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As the current inflationary environment puts pressure on family budgets, people are continuing to look for ways to reduce costs. A recent survey by Canada Life* showed 20% of UK adults had either stopped making their pension contributions, were actively considering doing so, or might consider doing so in the future.

Obviously, people will make their own individual decisions, but there are a number of reasons why this course of action may be counter-productive:

There is an old saying – ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ – and it is understandable that something that helps ease immediate worries may be chosen over easing worries that may still be there many years down the road.

However, it may be that you can do something to help your UK employees make their contributions in a more cost-effective manner by enabling them to have their pension contributions deducted from their pay through salary sacrifice.

Research from Alan Jones Associates** suggests approximately 75% of employers currently offer salary sacrifice, but this still leaves a sizeable number of employers that do not. While at first glance operating salary sacrifice may seem complex, and requires a conversation with employees where the starting point is that their salary will reduce (which is never really a conversation that an employee wants to have), the reality is that in most circumstances the outcome will be beneficial – not only delivering all of the tax relief they are entitled to immediately, but also giving additional savings in National Insurance contributions.

For basic rate taxpayers this results in the effective cost for every £100 they want to contribute reducing from £80 to £68. For a higher rate taxpayer, the effective cost reduces from £60 to £58 – not as much of a saving, but it also removes the need to reclaim some of their tax relief entitlement from HMRC. In addition to this, the employer also benefits from savings in their National Insurance contributions as well, which can potentially be directed towards supporting employees in other ways.

Even for those employers that currently operate salary sacrifice, moving from an elective arrangement to one where this is the ‘default’ deduction method is a good way of proactively helping your employees, and reducing the employer NI costs.

There are, of course, situations where salary sacrifice is not suitable, and considerations that should be given to how it operates (particularly in relation to how it interacts with some statutory leave/pay scenarios), so while it is not particularly complex, care should be taken in both implementation and operation.

Granted, it is not quite like winning the lottery, but the offer of salary sacrifice might just make the difference in those ‘bird in the hand’ and ‘two in the bush’ conundrums.

With a new year upon us, it is a good time to review your global employee benefit offering and assess what is likely to be trending in 2023 to get ahead of the competition.

Update following the Spring 2020 edition of International HR Adviser.

As a result of the impact of Coronavirus/Covid-19, the rules relating to off payroll labour, which were to be introduced from 6 April 2020, have now been deferred for 12 months and will take effect from 6 April 2021. Please bear this in mind when reading or referring to the article. Read Full article here.

Coronavirus/Covid-19 – tax and other related updates from around the world.

In the last edition of International HR Adviser, we wrote an article on the opportunities that the Future of Work afforded those leading global mobility teams.

At the time of writing the article, although COVID-19 was clearly a major issue for many parts of the world, particularly Asia, the impact and resulting country lockdowns across Europe, the Americas and Africa had yet to take full effect.

How long ago those early months of 2020 now feel! Due to the pandemic, many of us have adapted to a life of remote-working, virtual collaboration and distanced business relationships. Over the course of a few weeks we have altered our working lives, and have effectively realigned working practices in line with many of the facets associated with the Future of Work. I think we can state with greater conviction than ever that the Future of Work is now.

In our article, we discussed the three dimensions of the Future of Work – the work we do, the workforce and the workplace.

Other than those who have been furloughed or taken similar Government-supported temporary leave from their jobs, the workforce has remained intact, although the work they do may involve slightly different duties from their pre-COVID-19 roles, and how they approach it has certainly changed markedly.

The workplace has of course been the major change as we battle for the best Wi-Fi spots in our homes; contend with children, pets, the allure of the fridge (!) and a myriad of other distractions, to keep our focus on the job at hand.

As we reflect on how quickly we have normalised our new work locations and practices, it is apparent that changes that might have taken us many months, even years, to assimilate in ‘normal times’, have been significantly accelerated due to COVID-19.

At Deloitte, we are helping clients navigate the challenges of managing their HR and global mobility programmes in the COVID-19 world using the following three-phased framework:

I am sure these phases will resonate with you. We initially react to the situation, ensuring the safety and ongoing wellbeing of our people, putting in place working practices to keep our newly remote workforce on track, feeling supported, and able to work as effectively as possible.

As time goes on, and we emerge from the respond phase, we are able to reflect on the lessons from that period, develop a more agile and digital mind-set, and better understand how the experience will help shape our approach as we move forward.

Ultimately, we will emerge from the COVID-19 experience. The emphasis will turn to the future, and armed with enhanced resilience and confidence, born out of this experience, we will emerge fully equipped to embrace a new future in which we can evolve and thrive.

Although you may not openly acknowledge it now, throughout your experience of the pandemic you have been equipping yourself with the skills and capabilities required to be a true champion of the Future of Work.

Important as it is, this isn’t a result of simply adopting new digital capabilities - through virtual collaboration and learning, and remote service delivery - but in developing true resilience from facing the multiple challenges thrown at you daily, and navigating them in an agile and focused manner.

