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Spring Budget 2024: A round-up of changes.

Spring Budget 2024: A round-up of changes. 1920 1453 Growth Partners

Against a backdrop of gloomy consumer confidence, continued cost-of-living challenges, and what is scheduled to be the last budget before the next general election, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt presented his Spring Budget to the Parliament with an array of measures aimed at “not higher GDP, but higher GDP per head”, suggesting a focus on productivity in the UK economy.

Here is a roundup of the key measures announced by the Chancellor.

Class 1 Employee National Insurance Contributions

The main rate for Class 1 Employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will be reduced by a further two percentage points to 8% from 6 April 2024 for earnings between the primary threshold and the upper earning limit.

This will give the average employee a boost to their take-home pay by £450 a year (or £900 a year when you consider the NIC cut announced in the last autumn budget).

  • Employee Class 1 NIC – 8% (6 April 2024)
  • Primary threshold – £12,571
  • Upper earning limit – £50,270

Child benefits

The child benefit threshold – the level of income at which a parent starts to lose child benefit entitlements – will rise from £50,000 to £60,000, allowing more families to claim more child benefit from this April onwards.

The increase in the child benefit threshold will be accompanied by an increase of the taper from £60,000 to £80,000. This means the child benefit tax charge will be equal to the full amount of the child benefit received if an individual’s ‘adjusted net income’ is £80k or more. 

Capital gains tax

To encourage more movement in residential property sales, the Chancellor announced a cut to the higher rate capital gains tax from 28% to 24%.  

Pensions

In the Autumn Statement speech, the Chancellor promoted the concept of a ‘legal right’ for people to select a pension provider of their choice. The concept would allow employees to have a single pension pot which they can take with them when they change jobs, as opposed to starting a new pension pot with a new pension provider selected by their employer, each time they change jobs.

In the Spring Budget paperwork however, the Government now says that it is simply committed to ‘exploring’ the idea.  It also says that it will only do this if it can ‘ensure’ it will produce better outcomes.

Disappointingly however, there was no mention of any auto-enrolment enhancements from the Chancellor’s Spring Budget statement.

Fuel duty freeze

Despite the push from the Treasury officials to raise fuel duty by at least 2p, the Chancellor announced he will maintain the freeze on the fuel duty for a further 12 months, until March 2025.

Alcohol duty freeze

The Chancellor also has confirmed the extension to the alcohol duty freeze until February 2025, a move which the Chancellor said will benefit 38,000 pubs across the UK.

‘British ISA’

To promote investment into UK businesses, the Chancellor announced a new ‘British ISA’ which will provide another £5,000 of annual tax-free investment in UK equities.

Mr Hunt claims the move will “ensure that British savers can benefit from the growth of the most promising UK businesses” while supporting those firms financially to expand.

Our thoughts

The Budget was largely aimed at families with NI cuts, changes to the child benefit threshold and high-income child benefit charge, and a drop in the higher rate capital gains tax for residential property.

The pickings were slimmer for businesses but there were still some announcements that will be of interest including alcohol duty freeze and promoting investments into UK businesses by way of the proposed new ‘British ISA’ and requiring pension schemes to disclose their UK equity allocation, with the long-term intention of directing pension funds to have a more UK bias in terms of fund allocations.

Ending on a more optimistic note, Mr Hunt stated that inflation in the UK will finally drop below the 2% target “in just a few months’ time” according to the latest forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility! This would in turn allow the government to lower interest rates a lot sooner than originally envisaged.

How we can help

We’re passionate about helping businesses continue to look out for their employees while keeping costs down. If you and your business find some of the changes announced in the Budget Statement challenging or have any questions about how the changes announced impact your business, speak to our experts to discuss how we can support you.

You can read our summary of the last Budget here or read more information about unburdening your business from payroll and pension compliance here or read more about supporting your employees’ financial wellbeing, emotional wellbeing and physical wellbeing.

Amrik Birdi, Head of Operations at Growth Partners

blankAmrik has a wealth of knowledge in pensions having joined Growth Partners from KPMG where he was responsible for advising companies and trustees on independent DC provider procurement exercises, DC investment strategy review, DC pensions strategy review, automatic enrolment compliance, and meeting ongoing governance requirements. Amrik spent three years before this as a Pensions Guidance Specialist at Pensions Wise helping members understand their pension and retirement options, empowering them to take control of their retirement journey. With a Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning and Certificate in DC Governance, combined with a Degree in Economics, Amrik is a fully qualified pensions consultant and able to offer strategic support to our clients on their options for workplace pension schemes and auto-enrolment.

Your money checklist for the new financial year
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Your money checklist for the new financial year

Your money checklist for the new financial year 1920 1280 Growth Partners

Do you want to give your finances a fresh start in the new financial year? Is getting on top of money matters one of your new year’s resolutions?

Now is the perfect time to give your personal and business finances a fresh start ahead of the new financial year. Tick off this checklist to get your tax and pension plans in order and prepare for the end of the tax year on 5 April 2024.

4 things to do before 5 April to give your personal finances a fresh start: 

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1. Are you on track to receive your full State Pension? 

The number of years you pay National Insurance (NI) for can affect whether you qualify for the State Pension and how much you’ll get. So now could be a good opportunity to make up for any lost time.

The deadline for paying any voluntary National Insurance (NI) contributions to make up for any lost time is 5 April each year. You can usually pay voluntary contributions for the past six years. Employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) have reduced by two percentage points to 10% from 6 January 2024 for earnings between the primary threshold and the upper earning limit, giving employees a small boost to their take-home pay.

