Opinion – Page 35
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OpinionKate Martin: Managing an employee’s holiday allowance while on furlough
With so many holidays booked and cancelled during lockdown, and there being a number of bank holidays that have fallen during this period, it has left employers wondering what is the right way to be managing employees’ holiday allowances while they are on furlough.The government guidance on taking holiday while ...
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OpinionCaroline Harwood: Company car tax in the Covid-19 world and for the new normal
Higher car benefit costs have pushed many employers away from company cars and towards a cash-based car allowance in recent years. However, there are still employees who have company cars and who could benefit from a reduced benefit-in-kind charge during lockdown by eliminating the availability of their company vehicles or ...
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OpinionAma Afrifa-Tchie: Recognition strategies for furloughed employees
All organisations affected by the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic have a responsibility to ensure a recognition strategy is in place to help furloughed employers with their mental health during this uncertain time.This is a new concept to many of us, and for those impacted, there is a risk it will have ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Is flexible working becoming the new normal?
How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected working arrangements in your organisation?As many organisations, particularly in the retail sector, have begun to open their doors again this week, and others prepare to do so, many businesses are questioning what changes to working arrangements resulting from the pandemic and lockdown could mean ...
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OpinionCharles Cotton: Well-communicated benefits lead to greater employee motivation
Working from home has many benefits but it can also increase feelings of isolation, which may be heightened further during lockdown. It is therefore important that employers consider how to bring out the social aspects of a total reward package.They may suggest that teams have a weekly social catch up ...
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OpinionNicholas Stretch: How are all-employee share plans faring as a benefit in the current crisis?
The two widely used share plans in the UK are sharesave (SAYE) and the share incentive plan (Sip). They, like most employee benefits at the moment, are under real pressure from companies and their participants to show value for money, appeal and flexibility. After all, while employee share plans are ...
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OpinionEmma Martin: Keep calm and do not panic about retirement plans
With Covid -19 causing market volatility and financial uncertainty, employees due to retire this year may be worrying about the impact of the pandemic on their retirement savings and retirement plans. The key message for these individuals is to keep calm and do not panic.Employees should be reassured that if ...
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OpinionNigel Peaple: How will the Covid-19 pandemic affect employees that are due to retire this year?
Covid-19 has caused significant disruption to all aspects of everyday life worldwide, including the way we work. Reduced hours, remote working, school closures, homeschooling, enforced holiday, furlough and, in some cases, even being laid off.At this time of national crisis, pension trustees want savers in workplace schemes to be reassured ...
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OpinionLucie Greene: The future of work post-Covid 19
When it comes to workplaces, one of the most obvious changes we will see post-Covid 19 is the shift to remote working. Most businesses have been suddenly thrown into remote working and have had to very quickly set their teams up virtually. This is something we will see continue post-pandemic. ...
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OpinionHelen Watson: Business decisions during Covid-19
With little time to prepare or plan, businesses have needed to make critical decisions while having to navigate ever-changing legislation and guidance set out by the government. This has, in turn, left many employers potentially vulnerable, with lots of business owners and managers confused about what the correct duties and ...
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OpinionDanyal Enver: Covid-19 corporate distress: what employers and trustees need to know
Thanks to Covid-19, business is bad. Despite government measures to alleviate the impact and help organisations to continue operating, the fallout creates multiple challenges. Economic ramifications include adverse effects on employers’ solvency and cashflow, and on demand for their products and services. Employers and trustees should, therefore, act swiftly in ...
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OpinionTina McCorkindale: Challenges of employee engagement in the future
The future of employee engagement will be filled with many opportunities and challenges, some accelerated by the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Looking into the crystal ball of business, there are five challenges that will impact the future of employee engagement.Managing the gig economyIn the September 2019 Institute for Public Relations (IPR) ...
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OpinionColin Barnes: How will benefits, wellbeing and employee expectations change as we reshape in a post-Covid-19 world?
It goes without saying that Covid-19 has forced immense change.Although there is some degree of uncertainty over how the workplace will look once the pandemic has finished, there are some key areas emerging where we are predicting great change. We have defined four key phases which business will go through: ...
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OpinionLisa Harris: We must adapt our digital literacies and embrace workplace technologies
Workplace technologies have been evolving over many years and their particular usefulness at the moment is evident in every news bulletin. Both the communication tools that we rely on and the network infrastructure that supports them have, so far, proved remarkably resilient in a global crisis.It is becoming clear that ...
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OpinionNatasha Broomfield-Reid: Promoting employee wellbeing during the Covid-19 lockdown
As the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic forces many to continue to work from home and others to accept furlough, a proactive, well-planned approach to employee wellbeing could make all the difference to employees' happiness, motivation and productivity.Whether this focus comes in the form of a dedicated employee wellbeing manager, or HR ...
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OpinionMurray Keir: Furlough and the impact on salary sacrifice and death-in-service benefits
The government introduced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (GJRS) in March to tackle the effect that Covid-19 (Coronavirus) is having on employment in the UK. Great strides have been made in getting to grips with the operation of the GJRS in practice to provide employees with a salary while they ...
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OpinionJulianna Barker: What are an employer’s legal responsibilities around mental health?
A healthy workforce increases a business’ performance, productivity and profitability and can help an employer retain staff. However, employers also have legal obligations to look after employees’ mental health. The following is a summary of an employer’s main responsibilities.There is a common law duty of care on all employers ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Should Facebook base employees' pay on location?
Should your salary be set according to the area in which you live?This was the question raised earlier this week when Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerburg, discussed the organisation’s plans to move towards remote working in the post-pandemic era. In a public livestream, Zuckerburg explained that over the next five to ...
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OpinionRachel Nayani: Health and wellbeing support needed in times of crisis
Covid-19 has seen record numbers of employees working from home for the first time, or for a prolonged period of time. Keeping employees in good mental and physical health is critical for business’ sustainability, so how can managers help?Prior research has identified many and varied risk factors for home-based working.For ...
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OpinionJonathan Lord: Returning to work after long-term sick leave
When an employee is off work due to long-term sick leave, lasting four weeks or more, they can face increased difficulties getting back into the routine of work and their normal way of life. These difficulties are varied and will depend on the nature of the illness but it can ...