The HR leader at Intuit Quickbooks commented:
“It is so important at this point in the year for everyone – bosses and workers alike – to find time to relax and recharge.
For the bosses worrying about balancing their cash flow against employee expectations - hopefully reading this will help at least some of you rest a little easier tonight.
When push comes to shove, bosses can focus on the little things – like Christmas decorations, music and flexible working – to keep a happy workforce this Christmas, rather than worrying about putting on the nation’s best Christmas party. But in case there was any doubt of the value of treating your employees right, the picture painted by today’s research couldn’t be clearer. Invest in rewarding your employees for a year’s hard work, and they’ll reward you and your business with another year of loyalty, effort and positivity. For the bosses who are stressed about this time of year – it doesn’t need to be this way. Start by facing your financial fears and making an honest assessment of what you can afford to spend. Then have an open conversation with your employees about it. For a significant chunk of employees, doing nothing more than having an open conversation will make them feel much more positive about you and the business.” In organisations with less than ten staff, only 50% would host a Christmas party, in comparison to 70% in other larger businesses that are still defined as being small. The reluctance to throw a Christmas party is influenced by staff opinion about what is acceptable the following day – three quarters of workers have no qualms about turning up to work late the following day and one in ten actually think that they can skip work all together and not face any consequences. The smaller the company, the bigger the impact of one or some of the workforce not attending work so the responses are understandable. The dilemma of wanting to motivate staff at Christmas by offering great perks but ensuring that there are sufficient funds to do so means that three in ten bosses experience feelings of stress over the festive period and four out of five confirm that cash flow is of the highest concern.
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Newcross Healthcare offers Flexi Pay option to staff 17 December 2019
In a bid to drive recruitment and retention of staff, Newcross Healthcare has implemented ‘Flexi Pay’ technology which allows staff to claim an advance on their pay directly after they finish a shift, as opposed to having to wait until their official pay date on either a weekly or monthly basis. The independent healthcare provider provides staff with access to the app, HealthForceGo, which is a bespoke tool, tailored to offer shifts to staff who have the relevant experience. Employees can then receive payment as soon as their shift has been validated and confirmed as completed. Newcross has teamed up with its banking partner, Lloyds Banking Group in order to facilitate this. Staff can request anything up to 50% of the amount of pay for the shift and this option is available to them all day, every day, throughout the year. The figure that has already been paid to staff outside of the standard payroll date will appear as a net deduction on their payslip the following pay period. This signals a move away from the traditional method of paying employees on a weekly or a monthly basis and the intention is to provide support to employees who may require access to their finances in a timelier fashion. The minimum withdrawal amount is ten pounds and only one request can be made in a 24-hour period. There is a two- pound charge attached to each Flexi Pay withdrawal, which is deducted from the amount that is paid out to staff members.
The CEO and co-founder of Newcross Healthcare, Stephen Pattrick commented
“One of the reasons clients choose us is our ability to respond quickly to the needs of our service users. Sometimes that means placing staff with very little notice. If we’re asking our people to be flexible, I think we also have a duty of care to be flexible. That should include the way we pay them.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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