You can check your NI record or find out more about voluntary NI payments on the government’s website.

Can you top up your pension?
Pension plans are a tax-efficient way to save for your future. It normally costs £80 for a basic rate taxpayer to save £100 into their pension plan, thanks to pension tax relief. So, if your budget allows, why not top-up your pension before the tax year ends on 5 April.

Remember, you, your employer and any third party can pay in across all your pension plans £60,000 or 100% of your salary (whichever is lower) in any given tax year – this is called Annual Allowance.

2. Make the most of your capital gains tax exemption… before it reduces

Capital gains tax (CGT) is the tax you pay on the profit when you sell something that’s increased in value. The annual exemption on capital gains tax is reducing significantly in the new tax year – from £6,000 down to £3,000. So, if you have something worth selling, you may want to consider doing it before the end of the tax year.

3. Maximise your ISA allowances.

Your ISA (Individual Savings Account) allowance is £20,000 for the tax year. This means you can save up to £20,000 in a Cash or Stocks & Shares ISA, or a combination of both, and not pay any tax when you take your money out.

It’s a tax-efficient way to save, so make the most of this allowance if you can.

4. Get gifting!

You can give away a total of £3,000 worth of gifts each tax year without them being added to the value of your estate. This is known as your inheritance tax-free gift allowance. This can be carried over to the next tax year but if you don’t use it by the end of that year it’ll be lost.

So, if you’re planning to make a gift to someone, or have an unused allowance from last year, it might be a good idea to do this before the the tax year ends.

3 things to do before 5 April to give your business finances a fresh start: 

Pension salary sacrifice advice

1. Assess if pension salary sacrifice is right for your business

Implementing pension salary sacrifice can enable you to lower employer NICs – which you can either pass on to your employees in the form of additional pension contributions, reinvest back into the business or save it to strengthen net profits. Implementing salary sacrifice can also help attract and retain the best talent as part of a strong benefits package.

2. Look around at your options for payroll processing

Traditional outsourced payroll providers like to take on new clients for the start of the new financial year – it’s less work for all. It’s a good time to check your existing contracts or arrangements and see if you’re still getting value for money – what extras are included that you don’t get elsewhere?

If you process payroll in-house, is this limiting the growth of the business by burdening great staff with tasks that can be outsourced.

3. Double check for pension auto-enrolment inaccuracies

It’s a good time to check in with your HR and/or payroll team to see how confident they feel about your business meeting its auto-enrolment ‘employer duties’. It is commonplace for employers to overlook and/or not fully understand some of the initial and ongoing ‘employer duties’ under auto-enrolment leading to The Pensions Regulator issuing 20,382 compliance notices during the period January-June 2022 alone, for example.

Common errors we see include, but not limited to:

  • Issuing letters to those who are classed as ‘eligible’ workers (and auto-enrolled into the pension scheme) but not issuing communication to those postponed and/or classed as ‘not eligible’ about their right to join/opt-in to the pension scheme.
  • Issuing communication past the Regulator’s deadline of six weeks from when the duties applied.
  • Re-enrolling those who opted-out of the pension scheme every three years as part of their auto re-enrolment duties.
  • No record keeping.
  • Not being aware of the components of pay to be included in ‘pensionable pay’ or excluding certain components of pay, such as bonuses, commissions, overtime etc, but not amending the employer minimum contributions as prescribed by the legislation

How we can help

We’re passionate about making employers’ and employees’ lives easier, happier, and healthier so businesses can grow.  Our experts in pay and pensions can offer information and guidance on how to improve the financial wellbeing of your business and that of your employees.

For more information about unburdening your business from payroll and pension compliance visit our SMART Employment page or read more about supporting your employees’ financial wellbeing, emotional wellbeing and physical wellbeing here or get in touch

Amrik Birdi, Head of Operations at Growth Partners

blankAmrik has a wealth of knowledge in pensions having joined Growth Partners from KPMG where he was responsible for advising companies and trustees on independent DC provider procurement exercises, DC investment strategy review, DC pensions strategy review, automatic enrolment compliance, and meeting ongoing governance requirements. Amrik spent three years before this as a Pensions Guidance Specialist at Pensions Wise helping members understand their pension and retirement options, empowering them to take control of their retirement journey. With a Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning and Certificate in DC Governance, combined with a Degree in Economics, Amrik is a fully qualified pensions consultant and able to offer strategic support to our clients on their options for workplace pension schemes and auto-enrolment.

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Research suggests bosses no longer understand employee needs

Research suggests bosses no longer understand employee needs 1920 1280 Growth Partners

The cost-of-living crisis and soaring inflation can significantly impact an individual’s financial stability and lead to increased stress levels. Recent research from Speakers’ Corner however reveals business leaders aren’t recognising the impact of the current economic climate on their employees’ stress levels. It isn’t intentional – they’re misinformed about the causes of stress among their employees, believing they directly align with their own.

According to the business owners surveyed, they believe the top five leading causes of stress for employees are:

  1. Heavy workload
  2. Long hours
  3. Tight deadlines
  4. Job security
  5. Changes to job role

When in fact, the top five leading causes of stresses for employees according to research by Unum are:

  1. Managing financially throughout the cost-of-living crisis
  2. Work-life balance
  3. Dealing with debt/mortgage interest rate rises
  4. Mental health concerns
  5. General health concerns

Business leaders are clearly interested in supporting their employees, with 92% of respondents currently providing support for their employees’ wellbeing. The problem is they are providing solutions for the wrong challenges. With 60% of employees finding that managing financially with the cost-of-living crisis is one of their biggest concerns, there is a clear need for financial wellbeing support.

