Stress Awareness month, food inflation starts to slow and child benefit rates are increasing
As an employer you will have some responsibility for supporting your employees’ wellbeing, take a look at the 5 key steps the HSE are recommending to help you manage work related stress for your staff. April also sees a welcome increase in child benefit rates, and good news as food inflation is starting to slow.
April is Stress Awareness Month
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), via their Working Minds campaign, has declared April Stress Awareness Month.
Work-related stress is an important consideration for businesses since all employers have a legal duty to prevent work related stress to support good mental health in the workplace.
Managing work-related stress doesn’t just help employees, it can help employers avoid the problems that stress brings with it: reduced productivity, sickness absence, or even having staff leave.
The HSE are inviting employers to complete 5 steps, taking 1 a week over the 5 weeks of April.
The 5 steps are:
- Reach out and have conversations.
- Recognise the signs and causes of stress.
- Respond to any risks identified by agreeing action points.
- Reflect on the actions taken – have things improved?
- Make it Routine to check back in on how things are going.
Sometimes stress is easy to spot in the workplace, but there can be less obvious indicators that stress is taking a toll on workers. For instance, stress may be behind a worker who is taking more time off, arriving for work later, seems to have lost motivation or confidence, or seems more emotional or nervous than normal.
An increase in arguments, complaints, sickness absence, people leaving, or decreased performance can be indicators that there is a stress problem affecting team members.
The legal duty that employers have in relation to stress does not extend to diagnosing or treating stress. However, it is an employer’s responsibility to identify the risks of stress and then act on them.
See: https://workright.campaign.gov.uk/april-is-stress-awareness-month-five-steps-in-five-weeks/
Food inflation slowing down according to BRC
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has released figures showing that food price inflation in March has slowed to its lowest level since December 2021.
Shop Price annual inflation dropped to 1.3% in March, compared with 2.2% in February.
The Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, Helen Dickinson, said that “while Easter treats were more expensive than in previous years due to high global cocoa and sugar prices, retailers provided cracking deals on popular chocolates, which led to price falls compared to the previous month. Dairy prices also fell on the month as farmgate prices eased, and retailers worked hard to lower prices for many essentials.”
Whether retailers will continue to be able to maintain lower prices remains to be seen. Businesses are facing increased costs with the rise in National Living Wage in April, as well as business rates increases for those not eligible for the small business rates freeze. Still, the positive news is very welcome!
See: https://brc.org.uk/news/corporate-affairs/good-news-for-households-as-prices-fall/
Increase in Child Benefit rates
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have confirmed that Child Benefit rates increased on 6 April 2024.
A family with one child will now receive up to £1,331 a year and up to £881 a year for each additional child.
Payments are made to families on a 4-weekly basis and paid directly into their bank account. Families with ongoing claims do not need to do anything as the payment amount will be automatically increased.
Parents with newborn babies need to make a claim online to start receiving Child Benefit. Claims can only be backdated by a maximum of three months.
See: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-the-child-benefit-rate-rise-means-for-you