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16 Apr 2021
by Annie Makoff

At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 9-15 April 2021

Your quick-read round up of the reward and benefits stories appearing in the press in the past seven days.

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The headlines you might have missed between 9-15 April 2021.

Call to action launched for living wage
Employee Benefits: IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative, has published a Call to action: Better business through better wages, demanding companies take greater steps to pay a living wage to their staff. The group, which seeks to make trade more sustainable, launched the scheme to encourage organisations and their suppliers to take action. So far, 10 signatories – including L’Oreal, Aldi, Uniliver, and Taylors of Harrogate – have already pledged their support. Read Story.

ABI research shows health and wellbeing benefits boost productivity
Healthcare & Protection: New research from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has drawn a clear link between firms offering health and wellbeing benefits to staff and boosting productivity. The research reveals three in five (60%) SMEs acknowledge that providing health and wellbeing benefits has a high impact on supporting the productivity of their company – increasing to 69% for medium size businesses. Read Story.

Number of employer-led Diversity & Inclusion initiatives doubles
Engage Employee: Twice as many professionals (64%) stated that they are aware of their employer’s diversity & inclusion initiatives, compared to 2019.  In the face of mandatory remote working, active participation in diversity & inclusion initiatives has grown by +10% in lockdown – with more than a third of professionals now participating in employer-led working groups. Read Story.

Organisations leveraging L&D for survival
HR Magazine: HR must prioritise learning and development (L&D) to create genuine change in the workplace, argues a new report.  Priorities have shifted in the past year as the majority (64%) of L&D professionals said reskilling the workforce has become an organisational focus, with a 159% increase in CEOs championing L&D objectives. Read Story.

Women and Equalities Committee urges Public Health England to ditch Body Mass Index
Healthcare & Protection: The Women and Equalities Committee has called on Public Health England to use a ‘Health at Every Size’ (HAES) approach over use of Body Mass Index to determine a person’s healthy weight. The committee’s inquiry into body image criticised the use of BMI which is derived from the mass (weight) and height of a person. Read Story.

Employees globally ready to return to the workplace once vaccinated
Engage Employee: A workforce fatigued by restrictions and safety concerns is emerging with a more optimistic and hopeful outlook for the year ahead, according to Randstad’s latest survey of over 27,000 workers in 34 countries. Research revealed that there is a clear desire for employees to return to the workplace, however not without having the vaccine first. Read Story.

MPAA freeze could see tax charges on AE contributions
Corporate Adviser: Many older workers who have accessed pension savings could be hit with a tax charge if they continue to make AE contributions, as a result of Budget freezes to tax thresholds. This includes a freeze to the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA), which stands at £4,000. This is the maximum that can be contributed to a pension each year once benefits have been taken. Read Story.

Covid prompts rethink on retirement plans
Corporate Adviser: The Covid-19 pandemic has focused people’s minds on their retirement plans, with an increase in people wanting to give up work, and work for longer. New research has found there has been a significant increase the number of people wanting to give up work between the age of 50 and state pension age. In October 2018 just 4 per cent of people stated this as a preference, but by October 2020 this had risen to 10 per cent. Read Story.

Wellbeing programmes kept employees productive throughout lockdown
HR Magazine: Wellbeing programmes have boosted employee productivity throughout the coronavirus pandemic. In a new report by Westfield Health, 43% of HR managers who had a wellbeing programme in place rated employee productivity as very good, whereas just 18% of organisations without a programme thought employee productivity was at this level. Read Story.

Pandemic highlights need for gender inclusive parental leave
HR Magazine: Volvo's announcement of 24 weeks paid parental leave for all genders highlights the shift in business mindset when it comes to employee benefits. The Family Bond policy gives employees with at least one year’s service 24 weeks leave at 80% of their base pay by default. And it is an example of just one of the ways companies are seeking to provide better care for employees with co-dependents, both prior-to and as a result of the pandemic. Read Story.