What’s the impact?

Employers who don’t acknowledge the impact the cost-of-living crisis is having on employees, are likely to struggle with employee retention. The cost-of-living crisis is expected to spark the ‘Great Resignation’ of 2023, with nearly a fifth of the UK workforce (19%) planning to look for new jobs this year with higher salaries or better employee benefits in light of the rising cost-of-living, stagnant wages and increasing financial insecurity (Unum, 2023).

Our CEO of employee services recently highlighted the importance of understanding the financial pressures employees are facing and how as business leaders you can support them to ease that pressure through the ongoing cost of living crisis.

“It’s actually about creating a framework whereby people know that you understand what’s going on and the impact it’s having on people in the wider society and your employees and the impact it has on them. They need to feel that you understand”.

Though managers, especially those in senior positions, may not feel the direct effects of the cost of living and inflation in the same way as their employees they need to be aware of the impact on their employees and take proactive steps to support them. By doing so, they can improve employee morale, productivity, and overall job satisfaction, which can positively impact the business as a whole.

Want to know more?

Read more about the benefits of financial wellbeing services or download our free guide to retaining and attracting staff.

Other useful resources:

Employee engagement starts with payroll
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Why employee engagement starts with the payroll team

Why employee engagement starts with the payroll team 1280 720 Growth Partners

National Payroll Week is an occasion designed to mark the hard work payroll professionals do to keep Britain paid. And they really do.

In a year that started with CPIH inflation rates of 26.7% caused by housing fuel costs, payroll is becoming the most important department in every business and the payroll team is potentially carrying the weight of success on its shoulders.

35% of UK employees would find another job if they were paid incorrectly even once and 51% would lose trust in their employer and resent them. Based on this, you could be seeing more than a third of your staff walking out the door if the payroll department mess up just once – this is huge. Overlooking payroll processors as a business-critical role opens companies up to risks that aren’t just limited to financial in nature.

The first risk to consider is morale.

If an employee is paid incorrectly, they lose trust and confidence in the management and they might be vocal about it too. You can imagine it “we’re not priority” “we’re an afterthought” “I bet the boss still got paid”.  Of course, the thoughts will depend on how big an error is, how frequent errors are and who is on the receiving end, but they can quickly create a culture where people question the management’s integrity – if they don’t care enough to get my pay right, they certainly don’t care about what’s going on at home. Low morale can lead to a reputational issue internally but with the growth of review sites such as Glassdoor, internal reputational issues can quickly become external issues not only impacting retention but talent acquisition too.

Do it once you might be ok, do it more than once you’re in trouble.

At this point any change (good or bad) can raise suspicion. If you pay people a day early but don’t communicate why, they’ll think you don’t know what you’re doing. Pay people a day late, they’ll think there’s a cashflow issue. A lack of trust here will make employees question their faith in the leadership team to make decisions in other areas of the business and ultimately their confidence in the business and its products or services. And no matter what the cause is, people won’t 100% believe your reasons.

I believe people leave jobs for more money.

Yes, more and more people are considering culture and employee benefits over salary but ultimately in a time where less and less people have savings for a rainy day because it’s been raining for two years, pay matters and is usually the deciding factor. So, a reputation for paying people late or incorrectly isn’t a look you need to be going for.

Employee benefits are not contractual in nature and can be removed from an employee’s contract without consultation. Being paid correctly on a certain date is. In essence, if you mess up payroll, you mess with people’s contracts of employment. Employee benefits don’t mean anything if you have a bad culture anyway. So, for those companies that attract people based on a great rate of pay if you don’t deliver it on-time and correctly – you better have an out of this world company culture to make them stay. Of course, chances are you won’t if you have payroll issues.

Payroll is complicated.

The importance of paying people correctly isn’t new – but when you consider that a third of UK workers are now living payday to payday the potential impact of payroll errors and mistakes has higher stakes.  But payroll is complicated. You only have to look back to last year when bosses of high street giant Next apologised to staff for underpaying some of them by up to £200 a month due to a payroll error and just a few months ago WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and Argos were among a list of companies facing financial penalties for payroll breaches.  If the big boys can make mistakes, it’s a stark reminder to check in with your payroll team or provider to assess the potential risk to your business. If new legislation is announced, how is it handled? Do they have the reliable updated software to comply automatically with significant changes?

Ultimately if you want an engaged workforce, check in with your payroll team or provider first. If you want to invest in employee benefits to improve company culture, check in with your payroll team or provider beforehand. If you genuinely care about your employees and believe they are the key to business success, you guessed it check in with your payroll team or provider.

Happy national payroll week!

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Scott Read, CEO of Employee Services at Growth Partners

Scott Read Growth Partners discusses the link between employee engagement and retention

Scott Read is a results-driven business leader with a proven track record in helping employers strategise key business growth through employee engagement. To find out more about the link between pay, pensions and employee benefits chat to us or book a demo with one of our experts.

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Autumn Budget 2023: A round-up of pay and pension changes

Autumn Budget 2023: A round-up of pay and pension changes 1920 1413 Growth Partners

Following the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget Statement 2023, here is a summary of the key measures and announcements affecting payroll and pension for businesses to navigate.

What to change on your payroll system

Class 1 Employee National Insurance Contributions
The main rate for Class 1 Employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will be reduced by two percentage points to 10% from 6 January 2024 for earnings between the primary threshold and the upper earning limit, giving employees a small boost to their take-home pay.

