Pay and benefits
What are UK employers prioritising when it comes to reward in 2026? We reveal the key themes emerging from our latest survey of more than 200 organisations, offering insight into how pay, benefits and recognition are set to evolve in the next year.
The national minimum wage (NMW) is often seen as a simple legal requirement: as long as you pay your workers at least the statutory rate, you are meeting compliance requirements. However, the rules are nuanced, and misunderstandings can lead organisations to costly errors, enforcement action and reputational damage.
Whether it's because you need to comply with EU legislation or because you want to make the link between pay transparency and engagement, preparing to be "transparent" involves a lot more than just showing salaries in job adverts.
It's the hot topic in the HR world. Now set to be a requirement for companies operating under EU rules, "pay transparency" appears to be on every conference agenda and webinar calendar, sold as a solution to the gender pay gap, a way to bring greater fairness to organisations and a means to increase employee engagement. But there's a lot more to it than that, says Jane Vivier.
We know the price of things in a shop. We have prices on menus and we have laws around weights and measures so we know what we're getting for our money, whether we're buying apples or apple brandy. So why is it still acceptable to advertise a job without stating a salary or salary range? Jane Vivier has a theory.
With reward programmes making up such a large percentage of your organisation's budget, it's no surprise that HR needs to be able to explain and prove their ROI. You need to get them "right". Easy, not! To help you meet this challenge, award-winning HR leader and consultant and bestselling author Debra Corey sets out six things you need to think about and address.
The announcement of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) increases in the October Budget has had an impact on many organisations' 2025 pay rise plans. We look at the expected effect on pay award budgets.
Although the formal Bill is yet to be published, the Government has outlined plans to require organisations with 250 and more employees to report their ethnicity and disability pay data. To prepare HR leaders for this change, Brightmine and HR Grapevine convened a roundtable discussion to address the practical and cultural challenges of expanded pay gap reporting.
This resource summarizes how another Trump presidency may affect key employment law issues that directly impact HR, including EEO, wage and hour and payroll among others.
Employee benefits have evolved significantly over the past few years, going beyond basic offerings such as health insurance and annual leave. Today, they can range from perks like wellness programmes to complex offerings such as matching contribution pension schemes. But with budgets stretched and costs rising, how do you make your organisation's money go further - and make sure employees really feel the benefit?
Commentary and insights: HR and legal information and guidance relating to pay and benefits.