Opinion – Page 48
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OpinionJane Crosby: Why employers need to care about employees’ work-life balance
Given Britain’s ageing population, employees are under increasing pressure to balance their working lives with looking after elderly relatives.Employers have an obligation to consider flexible working for employees with caring responsibilities. The change in normal working hours can be to the number of hours worked, or to the start and ...
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OpinionDr Heidi Smith: Focus on behaviour change to embed sustainability
At Swansea University, sustainability and wellbeing have been linked with employee benefits and reward because we want to embed sustainability into life here.Swansea is currently ranked ninth in the Guardian University Green League, and we are proud of our many achievements so far; however, we recognise that the process of ...
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OpinionJoanne Duck: Employment law changes on the agenda for 2019
As we embark upon a new year heaped with Brexit uncertainty, there is one thing we can be sure of: 2019 is set to be a busy year for employee benefits.On 17 December 2018, the government published the Good Work Plan, which it describes as 'the biggest package of workplace ...
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OpinionScott Cawood: Know the organisation before benchmarking total reward
How do top performing organisations attract the absolute best talent? It is never just the number on a pay stub; instead, the answer is complex and multi-layered.In a competitive employment market, it is critical to benchmark reward. This means not only looking outward at the rewards offered by competitors, but, ...
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OpinionPrisca Bradley: Workplace reforms do not go far enough
In December last year, the government unveiled a range of workplace reforms to improve the rights of workers on zero-hour contracts, agency employees and those working in the gig economy.The announcement of greater rights for those operating in the gig economy will be welcomed by the 1.1 million workers in ...
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OpinionPhil Sproston: How can total reward strategies help create top employers?
Total reward strategies have come to be highly effective weapons for many top employers in the UK. To understand why, it is important to break down the words themselves.Organisations are becoming increasingly broad in their perspective regarding what reward really means, and so the word 'total' is key. While 'reward' ...
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OpinionRichard Morgan: EVP should meet the needs of a multi-generational workforce
With factors such as technology and employee demographics reshaping the workplace, businesses are changing rapidly. Thanks to the removal of the default retirement age, employees are staying in work for longer, with some organisations now boasting workforces spanning five generations.While there are numerous benefits, such as greater diversity and more ...
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OpinionJohn Forth: How have total reward trends developed?
A major feature of the reward landscape in recent years has been the prolonged period of wage stagnation; according to Employee earnings in the UK: 2018, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in October 2018, average wages are still below levels recorded in 2008, after adjusting for inflation.As ...
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OpinionAlice Hallsworth: Global benefits strategies should align to local markets
When considering a global benefits strategy, employers should first consider their overall values, the industry landscape that the organisation works within, the needs of its workforce and, most importantly, what it is looking to achieve by aligning international benefits practices with its brand identity.The best benefit strategies identify clear objectives, ...
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OpinionDarren Ryder: TPR survey shows staff are continuing to save more
Nearly 10 million people are now saving for their retirement. Thanks to the success of auto-enrolment, contributing to a workplace pension has now become the norm.Staff now expect a pension as part and parcel of their employment; meanwhile, the advertising campaign circulated by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and the Department ...
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OpinionKaren Coleman: Mandatory job evaluation could mitigate equal pay claims
Morrisons has become the latest big supermarket group to face a challenge at the Employment Tribunal (ET) over equal pay by its shop staff; these are predominantly women who believe that they are being unfairly paid less than their male counterparts employed in distribution centres. If the test claim by ...
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OpinionKatharine Moxham: How can employers promote group risk to increase interest?
Employers want to provide an engaging package for their people. As part of that package, group risk benefits, such as employer-sponsored life assurance, income protection and critical illness, throw out a financial lifeline when it is most needed. However, these benefits can be wallflowers because they provide for catastrophic events, ...
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OpinionDianne Day: Should workplace pension members select their own investment?
Most UK employees saving into traditional defined contribution (DC) pension schemes do not make investment choices; instead, they choose to leave their money in the hands of trustees. From my experience, across the UK, around 80% to 90% of workplace pensions are in default funds, but other self-select choices are ...
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OpinionChristopher Brooks: Should employers default staff into pensions guidance?
Pension freedoms have opened up a brave new world of financial decision-making. While this can be a positive, a typical individual accessing their pension is now expected to make decisions that balance present and future spending needs, while factoring in information about complex products of which they have no previous ...
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OpinionDaniela Silcock: Should employers default staff into pensions guidance?
In 2012, the majority of active pension savers were in defined benefit (DB) schemes and the majority of pensioner income, after state pension and benefits, was from DB pensions, according to the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) Pensioner’s income series statistics, last published in March 2018.Auto-enrolment has now finished ...
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OpinionMichelle Cracknell: Should employers default staff into pensions guidance?
At The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS), we believe that automatically arranging a guidance session for employees at the point when they start to think about taking their benefits is essential in order to make seeking help with pensions the social norm.Currently, a vast majority of people are retiring with some ...
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OpinionHina Belitz: Harassment and bullying - employers are letting themselves down
In a dramatic wake-up call for the legal profession to examine its culture and working practices, the preliminary findings of a recent International Bar Association (IBA) survey, revealed in October 2018, found that bullying and sexual harassment are rife.According to more than 5,000 lawyers in 120 jurisdictions, one-third of male ...
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OpinionChris O’Sullivan: Psychological hazards need to become a focus for employers
In the last decade or two, there has been an increasing acceptance that the boundaries between work, family and the third spaces in which we rest and recharge have become blurred. These days, it is less 'work-life balance' and more 'work-life blend'; life does not stop on the way into ...
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OpinionNigel Morris: A warning to the private sector – IR35 is coming
The October 2018 budget brought with it confirmation that IR35 rules changes, introduced for the public sector in April 2017, will come into force for medium and large private sector businesses from April 2020. The definition of medium and large, however, remains unspecified.Organisations in the public sector, such as NHS ...
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OpinionNick de Mestre: Create a brand which puts talent, retention and engagement first
Now more than ever, organisations must be both commercially successful and morally sound to survive. Authenticity is increasingly important to employees, and no business has the right to exist, but rather a license to operate; at a time of increased scrutiny and demands for transparency, this license could be brought ...