  • Employee Class 1 NIC – 10% (6 January 2024)
  • Primary threshold – £12,571
  • Upper earning limit – £50,270

The National Living Wage
From 1 April 2024, the National Living Wage (lowest wage legally payable to workers) will:

  • apply to all employees aged 21 and over (currently 23 and over), and
  • increase from £10.42 to £11.44/hour, or a 9.8% rise.

To remain compliant with new changes to the National Living wage, businesses must ensure employees aged 21 and over receive the minimum pay per hour they are entitled to.

National Minimum Wage
It’s important to note, the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage, while often confused, are distinct. The National Minimum Wage is the minimum legal wage for younger workers and apprentices. The National Minimum Wage also been updated:

  • Employees aged 18-20, from £7.49 to £8.60.
  • Employees aged under 18, from £5.28 to £6.40.
  • Apprentices under 19, or over 19, but in their first year, also from £5.28 to £6.40.

These changes will also take affect from 1 April 2024.

What will remain the same on your payroll system?

The Chancellor announced to keep the certain rates and thresholds the same for the 2024-2025 tax year, including:

  • Employer’s Class 1 National Insurance rate.
  • Employer’s Class 1A National Insurance rate (on benefits and termination payments over £30k).
  • Employer’s Class 1B National Insurance rate (on benefits reported via a PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA)).
  • National Insurance thresholds, including the Lower Earnings Limit (the point at which an employee becomes eligible for statutory payments and is used for state pension eligibility).
  • Personal tax allowance.
  • Rates of income tax within the rest of the UK.
  • Employment allowance.
  • Company car benefit rates.

What to watch out for

Auto-enrolment pensions
Under the current automatic enrolment system, employers are required to offer all ‘eligible’ staff a pension plan and enrol them into it – but it’s the employers that choose the pension scheme.

That could potentially change – the Chancellor announced to launch a consultation on the concept of a ‘pension pot for life’ which will aim to gather industry thoughts/comments on whether it makes sense to introduce new rules making it the employee’s decision where their workplace pension savings go. This would let the employee pick one pension and keep it from job to job over their whole career while still benefiting from employer contributions.

While the concept will benefit employees in some respects, it would be very complicated for businesses. Instead of only needing to keep track of one pension scheme, employers would be faced with managing a different scheme per employee.

Encouraging more people back into work
The Chancellor confirmed plans to phase out certain benefits and step-up efforts to monitor those receiving welfare. This is all part of the ‘Back to Work’ plan, which aims to encourage 1.1 million people back into work.

The Chancellor also confirmed measures to allow working parents to claim free childcare will go ahead. This will apply to children aged 1-2 years old, and parents will be able to claim up to 30 hours a week. For more information see Budget 2023: Everything you need to know about childcare support – The Education Hub 

Our thoughts on the Autumn Budget

The announcement to lower employee NICs, increase national living and minimum wage, changes to the childcare support and the proposed concept of ‘pension pot for life’ provides some good news for employees, especially for those on low incomes.

On the other hand, with no changes announced to the employer NICs, and higher national minimum and living wage there will be continued added pressure on businesses to meet the new basic pay in the current economic and business climate. The proposed changes to pensions will only add to those costs and add more pressure in the future.

How we can help

We’re passionate about helping businesses continue to look out for their employees while keeping costs down. If you and your business find some of the changes announced in the Budget Statement challenging, be it the added financial strain to your business or the practical implementation of the proposed changes, speak to us for an informal chat.

For more information about unburdening your business from payroll and pension compliance visit our SMART Employment page and read more about supporting your employees’ financial wellbeing, emotional wellbeing and physical wellbeing.

Amrik Birdi, Head of Operations at Growth Partners

blankAmrik has a wealth of knowledge in pensions having joined Growth Partners from KPMG where he was responsible for advising companies and trustees on independent DC provider procurement exercises, DC investment strategy review, DC pensions strategy review, automatic enrolment compliance, and meeting ongoing governance requirements. Amrik spent three years before this as a Pensions Guidance Specialist at Pensions Wise helping members understand their pension and retirement options, empowering them to take control of their retirement journey. With a Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning and Certificate in DC Governance, combined with a Degree in Economics, Amrik is a fully qualified pensions consultant and able to offer strategic support to our clients on their options for workplace pension schemes and auto-enrolment.

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7 Stand-Out Stats: employee engagement in hospitality

7 Stand-Out Stats: employee engagement in hospitality 560 420 Growth Partners

We partnered with research and insights experts KAM Media to understand the use and awareness of employee engagement services within the hospitality sector.  The research also revealed to what extent employees are more likely to remain in a role because of them.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a lot of employees leaving the hospitality sector for other industries, such as warehouses, delivery, and supermarkets. The numbers don’t lie – by the end of 2022, there were 149,000 job vacancies in the accommodation and food service sector (ONS). These numbers reemphasise why employers in the sector need to consider how attractive they are to help retain employees.

We’ve rounded up seven eye-opening stats from our research to shed light on employee perceptions and preferences when it comes to employee engagement and employee benefits as well as the impact on retention and satisfaction.

Employee Engagement in Hospitality Infographic

The Power of Employee Benefits
3 out of 4 employees agree that employee benefits have the power to make them happier at work. This is a significant finding, as happier employees lead to improved service, customer satisfaction, and increased spending.

Given the impact that employee benefits have on overall workplace happiness, hospitality businesses should consider these offerings and the impact on their bottom line.

Employee Benefits and Retention
An impressive 79% of employees have chosen to stay in their hospitality roles for a longer duration due to the presence of employee benefits. This statistic emphasises the importance of offering attractive and valuable benefits to foster loyalty and reduce turnover within the sector. By investing in employee benefits, businesses can create a positive work environment that encourages long-term commitment. This in turn reduces recruitment and training costs.