Those working in global mobility are used to managing challenges across multiple geographies and stakeholders as ‘business as usual’, whilst always keeping your cohort of employees as your central focus. Doing so during a pandemic has undoubtedly tested your abilities to the max, but also magnified your skills, enhanced your capabilities, and proved your ability to adapt quickly to swiftly changing circumstances.

Through this experience you have not only equipped yourself for what comes next, but have also created the foundation from which to develop the future of mobility. Accept the challenge and thrive.

Read more about the opportunities for global mobility in the Future of Work in our International HR Adviser article: “IHRA - The Future Of Work - A Perfect Opportunity For Global Mobility” here.

Read Deloitte’s COVID-19 related global insights here: “Deloitte - Combating COVID-19 with Resilience”here.

This is the fourth article I have written in relation to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on global mobility and much has changed since my first. Even when I wrote my last article dealing with the issue of repatriation a month ago, official recorded infections were at approximately 400 000, whereas they now stand at over 3 million. Our previous blogs on Covid-19 have focused on the operational issues associated with managing employee mobility in the current situation. However, this blog aims to look further at the various responses to the pandemic, and the lessons that managers of HR policies and mobility programmes can use to help implement changes within their own departments. It should be noted that I will mainly discuss responses from Asia, purely as I am more familiar with them. This article does not seek to argue that the actions of people, companies and countries have been more effective in Asia than anywhere else, but in many cases Asian practices have been replicated elsewhere in the world. Read the full article.here.

In early April, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the Government decided to publish an introduction for employers to the points-based immigration system which it intends to bring in on 1 January 2021, the day after the Brexit transition period ends.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Thousands of people were dying – and still are at the time of writing. Many more have had their hours cut, been furloughed or lost their jobs. People with visas and their employers have been trying to find out what this means for them. The Home Office is responding with piecemeal guidance which leaves many questions unanswered.

Why would the Home Office trumpet the future immigration system at a time like this? Couldn’t it dedicate resources to sorting out its coronavirus immigration guidance instead? Probably not – publishing the document in April was insensitive but it was likely prepared weeks before so it might not have made a difference.

The bigger question is this: why is the Government determined not to extend the Brexit transition period? We already know that any form of Brexit is going to make the UK poorer for years to come – the Government’s own long-term economic analysis says so. This will come on top of a global recession – one which is bound to hit the UK especially hard given how badly the country has been affected by the pandemic. The only sensible approach is to agree with the EU to extend the transition period and focus every effort on trying to stop the UK economy being devastated. But the Government will not do this because the cabinet is made up of Brexiters who will not accept any delay, regardless of the consequences.

When the pandemic is over there will be questions about how the Government handled the crisis, but at least it was a disaster which nobody wanted. The end of the transition period is different. The Government could extend it but won’t. They own this one.

Employers have to assume that the Brexit transition period is going to end on 31 December 2020 and that the new immigration system will come in on 1 January 2021. What does this mean as far as UK immigration is concerned?

First, from 1 January 2021 it will become much more expensive and complicated to recruit higher-skilled and medium-skilled workers from the EU. This is because EU citizens who are not already living in the UK will need sponsored work visas. A standard five-year Tier 2 visa already costs around £8,500 in government fees. The cost will increase to nearly £10,000 later this year when the Immigration Health Surcharge is increased. If your business will need to recruit EU citizens next year and you do not already have a sponsor licence you should apply for one now.

Second, it will become much easier to recruit higher-skilled and medium-skilled workers from outside the EU. The skills threshold and salary threshold for a sponsored work visa will be lowered, the resident labour market test will be abolished and the annual cap on visas will be suspended. If you rely on workers from outside the EU this is good news.

As companies start to take action on managing the compliance risks of business travellers they will invariably during the business case preparation phase, determine how the programme will actually work in practice and what service model should they implement. There are several factors that determine the eventual position – amongst them

1. Company Culture and Risk Profile

2. Traveller Culture

3. Availability of internal resources

4. Tax, Immigration, Payroll & Duty of Care

5. Change management procedures in the company.

The 2022 Expatriate’s Guide to Living in the UK has been published. The Guide is a handy annual A5 booklet offering expatriates information on banking, driving, education, legal issues, lettings, serviced apartments, tax and travel in the UK. A copy of this Guide will be inserted into the spring issue of International HR Adviser, for your attention, but if you would like to order copies to pass on to your expatriates who are about to move to, or who have just moved to the UK, then please let us know.

If you would like to place a pre-order for these Guides please email ben@internationalhradviser.com. Let us know the quantity required and the address you would like the Guides sent to.

The online version of the 2022 Guide is also available to view on www.expatsguidetotheuk.com - please feel free to share this website and/or embed it on your intranet site.

The essential Guide to living in the UK that your expatriate employees cannot afford to miss!