the office as the equivalent of going out to meet with friends, according to a new study by Chargifi. Read Story.
Employers face litigation risk over workplace practices
Reward Strategy: Employers looking to update working practices could be at risk of legal action if they do not consult their workforce appropriately and carry out necessary risk assessments, according to employment law specialists. Read Story.
Remote working 'must not be enforced', experts warn, as large employers plan hybrid future
People Management: Employees must not be forced to work from home if they don’t want to, experts have warned, as research has shown almost all of the UK’s top employers have said they do not plan to bring their staff back to the office full time. Read Story.
One in three accelerating financial wellbeing plans
Personnel Today: Nearly a third (32%) of employers say the pandemic has accelerated their plans to improve the financial wellbeing of their staff. Research involving 171 organisations found that more than one in three (36%) employers believe Covid-19 has had a negative effect on employees’ financial wellbeing – particularly in sectors that have been hit hard by lockdown restrictions including hospitality and travel. Read Story.
80% of staff have health and wellbeing worries
Polling by Group Risk Development (Grid), the industry body for the group risk sector, has revealed a massive four in five employees report having health and wellbeing concerns. The research was compiled to coincide with the start of the UK’s Mental health awareness week (10 – 16 May), and revealed 79% currently have wellbeing problems, with stress and anxiety by far the biggest issue, with 62% reporting this. Read Story.
Poll: Two-thirds of employers against pay cuts for home workers
Employee Benefits: Employers have given a clear thumbs down to implementing pay cuts for staff who continue to work from home beyond the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) lockdown. According to Employee Benefits latest survey, two-thirds (67%) of organisations are against reducing the wages of employees who continue to work from home post lockdown, with more than a quarter (27%) believing those individuals should be paid more. Read Story.
Employers key to tackling loneliness among the workforce, government says
People Management: The government is urging employers to make loneliness awareness a part of their wider employee wellbeing programmes, warning that workplaces can trigger or exacerbate feelings of isolation. A report, Employers and loneliness, commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said that while jobs and work environments created opportunities for individuals to connect, employers needed to be aware of ways that loneliness could develop or be made worse at work. Read Story.
Employers should prepare for ongoing working from home, experts warn
People Management: Businesses have been told to prepare for ongoing disruption to working patterns as government advisers have reportedly warned the work from home guidance could be in place indefinitely. Read Story.
Mental Health Awareness Week: concerns up 24% on last year
Occupational Health & Wellbeing: The number of employees reporting mental health worries is up 24% since May 2020, research has revealed as Mental Health Awareness Week kicks off. Numerous lockdowns have resulted in a significant increase in the number of staff reporting mental health concerns over the course of the year, according to investment company Close Brothers. Read Story.
Workplace pension membership stalls for first time since AE
Corporate Adviser: The percentage of employees who were members of a workplace pension remained flat last year according to Office of National Savings figures – the first year participation has stalled since the introduction of automatic enrolment in 2012. Read Story.
Over 70% of workers looking to make their commutes more sustainable post-lockdown
HR News: As UK employees begin to return to the office, nationwide research from zero carbon commuting specialist Mobilityways has found that nearly three-quarters (70.8%) of working people want their commutes to be more sustainable. Read Story.
Graduates alienated by remote working, with majority wanting social interaction
Workplace Insight: Gen Z is the largest generation in human history, and over the next 10 years, 1.3 billion of its members will enter the global workforce. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that this new generation of graduates is entering one of the toughest job markets in decades. Read Story.
Employees’ views not sought over return to office
Personnel Today: There are fears that the employee voice is being ignored in the debate around post-pandemic working arrangements, with a survey finding that only half of managers have formally consulted their employees about their return-to-office plans. Read Story.
Acas: Conflict costs employers almost £30bn a year
Personnel Today: Workplace conflict costs UK employers £28.5bn a year, according to a new report from conciliation service Acas. Handling formal and informal complaints associated with workplace conflict, legal processes, sickness absence and resignations can cost more than £1,000 per employee per year, Acas said. Read Story.
Pandemic fears cause melanoma diagnoses to fall by more than a quarter
Occupational Health & Wellbeing: Melanoma diagnoses fell 28% from April to November 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, or the equivalent of 2,671 cases that were not picked up, compared to the previous year, latest research has suggested. Read Story.
Mild Covid ‘very unlikely’ to lead to long-term heart damage
Occupational Health & Wellbeing: A mild bout of Covid-19 infection is “very unlikely” to cause lasting damage to the structure or function of the heart, according to research. The study, part funded by the British Heart Foundation and published in journal JACC Cardiovascular Imaging, assessed 149 healthcare workers recruited from Barts Health and Royal Free London NHS Trusts and is believed to be the largest and most detailed study to date into mild Covid-19 infection and its longer-term impact on the heart. Read Story.
Line manager training ‘fundamental’ to boost staff wellbeing and exit pandemic
Healthcare and Protection: Employers have been urged to ensure line managers are given effective training to be able to boost employee morale and wellbeing ahead of the country’s return to the office. Read Story.
UK health and happiness plummets under Covid pandemic: LifeSearch
Cover magazine: Compiled with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), the HWH Index monitors changes in the three indices individually and combined. The LifeSearch Health Index suffered its largest year-on-year fall (49%) in the series in Q2 2020 as it tumbled to 50.4. Read Story.