Companies use skills as the new currency for workforce transformation
Workplace Insight: Skills have become the new currency of workforce and talent strategies, as more than half of organisations that responded to the 2021 Mercer Global Talent Trends survey are targeting upskilling and reskilling of critical talent pools to drive workforce transformation. Read Story.

Employee experience is top priority for CIO’s but UK held back by lack of tools
Workplace Insight: Elastic (NYSE: ESTC), the company behind Elasticsearch and the Elastic Stack, have announced a new study, claiming that employee experience has become a new priority for IT leaders as they reinvent their infrastructures to support remote workforces. Read Story.

UK workforce sees 113% increase in stress-related leave
Engage Employee: Data from absence management platform e-days, reveals that, when comparing pre-pandemic levels in March 2019 to March 2021, the number of stress sickness days recorded has increased by 113%. Additionally, the average number of people taking stress-related leave has increased by 74% when comparing Q1 2021 to Q1 2019. Read Story.

Ability to work from anywhere a driver for happiness
Engage Employee: Fifty-seven percent of UK workers have felt happier over the past year as a result of working from home, according to a new study commissioned by Avaya to take the emotional pulse of the nation as we move beyond 2020. Read Story.

Gyms gear up to help restore country’s physical and mental health – Nuffield
Healthcare & Protection: The reopening of gyms today is a key milestone in rebuilding the physical and mental health of individuals say industry professionals. A recent poll conducted by healthcare charity Nuffield Health revealed lack of motivation, being tired of life in lockdown and general pandemic stress are the biggest obstacles people face to looking after own their health and wellbeing in the most recent lockdown. Read Story.

Health and wellbeing top focus for employers in 2021
Employee Benefits: Poll - Health and wellbeing is the top priority for organisations this year, closely followed by flexible working. According to Employee Benefits’ latest straw poll, 42% of respondents said their staff’s health and wellbeing are paramount in 2021. Read Story.

Just a quarter of women would choose working remotely full-time
HR Review: The difference in male and female employees’ attitudes when it comes to their choice of work models is becoming increasingly evident, with women more likely to desire flexible arrangements.  New research conducted by Totaljobs and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has revealed that female employees are more likely to opt for flexible working arrangements, giving them a split between working from home and in-office. Read Story.

Staff think poor mental health will impact career progression
HR Magazine: Almost half (48%) of UK employees said they believe disclosing a mental health condition to their line manager would impact career progression. According to a new report by construction engineering company Lloyd’s Register, almost a third (29%) of workers have never discussed their mental health in line management meetings. Read Story.

Employees considering career change after furlough
HR Magazine: Over half (51%) of furloughed UK employees are considering a career change, according to new research by IT management company NTT DATA UK. Uncertainty around job security has driven the change, as 60% of respondents said they feared they will not have a job to go back to once the furlough scheme ends. Read Story.  

New employee benefits app uses genetics to gives personalised health support
Corporate Adviser: Employee benefit consultants and advisers are being offered access to a new health screening and support tool that uses both genetics and artificial intelligence to help employees improve their overall wellbeing. The tool is known as syd, and is being launched by iamYiam, a health tech firm. Read Story.

Strong growth in group risk market despite Covid crisis
Corporate Adviser: The group risk market continued to grow during 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to Swiss Re’s latest Group Watch Report. This wide-ranging annual report shows the total number of in-force policies increased by 3.6 per cent, when compared to 2019. Read Story.

Four million miss out on hospital treatment due to pandemic
Healthcare & Protection: Four million people missed hospital treatment in England due to increased pressure on the NHS caused by the pandemic in 2020. This is according to analysis carried out by independent charity The Health Foundation which shows while the NHS has made “substantial” progress towards restarting suspended hospital services during the pandemic, only 12m treatments were completed during 2020 – compared with 16m during 2019. Read Story.