Face-to-Face Training
Almost half (48%) of employees surveyed expressed a desire for face-to-face training opportunities. This indicates that traditional, hands-on training methods are still valued by hospitality employees. Organisations should consider providing regular in-person training sessions to empower employees, enhance their skills, and promote their professional growth.

Online Access to Pay Documents
45% of employees said they would like online access to their pay documents. In the digital age, it is essential to offer convenient and secure platforms for employees to access their financial information wherever and whenever they are.

Gym Discounts
40% of employees expressed a desire for gym discounts. Promoting employee wellbeing through fitness initiatives can positively impact overall job satisfaction which in turn helps reduce churn rate and absences. Collaborating with gyms to offer discounted memberships or wellness programs can incentivise employees to prioritise their health and create a healthier, more engaged workforce.

Employee Benefits all-in-one place
A staggering 77% of employees mentioned they would use employee benefits more frequently if they were all consolidated in one place. Making employee benefits easily accessible and user-friendly is crucial to their effective implementation. Employers should aim to streamline the process by providing a single platform, such as an app or portal, where employees can access and navigate various benefits seamlessly.

Health Benefits as Job Switching Incentives
An overwhelming 83% of respondents admitted that offering a specific health benefit influenced their decision to switch jobs. Health and wellbeing benefits have a significant influence over employees’ job choices. Hospitality businesses should prioritise relevant health benefits to attract and retain top talent, demonstrating a commitment to employee wellness.

 

Offering attractive benefits, all-in-one place not only creates a positive work environment that fosters employee loyalty and satisfaction, but also contributes to the overall success and profitability of the organisation. A motivated and engaged workforce will ultimately deliver exceptional service, create happy customers, and establish the hospitality sector as an attractive and competitive industry for both current and prospective employees.

Download your copy of the research

From the impact of employee benefits on overall workplace happiness to the influence of specific health benefits on employees switching jobs, our findings offer actionable insights for organisations looking to boost employee engagement. You can download the full research here.

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Financial wellbeing support
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How to support your employees’ financial wellbeing [Free downloadable guides]

How to support your employees’ financial wellbeing [Free downloadable guides] 1920 1280 Growth Partners

61% of UK adults currently saying they’re concerned about paying general household bills, and more than a third feeling anxious about their financial situation, it’s the perfect time to check on your employees’ financial wellbeing.

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems in the UK – the Mental Health Foundation reports a quarter of adults have felt so anxious it stopped them from doing the things they want to do some or all of the time. In April, demand for our Employee Assistance Programme increased by 400% on the month previous, with our clients’ employees using the confidential counselling services for personal (72%) and work-related (28%) support.

It’s clear, as employers we must help increase awareness and understanding of these concerns and inform ourselves on how and why we can help support employees’ financial wellbeing and in turn their emotional wellbeing.

Financial wellbeing in the workplace 

There is a clear link between financial wellbeing (or financial wellness as its sometimes referred to) and emotional wellbeing and a very clear link to the impact they can have on productivity in the workplace.

In the year to March 2023, the price of food and drink rose at its fastest rate in over 45 years and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose by 26.1% (Money Statistics). All of which impact your employees’ take-home pay and ultimately their wellbeing – how happy and healthy they feel.

Looking out for your employees’ financial wellbeing is incredibly important, and the benefits for them and you, are more tangible than you may think. Financial worries negatively impact employee productivity and absence rates, causing the ‘presenteeism’ effect. If you haven’t already, seek support to enhance your financial wellbeing services and get advice from experts.

Ensuring the financial wellbeing of employees is an important aspect of creating a positive and productive work environment. Here are some things to consider…

4 things to consider when it comes to financial wellbeing:

  1. Open communication:

    Encouraging open communication about financial issues can help employees feel more comfortable discussing their financial concerns and seeking support when needed. Employee assistance programs (EAPs) can provide confidential support and counselling for a variety of issues, including financial stress. Do you have the systems in place to minimise absence days and ensure workers aren’t worrying about their finances while at work?

  2. Flexible working arrangements

    Offering flexible working arrangements, such as hybrid working, flexible hours, and job sharing, can help employees save on transportation and childcare costs and help reduce the pressure they may be under from increasing costs.

  3. Fair and competitive compensation

    Employees need to be paid fairly and competitively for their work. This includes not just their base salary, but also any benefits such as healthcare, retirement plans, bonuses, and other ‘perks’ Do you have an employee discounts schemein place to help your employees’ wages go a bit further? Discount schemes can provide financial support by increasing your employees’ disposable income. Can you do anything to bring salary reviews forward to help people that little bit more, sooner? Have you reached out to local businesses your employees use to see how you can support each other e.g., negotiate reduced parking fees with a local car park or a discount at a local food outlet – can you reciprocate?

  4. Financial education and resources

    Providing financial education and guidance in the workplace can help employees understand personal finance, budgeting, investing, retirement planning and other important financial topics. This can include workshops, seminars, and online resources. Where do your employees go for financial guidance?  You can also signpost them to reputable sources such as Money Helper’s budget planner

Useful resources to support your employees’ financial wellbeing

  1. Discuss Budget Builders with your employees

    This one is provided by The Money Charity and it’s free and easy-to-use. It can be used to create an initial budget and keep track of day-to-day spending.  It does all the calculations for you and it can be used as a way of organising money across different bank accounts.

