Zoe Wickens

Employee Benefits poll: More than two-thirds (69.2%) of employers said they offer bereavement support that goes above the statutory requirements. According to a survey of Employee Benefits readers, 23.1% of respondents said they do not offer bereavement support that goes above the statutory requirements, while 7.7% said they were unsure. Last month, DHL and Kraft

Wholesaler Parfetts has awarded its employees a maximum annual sales bonus of 4% after a record turnover of £807 million. Its turnover has increased by 10.6% from last year. This is the second year the firm has awarded staff with a 4% sales bonus in July. The bonus is part of Parfetts’ employee ownership model,

Scottish firm Murray Landscapes has received a gold award for the North Lanarkshire Employer Charter accreditation, the 100th employer to do so. The Employer Charter is based around four commitments by employers. These are to pay all staff the real living wage; employ North Lanarkshire residents; use local businesses in the supply chain where possible;

Lisa Buckley, head of global benefits at Primark, will deliver a keynote session at Employee Benefits Live 2026 on Wednesday 14 October. Her keynote speech will close the second day of the conference. As well as working for international clothing retailer Primark, which employs more than 80,000 employees in 19 countries, Buckley has also been

Four-fifths (82%) of mothers who returned to work early after pregnancy did so because they could not afford their full statutory maternity leave entitlement, according to research by Pregnant Then Screwed. The organisation’s State of the nation survey 2026, in partnership with Women in Data, found that nearly 60% of higher income mums stay on

Private medical insurance (PMI) is the UK's most in-demand employee benefit, according to research by employee benefits technology provider Zest. Its survey of 2,000 UK workers.found that 32% of respondents said PMI was their most sought-after employee benefit. This was followed by increased pension contributions (28%), salary sacrifice arrangements (17%), wellbeing allowances (17%) and employer

Paul C. Brunson, global relationship expert and coach, author, speaker and host, will deliver the opening keynote session at Employee Benefits Live 2026. His keynote, which will focus on what relationship wisdom can teach us about workplace connection, will open the conference on Tuesday 13 October. Recognised globally for his expertise in relationship counselling, matchmaking

Platform Housing Group has been recognised as one of the UK’s Outstanding Employers for 2026 by the Ethnicity Awards. The annual awards celebrate organisations and individuals that make a significant contribution to improving ethnicity, equity and inclusion across the UK. The awards’ Investing in Ethnicity Maturity Matrix assesses how organisations embed ethnicity inclusion across leadership,

Two-thirds (66%) of employers expect rising costs to reduce their healthcare budgets in 2026, according to research by Healix Health. Its Hidden workplace healthcare gap report, which surveyed 1,000 senior employer decision-makers and 1,000 UK employees, also found almost a quarter (23%) of employer respondents said the reduction in healthcare budgets will be significant. Despite

Law firm Harcus Parker has launched a legal case against Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons to claim back billions of pounds for workers who believe they have been underpaid. The claims focus on work done in the past six years. They allege that female-dominated supermarket store roles were paid less than male-dominated warehouse roles despite the