Covid causes 10-year low for health, wealth and happiness
Corporate Adviser: The Covid pandemic has caused the health, wealth and happiness of the UK population to reach its lowest levels for a decade. The latest LifeSearch Health Wealth & Happiness Index, compiled with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) found scores for all three key indicators reached a 10-year low in the second quarter of 2020. Read Story.
75% of employers do not have formal diversity and inclusion framework
Employee Benefits: Polling by pension consultants Barnett Waddingham has revealed more than three-quarters of respondents do not yet have a formal framework in place for diversity and inclusion (D&I). The research was compiled at Barnett Waddingham’s latest conference, The DNA Experience, where attendees were surveyed in order to understand the sentiment of UK business towards D&I. Read Story.
Women feeling mental health burden of Covid more than men: LV=
Cover magazine: The latest edition of the LV= Wealth and Wellbeing Monitor report found that 41% (11 million) of women admitted that they feel exhausted, compared to 24% (6m) of men. In addition, over half of women (56%) stated they were feeling stressed or anxious, compared to one-third of men (35%). Read Story.
Employees willing to swap pay for personalised benefits
Cover magazine: The latest instalment in insurer MetLife's Re:Me report has found that almost half of UK employees (48%) would sacrifice more of their basic salary for a personalised employee benefits package. Read Story.
Pandemic has increased risk of minimum wage breaches
Personnel Today: The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the risk of minimum wage underpayment, and the government should respond in a proactive and strategic way to ensure workers do not lose out, the Low Pay Commission has said. Read Story.
Employees demand more personalised benefit packages post pandemic: MetLife
Corporate Adviser: Half of workers say they would sacrifice more of their basic salary to get a personalised benefit package according to research from MetLife UK. In today’s Covid environment it appears there is increased demand for more holistic employee benefits that offer health and financial protection. Read Story.
Half of UK trades people experience mental health problems due to work
HR News: Nearly half (49%) of UK tradespeople experience mental health problems due to work-related issues, a new study has found. The research, commissioned for Mental Health Awareness Week (May 10th-16th) by IronmongeryDirect, the UK’s largest supplier of specialist ironmongery, found that nearly three in five (58%) experience some form of mental health problem, such as stress, anxiety or depression, at least once a week. Read Story.
Long Covid may need to be treated as a disability, lawyer warns
Personnel Today: Organisations may need to consider treating those with ‘long Covid’ as if they have a disability in order to avoid falling into legal hot water, an employment lawyer has warned. Ella Bond, a senior solicitor at Harper James Solicitors, said organisations need to be ready for the impact long Covid will have on both their employees and their business, as many are likely to feel the long-term effects of the virus. Read Story.
Hybrid working could backfire because of fatigue
Personnel Today: Organisations that fail to execute hybrid working well could end up asking for all employees to return to the office because they feel the new modes of working are ‘too hard to pull off’, according to analysts at Gartner. Read Story.
Two-thirds feel uncomfortable using race terms at work
Personnel Today: Almost two-thirds of employees feel nervous about using the wrong language to discuss race at work, according to a survey by diversity network INvolve. Its research, released to mark the publication of its annual ethnic minority role model list, found that more than half (56%) felt uncomfortable using the terms ‘Black’, ‘Asian’, ‘BAME’ and ‘ethnic minority’, while 44% said they changed their language choice when speaking to a colleague of a different race. Read Story.
Office return to boost wellbeing but a third want safety measures
Corporate Adviser: Worker wellbeing is predicted to improve as more than half – 58 per cent – of full time workers returning to the office looking forward to it, according to new research from Canada Life. Employees’ anticipated positive impact on their own mental health is greatest amongst those aged 18 – 34 years old, with 66 per cent of this age group expecting their mental health to improve once they have physically returned to work. Read Story.
Workers dreading dressing smartly on their return to the office
Workplace Insight: A new survey has suggested that people’s reluctance to head back into the office has much less to do with the risks of COVID-19 or other germs and more to do with the dress code of the company they work for. According to the poll from Airdri, as organisations across the country begin to welcome staff back from working from home, it seems many Brits are not looking forward to dropping the leisure wear and returning to a more formal attire needed when working amongst peers. Read Story.
Pensions dashboards on track to meet 2023 launch date
Pensions Age: Pensions dashboards are “on track” to meet the target of being available to savers from 2023, according to the Pensions Dashboards Programme’s (PDP) third progress update report. The report stated that progress was keeping pace with the indicative timeline published by the PDP in October, whereby staged onboarding and dashboard availability would commence in 2023. Read Story.
Pension saving behaviours 'relatively unchanged' despite Covid-19 impact
Pensions Age: Pension saving behaviours have remained "largely unchanged" despite severe disruption to the economy and labour market amid the pandemic, analysis from Nest Insight has found. However, it did suggest that there were disparities in different sectors and job types. Read Story.
British employers shun workplace mental health support for their staff
HR News: In a survey of more than 500 employers and 500 employees in the UK in March 2021, 48% of employers stated that they do not have budgets available to help support their employees’ mental health whilst 30% of employers do not know how to support their employees’ mental health. Read Story.