Helping your employees through the cost-of-living crisis
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has put together some practical information for employers to support their employees through the cost-of-living crisis.
Against a backdrop of soaring prices for food, energy and other essential goods and services, many employers in the UK are asking what they can do to support their people’s financial wellbeing.
Several UK employers are generously topping up pay packets with a cost-of-living payment. The CIPD’s summer Labour Market Outlook for 2022 finds that 15% of organisations have paid, or are planning to pay, such a payment to some or all their workers, while a further 15% have the matter under review. Private sector firms are most likely to have paid this bonus (18%) – especially those in the primary and utilities (30%), financial services (26%), and construction (25%) sectors.
Even if you cannot afford to offer inflation-beating pay rises, there is still a lot you can do to ease the stress and anxiety your workforce is facing. The CIPD say that now is the time to review your financial wellbeing policies and benefits packages to make sure they are working as hard as they can – especially for those that are most likely to be struggling to make ends meet.
They suggest the following things to consider:
- Review your reward strategy – if you can afford to offer a cost-of-living bonus, make sure it doesn’t inadvertently do more harm than good for those who claim Universal Credit or Tax Credits.
- Review your financial wellbeing policy – do your people know what help is on offer and how to get it?
- Review your benefits package – is it working hard enough for those most in need? Again, does everyone know what’s on offer and how to access it?
- Train your managers – an empathetic and approachable management style can help normalise conversations about money, and let employees seek the help they need.
- Examine the CIPD Reward management survey, which looks at the various ways employers are helping with financial wellbeing and tackling in-work poverty.
For the full guidance and example case studies see: Supporting employees through the cost-of-living crisis | CIPD
The new ‘Register of Overseas Entities’ is live
The new Register of Overseas Entities is held by Companies House and requires overseas entities that own land or property in the UK to declare their beneficial owners and/or managing officers. There will be sanctions for those who do not comply, including restrictions on buying, selling, transferring, leasing or charging their land or property in the UK.
Overseas entities who want to buy, sell or transfer property or land in the UK must register with Companies House and tell them who their registrable beneficial owners or managing officers are.
Overseas entities who already own or lease land or property in the UK will also need to register with Companies House and tell them who their registrable beneficial owners or managing officers are by 31 January 2023.
This applies to overseas entities who bought property or land on or after:
- 1 January 1999 in England and Wales
- 8 December 2014 in Scotland
Overseas entities only need to register property or land bought in Northern Ireland on or after 1 August 2022. Entities that disposed of property or land after 28 February 2022 will also need to give details of those dispositions.
See: The new Register of Overseas Entities is live – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Welsh Revenue Authority report on tax revenue raised
The Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) recently published its Annual Report and Accounts 2021 to 2022, reporting a total of more than £400 million raised from Land Transaction Tax (LTT) and Landfill Disposals Tax (LDT) transactions.
During the year, the WRA managed record levels of tax and processed its highest number of tax returns to date, totalling more than 68,800. A total of 98.4% of tax returns were filed on time, with almost 99% of transactions filed digitally.
Other performance highlights included:
- Surpassing the £1 billion tax revenue mark (since starting to manage tax in April 2018).
- Recovering an additional £1.6 million from tax interventions and disclosures, where the right tax was not paid at the right time.
- Received positive feedback from users, with 92% finding the tax authority’s services easy to use.
See: Welsh Revenue Authority raises record tax revenue for Wales | GOV.WALES
FSB South Wales Conference 2022 – Growing Your Business
The second annual Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) South Wales Conference, specifically for small businesses in the region, will help owners and managers understand how they can grow their businesses.
The conference will bring together businesses and experts to focus on how small businesses can accelerate their growth in a sustained and sustainable way.
Various sessions throughout the day will help businesses understand:
- How they can identify strategic options and plan for growth.
- How they can plan their journey towards net zero.
- Various kinds of finance to assist growth.
- How to develop suitable marketing and sales plans to support growth.
- How to develop a committed team within a business to facilitate growth.
- How FSB’s lobbying, events and member benefits can support businesses as they grow.
The conference takes place on 8 September 2022 in Merthyr Tydfil.