  2. Download our free New Ways of Saving Guide to share with your staff.

    Our savings guide gives you a simple guide to share with your employees – link to it from your internal communication systems, print some copies for the break room or ask line managers to share it with their team. However you use it, it’s full of ideas and tips designed to help your employees save money.

  3. Read: How to Support your employees to navigate through the cost-of-living crisis

    Recent research from Speakers’ Corner suggests business leaders are misinformed about the causes of stress among their employees, believing they directly align with their own. Heavy workload is the number one pressure for business leaders, whereas managing financially throughout the cost-of-living crisis came out top among employees. Knowledge is power and keeping abreast of ways to support your employees to navigate these uncertain times will help inform your financial wellbeing strategy.

  4. Help employees secure their future, with our free Employees FAQ Guide to Pension

    When it comes to financial wellbeing, information is key. By providing your employees with reliable, helpful information you’re empowering them to make informed decisions to benefit their future. This free guide answers some of the most commonly asked pension questions such as What makes pensions more rewarding than other kinds of savings? Would I benefit from combining my pensions into one? What are my options for taking my money?

  5. Download your free guide to creating a wellbeing and engagement strategy to attract and retain staff

    If keeping great staff is on your radar, our retention strategy guide will help. The guide focuses on how you can add a range of employee benefits and wellbeing services in a cost-effective way, without necessarily adding additional costs to your business.

What next?

If you’re concerned about your employees’ financial wellbeing and the impact on your business growth, chat with our experts for advice. We know the combination of reduced costs, unburdening your management team, and prioritising the happiness and health of your employees is the key to business growth. And we can provide an all-in-one solution to help.

 

Book a free demo of our all-in-one solution for payroll, pension and employee engagement services or contact us

Understanding pensions
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Help your employees understand pensions better [Your Free FAQ Guide]

Help your employees understand pensions better [Your Free FAQ Guide] 1920 1280 Growth Partners

Pensions Awareness Week officially takes place 11 September – 15 September 2023 and it’s the perfect time to stop and think, how much do your employees know (or care) about their pension?

It’s been ten years since the introduction of automatic enrolment which was intended to help people make provisions for their retirement. Since the rollout of auto-enrolment, the participation rate has reached 88% according to the figures from Department for Work and Pensions, with economic pressures from the pandemic having very little impact on the pension opt-out rates.

As the UK now faces a cost-of-living crisis and the possibility of an economic recession, employee financial wellbeing becomes an even more important topic of conversation. Employees will be keen to know how to make their money stretch further, not just under the current economic climate, but also in the long run to fulfil their future objectives, for example, retirement plans.

When it comes to financial wellbeing, information is key. By providing your employees with reliable, helpful information you’re empowering them to make informed decisions to benefit their future.

Download your free Employee FAQ Guide to Pensions

As part of Pensions Awareness Week, we’ve put together a guide which helps answer some of the most commonly asked pension questions such as What makes pensions more rewarding than other kinds of savings? Would I benefit from combining my pensions into one? What are my options for taking my money?

Download the Employee’s FAQ Guide to Pensions here

Do you need help with your pension engagement from pension specialists?

To find out more about how the team of pension specialists at Growth Partners can help you with your pension member engagement, please get in touch with us today or read more on our pension services page.

National Payroll Week
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National Payroll Week – 3 things business owners should do

National Payroll Week – 3 things business owners should do 1200 628 Growth Partners

National Payroll Week takes place 4 – 8 September this year. It’s a time when payroll professionals are celebrated and we talk about the importance of payroll – processing payroll, managing payroll and understanding payroll, and everything that’s involved in keeping the UK paid.

Whether you process payroll in-house or outsource to a payroll provider, there’s never a better time to do these three key things.

1. Double-check your payslips are sent securely

Around 60% of organisations now provide payslips via an online self-service facility compared to just 12% back in 2008. However you deliver payslips to your employees, it is essential to ensure they’re secure. This means, if you’re still emailing payslips to your employees, it may be a good time to look at your options.

Although according to GDPR emailing documents to employees is not banned, as an employer you do have a responsibility to minimise the opportunities for personal data to be seen by the wrong people. Email was never meant to be secure and if your company emails are subject to a data breach you will be held responsible. Similarly, if the email is intercepted you cannot guarantee confidentiality which is against GDPR guidelines. Of course, email can be encrypted, and password protected but it is worth considering how user-friendly this is, whether employees have access to their emails on personal devices when they may need their pay documents and how this fits with your image and values as a company. Read more about digital payslips on the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals website.

 

2. Encourage your employees to check their payslips

Do your employees understand their payslips and know who to contact if they have a question? In a recent survey, only 62% of people admitted to understanding everything on their payslip. It is a legal requirement to provide all employees with a payslip, and it must contain at least these five things:

  1. Gross pay
  2. Net pay
  3. Any variable deductions
  4. Any fixed deductions
  5. A breakdown of how wages will be paid if more than one method is used

Ask your employees to grab a coffee and check their payslip. Let them know who they can contact in payroll for a chat about their payslip and anything they don’t understand. If your payroll provider doesn’t offer this service you can use the Understanding Your Payslip resources from The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals.

 

3. Do some calculations – check your contract with your current payroll provider, or the costs of processing payroll in-house

Processing payroll is a legal requirement but is also an administrative burden, which is probably why 61% of businesses in the UK choose to outsource their payroll. Outsourcing your payroll can be a sensible decision but it shouldn’t cost the earth. Use this week to take time to shop around or at least renegotiate to check you’re getting the best deal. Consider what other services you could get from your payroll provider. Imagine the benefits of paying one fee for multiple services as opposed to juggling multiple suppliers and invoices.

