(PR in) HR Pulse | HR News Round-up: 13th – 19th March 2023

Photo by Hatice Yardım on Unsplash

Introducing the free childcare scheme

Following the Spring Budget 2023, Jeremy Hunt has announced 30 hours of free childcare for parents working over 16 hours a week. This scheme is estimated to decrease childcare costs by c60% which currently stand at almost a third (30%) of a family’s average wage in the UK, according to the PwC’s annual Women in Work Index, as explained in our previous article. 

The scheme will be extended to parents with children up to 3 years old and introduced in various stages from April 2024 to September 2025.

In his speech announcing the scheme, Hunt addressed and acknowledged the disproportionate disadvantage unaffordable childcare costs continue to have on mothers.

WorkNest’s Hannah Copeland believes this will allow more women back into the workforce and relieve pressures around women who worry about career gaps, along with creating a better work/life balance for all parents.

Dr Zara Nanu of Gapsquare adds that this scheme will also alleviate the cost of having children for mothers, and decrease the hidden work and gender pay gap. Source: Employee Benefits and Personnel Today.

Financial strains are taking a toll on mental health and productivity

Concerns around financial wellbeing are on the rise due to the continued cost of living crisis, high inflation rates and mass redundancies. According to the employee insurance platform, YuLife, the ramifications of employees’ worsening financial wellbeing have been negatively affecting their performance at work. 

YuLife has conducted two similar studies, one in the US and the other in the UK, revealing that more than half (55%) of US employees and the majority (80%) of UK employees are struggling financially, and are worried about the negative effect it’s having on their performance at work. 

Almost half of the employees from the US (45%) and UK (49%) believe employers need to do more in support of financial wellbeing, especially regarding retention and attracting new recruits. 

More than half of employees from the US (66%) and UK (61%) claim financial wellbeing support is a deciding factor on whether they stay in their current roles.

In the UK, this financial wellbeing crisis has hit the hospitality industry the hardest. According to the State of Financial Wellbeing: Hospitality Outlook 2023, the majority (87%) of hospitality employees have worsening mental health issues due to financial strain. Almost half (42%) struggle to pay bills on time and almost a quarter are having issues focusing on work.

The State of Financial Wellbeing also revealed a 22% decline in trust, as only around a third (30%) of employees believe their employers are willing to support them during the current financial crisis, in comparison to more than half (52%) last year.

Currently, more than half (57%) of hospitality employers are making moves to help employees during the cost of living crisis. However, this is almost a quarter (20%) less than employers from other fields. Source: UNLEASH and The HR Director.

Supporting immigrant employees during mass lay-offs, UK immigration system seen as more employer-friendly

Envoy Global’s 2023 Immigration Trends Report survey has revealed that more than half (51%) of employees from overseas were made redundant last year, forcing them into the difficult position of finding new work sponsorships within 60 days. 

The greatest difficulty in the US comes as the majority of employers prefer to sponsor potential employees on an H-1B Visa, based on chance. The chances of receiving an H-1B Visa will arguably worsen in the future as the US government has announced its plan to increase the cost from £376.50 ($460) to £638.41 ($780). 

In order to avoid US immigration barriers, many US companies have resorted to transferring or relocating employees to countries including Canada (62%) and the UK (48%). Envoy Global’s survey found that over two-thirds (83%) of US employers feel that the UK’s immigration system is significantly more employer-friendly.

In the meantime, some people are looking to employment and immigration lawyers for answers - an option open to very few due to financial struggles.

Davis Bae, from the law firm Fisher & Phillips, believes that this disregard for immigrant employees is partly due to discrimination, as employers have to decide whether to take on a sponsorship candidate, which is unlikely as many aren’t familiar with the process, even if the candidate is perfect for the role. 

Bae explains that determinants such as the estimated time it would take to learn the process, processing a sponsorship candidate and potential future costs to move employees into permanent residence also make taking on overseas talent difficult. This is seconded through Envoy Global as almost all (94%) of the organisations involved in the survey claim they would take on more sponsorship candidates if immigration barriers in the US were eased.

Some progress is being made as Envoy Global reveals that 71% of companies have recruited immigrant workers between January to March 2023 in comparison to last year. Source: WorkLife, Envoy Global and Analytics India Magazine.