At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 8-14 March 2019
Your quick-read round up of the reward and benefits stories appearing in the press in the past seven days.
The headlines you might have missed between 8-14 March.
UK salaries sky-rocket as employers struggle to fill vacancies
Onrec: Average salaries across the UK have risen by a staggering 30.2% since last year, as employers continue with their struggle to find the right candidates for their vacancies. Read Story.
Third have taken no action on gender pay gap
HR Magazine: One in three (30%) HR professionals report that their organisation has taken no measures to reduce its gender pay gap over the last year, according to the Young Women’s Trust. Read Story.
Global rankings for female economic empowerment revealed
The Actuary: The UK is the 13th best country in the OECD for female economic empowerment after climbing one position in an annual ranking by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Read Story.
Single parents are being locked out of apprenticeships
The HR Director: Single parents are ideal candidates to take up apprenticeships, but Gingerbread’s report, Making Apprenticeships and Traineeships Work for Single Parents, has found substantial evidence of barriers that inhibit them from accessing and progressing in these schemes. Read Story.
Northern English cities held back by lack of opportunities for low skilled workers
Workplace Insight: Despite higher living costs, southern English cities such as Oxford and Exeter lead the country in their ability to provide opportunities for people with low skills. A new report from the Centre for Cities on low-skilled workers claims that employment opportunities are greater for people with fewer or no qualifications in southern English cities than those in the North or Midlands. Read Story.
Half of UK employers offer gamified rewards to staff
Employee Benefits: Almost half (48%) of UK employers offer some form of gamified rewards to staff, according to research by workplace incentives provider One4All Rewards. Read Story.
Millennials more likely than baby-boomers to want income not jackpot
Cover Magazine: Millennials are more likely than baby-boomers to prefer to win £1,000 a month for life, rather than a lump sum of £1m if they were to win the lottery, according to research by Just Group. Read Story.
Half of UK employers struggle to recruit and retain blue-collar workers
Onrec: UK employers are facing significant challenges when it comes to both recruiting and retaining manual and elementary service workers – a new study has revealed. Read Story.
Employers leaving staff in the dark over Brexit
Fresh Business Thinking: Just 11% of organisations have clearly communicated their Brexit plans to staff, leaving employees in the dark, according to Right Management. Read Story.
Pensions must evolve to meet needs of changing workplace: report
Corporate Adviser: Auto-enrolment has established a nascent savings culture in the UK, but this could be eroded if pension products don't adapt to changing demographics and employment trends, according to new research. Read Story.
UK workers 'shamed' out of taking full holiday allowance
HR Grapevine: British employees are failing to make the most of their holiday allowance – with 44% failing to use all of theirs last year, according to a new report from Tombola. Read Story.
Falling life expectancy to slash pension scheme liabilities
The Actuary: UK pension schemes could enjoy a significant fall in liabilities after the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) last week slashed its life expectancy projections by almost half a year. Read Story.
Cuts to benefits ‘increasing mental health problems’
Health Insurance Daily: Cuts to benefits and wider economic hardship are increasing demand for mental health care, NHS bosses have said. Mental health leaders in England cited the rollout of Universal Credit, money problems and job worries as adding pressure to an already stretched system. Read Story.
Employers value candidate personality over experience
Fresh Business Thinking: Despite widely assumed that a candidate’s experience is the most favoured factor in recruitment, it may actually be their personality that is valued most by employers, according to a new study. Read Story.
1 in 5 UK employees want workplace nap time
HR Grapevine: Waking to the robotic melodies of an alarm clock is a thought that makes many people shudder with discomfort. And the same tedious rhythm continues to deafen your hearing senses until you finally decide to get out of bed for work. Read Story.
Few companies meet modern working demands
HR Review: Four in ten (42 per cent) UK employees say working flexibly makes them more productive, according to a new study. Despite this, and a legal right to request flexible working, less than three in 10 (29 per cent) UK employees work for companies that operate flexible working schemes for all. Read Story.
Demographic generalisations can disengage employees
Incentive & Motivation: Organisations that make assumptions about staff, based on generational demographics risk driving talent away, warns The Health Insurance Group. Read Story.
Women are happier and more enthusiastic at work than men, despite the 8.6% gender pay gap
Incentive & Motivation: Technology-enabled employee services business Personal Group has unveiled research into gender happiness that demonstrates that despite being paid on average 8.6% less than their male counterparts (ONS: 2018), women are happier and more enthusiastic about their work, and prouder of the work they do. Read Story.