The responsibility associated with payroll processing makes it a sound business decision to hand it over to an expert but as a business owner you should be very careful who you hand it to.  Here are 6 things to consider when researching outsourced payroll providers

Take the time during National Payroll Week to step back and look at your payroll within your organisation to make sure you’re providing the best service for your employees and getting the best deal from your payroll provider.

 

Payroll business solutions

Payroll compliance can be a burden when you’re trying to grow a business. By using payroll specialists to process your payroll and also take on the HMRC and Pensions Regulator compliance, you have more time to focus on business growth.

You can read more about our payroll services here. And if you’re interested in outsourcing your payroll to experts with electronic payslips, you can use our payroll cost-saving calculator to see how much you can save, or even earn by outsourcing your payroll to Growth Partners or book a demo here.

The importance of employee engagement in hospitality
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The growing importance of employee engagement [Hospitality Talks interview] 

The growing importance of employee engagement [Hospitality Talks interview]  2500 1667 Growth Partners

Each month Katy Moses, MD of KAM, chats with hospitality industry leaders as part of the Hospitality Talks series. In this latest episode, we share our insight, predictions, and advice to help the industry thrive.

In the new video our CEO of employee services, Scott Read discusses the growing importance of employee engagement and reveals new insights from our recent research.

Hospitality Talks: The Importance of Employee Engagement

Watch this episode of Hospitality Talks with KAM where we discuss our latest research and white paper and Scott’s thoughts on how to measure profitablity from employee engagement services.

Prefer to read?

Read the transcript of the discussion between Scott and Katy for this episode of Hospitality Talks here…

Katy:
Hello, and welcome to this episode of Hospitality Talks. I am absolutely thrilled to be joined by Scott Read, who is the CEO of employee services for Growth Partners. Scott, thank you so much for joining me. We’ve had some research recently conducted that we did together about employee engagement services, but for anyone out there who hasn’t seen that research or doesn’t know who you are, do you just want to give a brief introduction?

Scott:
Yeah, definitely. Thank you, Katie. Growth Partners is a payroll and pension business. We set it up about five years ago with a view of doing payroll and pensions very differently and adding a huge amount of value to what is traditionally commonly outsourced service that businesses will look to use, and that value is all around. How many other employee benefits, employee engagement type services could we include at a really cost effective way? In essence, can you get all of these tools and services at the same price as what you would normally outsource your payroll for? So something that’s commonly done, but ultimately not, given the wide range and breadth of additional services and value-added services alongside it.

We did that because both myself and the person who founded Growth Partners back in 2017 have a background in employee engagement – he had probably 20 years of experience and knowledge of the employment employee engagement sector, and I’d worked alongside him for the previous ten years. So it really helped us, and we felt that it was a way of getting employee benefits and employee engagement services to smaller to medium-sized businesses that wouldn’t traditionally invest in it.

Katy:
Before I started KAM, I ran a recruitment agency. And, of course, employee benefits was a sort of buzz phrase that we used a lot of the time, and it encompassed holiday, maybe a gym membership. This is quite some time ago, remember? What is the difference between benefits and employment engagement services? What exactly is an employment engagement service?

Scott:
I think it’s a great question, because employee benefits and employee engagement is massively misunderstood, and I think it means something different to everybody. I mean, even the people that you interviewed during the whitepaper we did together, they’ve all got a slightly different take on what employee engagement is, which is really interesting to read for me.

Employee engagement comes down to trying to achieve something within your business, right? And that sounds really vague, so I will explain…what I always talk to people about is, how can you unlock the discretionary effort from your employees?

And that’s the question that I pose myself, which is, effectively, I’ve got employees working nine to five or, I don’t know, six till ten in a pub or a restaurant or whatever, and everybody has a set of tasks that they need to do during their shift or during their day’s work. I personally have a to-do list that I write at the beginning of every day of the things that I want to achieve that day. And subconsciously, you have almost a level of acceptance of what looks good for the day. If I get to the bottom of that list, is that a good day? If I get the top three done because they’re quite massive tasks, is that a good day? And in reality, everybody has this subconscious acceptance of what good looks like.

And what I mean when I talk about unlocking that discretionary effort is, how do you get the individual to do the next two things on their to-do list even though the end of their shift is there, or even though they’ve already had a really productive day. And you can’t do that by management alone in terms of just asking them to do it for a start. It’s not right. Everybody’s got to get the work-life balance.

We are well beyond the ‘you work an extra hour and now because that’s just what’s expected of you, right?’ That’s not the culture that society sees as acceptable anymore – for all the right reasons, but actually, it’s about an individual caring, passionately about what they do, the company that they work for, and wanting to go above and beyond.

And I guess a couple of examples for me, it would be:

Technically it’s clocking off time (whether we have a technical clock in off time or not is another question for another day) but ultimately I can look at my to-do list and say, no, do you know what? There are two or three things that I still need to get done today because I don’t want them to dictate or change what tomorrow looks like or the next working day.

Or for somebody else, it might be the element of my job is to serve the food. But actually, I’ve got two minutes whilst I’m waiting for the food to be ready from the chef, and I can see that the dust bins are overflowing and need to be emptied. So actually, I’m going to take it upon myself to do that extra bit, when actually I could be completely justified in standing there and waiting for the food to be ready for me to serve. But instead of being told by my manager to do something, I’m voluntarily doing it and going the extra mile.

So it’s very much about using employee engagement services to create a positive culture within businesses where you are working as a team by choice, and actually, you want as the employee to add as much value as the employer is adding to your life, essentially. 

