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Tag: Sick pay

Paid sick leave tops the list

HR and payroll software provider CIPHR recently polled 1001 people about which benefits, perks, and incentives are the most important for employees. According to the new research, 67% of employees said that paid sick leave matters most to them. Next on the list were flexible working hours at 57% and pension contribution matching at 46%.

Also important was mental health and wellbeing support, at 40%. This comes as no surprise after the pandemic and the ever-rising cost of living.

The order of importance depends largely on the individual being surveyed. For example, pension contribution matching is higher on the priority list than flexible working hours for those over 45 (59% vs. 45%). However, the opposite applies to respondents under 45 (57% vs. 42%).

Gender also played a role, where female respondents valued childcare assistance over a market value salary (27% vs. 21%). On the other hand, more men placed more importance on a performance bonus over a market-value salary (45% vs. 34%).

The top 15 benefits and perks were as follows:

  • Paid sick leave (67%)
  • Flexible working hours (57%)
  • Pension contribution matching (46%)
  • Mental health and wellbeing support (40%)
  • Performance bonus (39%)
  • Four-day work week on full-time pay (37%)
  • Extra holiday allowance (32%)
  • Employee discounts scheme (30%)
  • Flexible working location (27%)
  • Market-value salary (26%)
  • Childcare assistance (23%)
  • Health insurance or cash-back plans (21%)
  • Extra paid day off for birthdays (21%)
  • Extended paid parental leave (20%)
  • Death benefits (18%)
  • Unlimited paid leave (18%)

In a separate survey of 332 UK-based businesses, CIPHR found that employers only rated six of the 24 benefits in the same order as employees.

The top 10 benefits that employers think matter most to employees are:

  • Mental health and wellbeing support
  • Flexible working hours
  • Paid sick leave
  • Flexible working location
  • Performance bonus
  • Four-day work week on full-time pay
  • Extra holiday allowance
  • Health insurance or cash-back plans
  • Childcare assistance
  • Pension contribution matching
  • Market-value salary

Matt Russell, Chief Commercial Officer at CIPHR, commented: “It is surprising to see such a disconnect between the benefits that employees value and what employers think – especially given how important good rewards and benefits packages are to attracting and retaining top talent and for supporting a great employee experience.”

“There is no one model or benefits scheme that works for every organisation. Employers need to spend time listening to their own employees to understand their needs and priorities and what benefits they want and value. For example, things like employee discounts, childcare assistance, and health or dental insurance, can go a long way to helping employees through the current cost-of-living crisis. And, what was once more important, pre-2020, has now been superseded by other benefits that reflect the growing shift to remote working and the desire for more flexibility at work.

“It won’t always be possible to deliver on every specific benefits request but organisations that can act on employee feedback, wherever possible, and provide agile and flexible benefits schemes are more likely to have a happier and engaged workforce.”

The significant differences between what employees actually value and what employers think their employees will value, indicate that organisations may be missing valuable opportunities to improve employee experience and engagement.

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Will this emotive move backfire and result in an increase of absences?

This week, IKEA’s decision to cut pay for unvaccinated staff who have to self-isolate because of COVID-19 exposure, and in some cases for those who contract the virus as well, will come into force. The move comes as firms struggle with mass staff absences and rising related costs due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Sick pay cuts will be implemented at Wessex Water.

But is the move about mitigating staff shortages? Or is it discrimination against the unvaccinated?

Employment lawyer Sarah Ozanne, of CMS, believes it is about tackling staff shortages: “This action [by IKEA] seems more of a reaction to staff shortages and how to manage them than any intended ‘discrimination’ of the unvaccinated,” she said. However, she also warned of complex legal issues and said striking the right balance is difficult.

She made further comment: “…employers should consider whether their actions are proportionate as a means of achieving the aim of getting employees back into work.”

According to news reports, unvaccinated workers at IKEA, who do not have mitigating circumstances, who test positive will be paid in line with company sick pay. Unvaccinated workers, without mitigating circumstances and required to isolate after being identified as a close contact, could now receive as little as £96.35 a week which is the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) minimum. With average weekly wages at IKEA between about £400 and £450 (location dependent), staff get enhanced sick pay. This massive gap in weekly pay could lead to staff not reporting a close contact and attending work, therefore exacerbating the staff shortage issues by potentially transmitting the virus anyway.

In a statement defining ‘mitigating circumstances’, the retail giant that employs about 10,000 people in the UK said: “Fully vaccinated co-workers or those that are unvaccinated owing to mitigating circumstances which, for example, could include pregnancy or other medical grounds, will receive full pay. Unvaccinated co-workers without mitigating circumstances that test positive with COVID-19 will be paid full company sick pay in line with our company absence policy. Unvaccinated co-workers without mitigating circumstances who have been identified as close contacts of a positive case will be paid Statutory Sick Pay.”

TALiNT International reached out to Olivia Sinfield, a partner at Osborne Clark LLP for comment. She said: “Cutting sick pay for unvaccinated staff required to isolate due to ‘close contact’ is being considered as potentially a more viable measure to address the issue of staff absences than issuing of vaccination mandates in the UK.  Vaccination mandates remain, in the UK, largely a legal no go zone except in outlier cases involving health and caring professions.  If anything, the mandating of vaccinations is trickier to justify now on health and safety grounds since the Omicron variant swept the nation over the festive period infecting and being transmitted by the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike.”

“When considering cutting sick pay for unvaccinated employees who are self-isolating, employers need to look carefully at what’s in black and white in terms of any contractual sick pay scheme and how this has been operated in the past. Where there is a genuine built-in discretion which has been relied upon in the past then arguments of breach of contract and – worst case scenario, resignations and constructive unfair dismissal claims may be avoided (provided a decent process is followed in rolling out the new rules). In contrast, where sick pay has been paid out historically without much thought around the ‘why’s’ and the ‘for whom’ then hands may be tied, and legal claims follow any attempts now to fetter circumstances where sick pay is paid.”

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