A third of companies don’t have an employee recognition scheme in place
Incentive & Motivation: One third of employees feel undervalued, whilst a third of companies don’t have an employee recognition scheme in place, according to a survey of 1,000 employees across UK businesses employing more than 500 people. Read Story.
Third of savers 'unaware' of pension tax relief
FT Adviser: About a third of individuals (35 per cent) appear unaware that the government is contributing tax relief to their pensions, new research from The People’s Pension has found. Read Story.
Companies that adopt agile working enjoy improved financial performance, claims report
Workplace Insight: Companies that embrace agile working and and a generally more flexible and responsive way of working enjoy a financial and operational competitive advantage over their rivals, according to new research from PA Consulting. Read Story.
Paying the Living Wage is “not just a moral argument”
Reward Strategy: Data calculated by the Smith Institute, for the Living Wage Foundation, found 1.2 million public sector workers earn less than £9 across the UK, and £10.55 in London, per hour. Read Story.
Spring statement: minimum wage review and early apprenticeship reforms
Personnel Today: Wages will continue to rise and there will be 600,000 new jobs by 2023 – but only if Britain can secure a smooth Brexit deal, the chancellor has announced. Read Story.
Charity urges businesses to ‘radically rethink’ support for ageing workforce
People Management: Businesses need to radically rethink their approaches to supporting the next generation of workers as they grow older, to ensure they maintain a good quality of life and make the most of opportunities presented by longer working lives, according to a new charity report. Read Story.
Uncertainty is weighing on hiring and staff availability
The HR Director: The latest KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs, showed that the UK labour market registered a relatively lacklustre performance in February, with uncertainty regarding the outlook weighing on hiring and staff availability. Read Story.
Noise damaging workplace wellbeing
HR Magazine: Almost half (44%) of employees feel that noise in the workplace negatively affects their wellbeing, according to research from The Remark Group and environmental psychologist Nigel Oseland. Read Story.
Many SMEs do not protect 'most valuable asset'
Cover Magazine: Ahead of this year's Term & Health Watch report, Swiss Re has released the findings of its ‘The vulnerable business' report, which looks at level term assurance (LTA) sales data for business protection. Read Story.
One in 10 UK adults have never had a paid job
Employer News: Despite record employment figures, a report released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), found one in 10 UK adults have never done paid work, with students accounting for a large majority of the 3.6 million people. Read Story.
Female sandwich carers worst hit by social care ‘inaction’
Health Insurance Daily: Women are bearing the brunt of the government’s inaction on social care, with sandwich carers especially badly hit, according to Age UK. Read Story.
Half of employers plan to develop EVP – Aon
Cover Magazine: According to Aon's Benefits and Trends Survey 2019, more than half of employers surveyed plan to develop their employee experience, or EVP, up from 16% last year. Employers have said that an EVP has had a positive impact on employee engagement, retention and recruitment, with 65%, 63% and 70% agreeing retrospectively. Read Story.
HR professionals think technology is key to employee engagement
HR Review: New research has revealed the top three HR priorities for 2019: increasing workplace productivity, increasing employee engagement and increasing employee retention. Read Story.
8 in 10 Brits turn down job that doesn’t offer flexible working
HR Review: New findings suggest that UK businesses without a flexible workspace policy risk losing out on top talent. That’s according to research which shows that 80 per cent of those in the UK would chose a job which offered flexible working over a job that didn’t. Read Story.
31% believe SMEs should train first aiders to support employee mental health
Employee Benefits: Employee Benefits poll: Three in 10 (31%) respondents believe that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can support employees’ mental health by training mental health first aiders. Read Story.
HR failing to use analytics
HR Magazine: Almost half of UK businesses are failing to use insights from analytics in their HR operations, according to a survey by MHR Analytics. For HR Analytics: A Practical Guide to the Future of HR MHR Analytics commissioned YouGov to poll 500 HR leaders. The survey found that 44% do not have a main focus on HR analytics. Read Story.
Workplace pensions must “radically rethink” communications strategy
Corporate Adviser: The DC pensions industry needs to “fundamentally rethink” the way it communicate with members if it doesn’t want to become obsolete. Read Story.
XpertHR reveals salary levels are the top reward activity for employers
Employers are facing a constant battle to get employees’ salaries at the right level, according to the latest research from XpertHR. Almost all (97.7%) organisations questioned said they would be looking at salary levels in some way over the coming year – whether that be through the annual pay review, benchmarking salaries against the market or complying with the national minimum wage legislation. Read Story.