I think so many businesses, for all the right reasons, look at employee engagement as almost a list of employee benefits. And what you can do is you can believe you’re doing a truly amazing job for your staff. And genuinely, you’re convinced that you’re doing everything right because in front of you, you have a checklist of “do I do anything about emotional wellbeing? Do I pay people the right? Are people getting holidays more than statutory? What are all the things that we do?” And you can go down this tick list and you could tick every single one of them and go, brilliant, look how great we are as an employer. 

But actually, do you regularly pay them late? Do people wake up on payday and not know whether their money is going to be in their account first thing or whether it’s going to be mid-afternoon? Now, that one act in itself undoes everything else that you’re trying to do. 

And even if you get that right, do you actually create a culture whereby people understand why you’re putting these benefits in place, what the benefits actually are to the employee? Because in reality, a really good employee benefit or employee engagement culture, there should be benefits to the employees, but also to the employer. And it’s that double-handed approach of. Why are we doing this? Are we communicating? Why are we doing it? And I guess, more importantly, what’s the strategy behind every element of it? 

There’s no point ticking and saying, we’ve got the most popular top ten employee benefits. So what if they’re not relevant to you or they’re not being used an example of that is ‘we do a cycle to work scheme. Yeah, but your staff might all live literally 200 yards from the building.’ What benefit is that really doing? You’re creating maybe a green culture and it fits with another strategy that you might have, but is it actually the right place for you to invest your money to support your staff? And conversely, people might have a cycle-to-work scheme in as much I know you like your bikes, but if I was to get on a bike, I’m talking about that’s a 50 miles journey to work every day. It’s not realistic that that cycle-to-work scheme is going to be something that actually motivates me. 

So find the right benefits for your staff and have a strategy about what is it that you want to implement? Why are you implementing it? Can you then communicate that to all so that they understand what you’re trying to do? And then ultimately, can you measure whether that’s having an impact on your business or not? And for me, it’s the strategy and the communication piece that takes it from a list of things that you can do to actually driving engagement and driving that of the discretionary effort. Because if the employee doesn’t understand what you’re trying to do and why, then you’ll never unlock it.

Katy:
I suppose this isn’t just about attracting new staff, is it? I mean, these are some statistics, I think, that were in the white paper that we wrote together – there were 149,000 hospitality vacancies at the end of last year and you’ve got all of these fantastic initiatives like Hospitality Rising who are going to come in and change the perception of the industry and make it a more attractive place to work. But presumably we all know that it is cheaper and easier to retain the staff that you’ve got than it is to bring on new staff. So does employee engagement have a place to sit in that area of hospitality as well in the retention? 

Scott:
Absolutely. I think one of the people who was interviewed used the phrase that “employee engagement services are an essential part of a business and then they went on to say they’re costly, but ultimately, if they’re applied right, it’s worthwhile rather than a cost.” And I think the problem that you’ve got with employee engagement services (and it’s a challenge that’s been there since employee engagement benefits became a thing in reality) is so many businesses look at them as a drain on the bottom line because there’s a £10,000 cost or £50,000 depending upon the size of the organisation, ultimately people see it as well that’s money off the bottom line and we’re not going to get a return on that. 

The hardest thing to do if you’re trying to sell it to somebody is to give them the tangible benefit from a monetary point of view. Businesses that adopt it and work it really well have stopped trying to monetise what it does for them. Ultimately, they just know that over a period of time, their staff loyalty increases, retention increases, recruitment costs go down, and productivity goes up.

The other thing the white paper does is clearly talk about the link between happiness and productivity 

That in itself has to mean happiness equals productivity, which ultimately is what every CEO and FD is after within their organisation anyway. 

But probably not the first strategy that they put together to demonstrate how they were going to be profitable in the first place. They’re much more likely to go and speak to a supplier about reducing costs or chain supplier to get more margin in a product than they are thinking about, I need to invest in my staff because that will ultimately get us greater profitability. The reason for that is because they are tenuous financial examples that you will give. You have to a certain extent take a leap of faith that by investing in this you’ll get a return. 

I think the key thing that I also need to stress there is that if ultimately the management within your organisation isn’t supporting what you’re trying to do by creating that culture, then please don’t invest in it because it will just be money off the bottom line. Because how it is communicated, how you then manage your staff, how you pay them properly on time, how you encourage them to save or make their money go further. All of those things are pointless if fundamentally you’ve got a bad manager running a site because it just that’s the thing that overrides everything. So the management have to be on board with what the strategy is. 

So it’s a top-down strategy that everybody needs to be engaged with. And one of the things that I’ve always found is how do you make sure that all those managers are invested in it. And we all as people managers give our staff objectives. How many give them people objectives? In my opinion, every manager should have a people objective as much as a financial or a commercial one. 

I agree. I wholly agree. And I think that we are as an industry changing for the better when it comes to looking after our people. But there is still a way to go. And obviously having access to employment engagement services is one of the tools that we should all be looking at to recruit and retain. 

Katy:
Scott, thank you so much for your time. I’m afraid that is all that we have time for. Although I am going to come and personally pick your brains on employment engagement and see what we’re doing right and wrong at CAM and see where we should be making some changes. 

Employee engagement services in hospitality research paper

Our new study led by insights and research consultancy KAM reveals how employees in the hospitality sector feel about the employee engagement services available to them. Download a copy here.

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About Growth Partners

We’re a payroll provider and so much more. We’re on a mission to make employers’ and employees’ lives easier, happier and healthier. We provide an end-to-end solution for payroll, pensions and employee engagement services. You can book a demo here or see how much you can save, or even earn by outsourcing services to us.

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