Employers urged to extend long Covid benefits arsenal: Red Arc
Healthcare & Protection: Employers should consider adding digital access to GPs, early intervention services and private healthcare to their benefits arsenal to effectively manage the hidden threat posed by long Covid. Read Story.

Right to disconnect supported by two-thirds of workers
HR Review: Working increased hours with the frequent need to continually check emails has been a reality for many workers during the pandemic. However, new research finds that the majority of employees back a “Right to Disconnect”.  According to new research by Prospect, two-thirds of workers polled (66 per cent), who work remotely, support a “Right to Disconnect” Bill. This would require companies to agree on rules with their employees for time periods where they cannot be contacted. Read Story.

Savers concerned about climate – but fail to embrace ESG investing
Corporate Adviser: Climate risk is a key concern for savers, but less than one in five people say they are currently using their money to invest in greener funds, according to new research. Aegon asked savers what practical steps they were taking to make a positive impact and support a more sustainable society. Read Story.

Disability needs to be higher on the D&I agenda
HR Magazine: HR has a unique opportunity post-pandemic to drive the importance of disability inclusion in the workplace, says Business Disability Forum's CEO, Diane Lightfoot. Lightfoot told HR magazine, before the return to the workplace, HR must re-think what the workplace looks like for people with disabilities. Read Story.

Workers on rotation profoundly impacted by pandemic
HR Magazine: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant negative impact on the mental health of workers on rotation as 40% said they have experienced suicidal thoughts in the past year. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, one in five rotational workers said they feel suicidal most of the time and 29% met the benchmark for clinical depression while on rotation. Read Story.

Innovation, efficiency and temporary staffing drive business survival in the UK
Workplace Insight: More than a year after the coronavirus was first reported the UK, the impact on business is undeniable. Research conducted by SD Worx, claims that the UK has faced second most dismissals of employees (30 percent) in the past year, trailing slightly behind Austria (30.9 percent) yet ahead of France (29.1 percent). Read Story.

The digital transformation dilemma: UK employees want pandemic-era tech to stay
Workplace Insight: As the UK prepares to return to normal in the coming months and industries reopen, research from The Workforce Institute at UKG claims that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 87 percent of UK workers have been propelled into the future of work by accelerating their digital transformation projects. Furthermore, 86 percent are enjoying the benefits of these new technologies, and 38 percent are fearful that their organisation will go back to the “old way” of doing things post-pandemic. Read Story.

Employee engagement suffered a marked decline over the past year
Engage Employee: Worryingly, a majority of employees are no more engaged than they were a year ago, and many are less so. Employers will be concerned that only 28 per cent of employees described themselves as more engaged now, with 37 per cent saying they were less engaged and 33 per cent reporting no change. Read Story.

Four in ten office workers ‘scared to return’ to workplace
Engage Employee: Around 40 per cent of UK office workers are worried about catching Covid from their colleagues by returning to the workplace, a new report has found. Over a third of workers also said they were fearful of contracting the virus through contaminated equipment such as computers and keyboards. Read Story.

Pandemic escalates necessity for ‘carer’ employee support
Incentive & Motivation: RedArc, the nurse-led wellbeing support service included within employee benefits, group and individual insurances, and membership plans, is calling for employers to be aware of the impact that the pandemic is having on those staff who also have caring responsibilities at home. Read Story.

Employees look to avoid snooping employers
Personnel Today: Research by global cybersecurity firm Kapersky found that almost half (44%) of home workers were subject to monitoring software and that 24% were using personal technology to circumvent it. Three in 10 (31%) told researchers they were likely to use their own devices more for work if company-provided devices had monitoring software installed. Read Story.

Furlough scheme may cause workplace divisions
Personnel Today: A previously hidden workplace divide has emerged as furloughed employees return to work, according to new research. Business psychology firm Pearn Kandola has found that furloughed employees have experienced significant reduction in wellbeing, personal confidence, job satisfaction and commitment to their employers. Read Story.