Cost of living guide: How firms are helping their staff

We are, it hardly needs to be said, living through the most turbulent times that most of us can remember.

If the covid-19 pandemic had not caused enough widespread fear, disruption and trauma, we are now in the grips of another foe, which, while not as immediately deadly, nevertheless has the capacity to cause untold misery: rampant inflation.

First we saw supply chain shortages as the economy came racing out of the pandemic-indued slowdown and firms struggled to keep up with demand. Then, Vladmir Putin’s war in Ukraine disrupted energy supplies and sent prices rocketing ever further northwards.

The government has responded by announcing multiple support packages, capping energy price rises and more recently providing additional help to lower income households, while the Bank of England (BoE) has repeatedly upped its base rate to curb costs.

Despite this, the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation hit 11.1% in October and, while the BoE is expecting inflation to fall sharply next year, this winter is likely to prove difficult for millions of workers.

In response many firms are looking at ways of helping their employees to cope. According to a study by professional services giant PwC, four in five larger employers are taking action or considering ways to help employees in the face of rising costs.

But what are businesses in the construction and housing sectors doing to help their staff?

By looking at public statements from construction firms, as well as surveying the largest 35 housebuilders and the 50 largest housing associations, we have compiled an at-a-glance guide to who is doing what.

So how are firms helping people? How do you ensure any payments or support are fair? What is a reasonable package of support?

One-off cost-of-living payments

Perhaps the most straightforward way to help employees is simply to make a one-off cost of living payment to all staff, or all of those below a certain threshold of salary or seniority.

Purely in terms of total amount paid in one-off payments, Barratt, perhaps unsurprisingly given its £5bn-turnover, leads the way among those to confirm figures to Building.

The housebuilder has awarded two payments of £1,000 to its 6,800 employees who are not senior management, thereby costing the firm around £13m.

Firm	Company type	Amount of payment	Number of staff	Paid to whom?	Amount spending	Notes
Allies & Morrison	Architects	£1,000	Up to 300*	Permanent employed for more than two months	Up to £300,000	300 employees according to accounts
Anchor	Housing association care specialist	£500		All staff
Aster	Housing association	Undisclosed	1,900	All staff bar executive directors	Not disclosed
A2 Dominion	Housing association	£250	380	Staff earning under £30,000	£95,000	Payment made in November. Will review again in January.
Bam	Contractor	£750	Majority of 6,000		Up to £4.5m
Barratt	Housebuilder	£2,000	6,800	All staff below senior management	£13m approx	Made up of two payments covering July-Sept and Jan-June
Cala Homes	Housebuilder	£1,500	Around 1,100	All staff below regional director. 90% of team. Cala had 1,259 employees as of 31 December 2021	£1.6m*	Payment in September. Approx
Clarion	Housing association	Undisclosed	Around 3,600 staff All staff below director level	All staff below director level	Not disclosed	Payment in October
Galliford Try	Contractor	£750	1,800	Lower earners	£1.35m
Glencar	Contractor	£1,000	300	All payrolled staff	£300,000
Keepmoat	Housebuilder	£1,000		All employees earning less than £50,000
Keltbray	Contractor	£1,000	More than 1,100 staff	Those earning less than £50,000	£1.1m	Scaled pay rise in November
Notting Hill Genesis	Housing association	£1,000 full bonus	Not disclosed	Eligible staff
Places for People	Housing association	£500		Payment from colleague hardship fund for those affected by cost-of-living crisis and other serious financial difficulties
Poplar Harca	Housing association	£1,500	Around 331	All staff	Around £500,000	Made in three instalments of £500
Sisk	Contractor	£1,000	1,500	All staff	£1.3m	620 staff in the UK will be given £900 while the 830 working in Ireland will be handed €1,000.
Skanska	Contractor	£750	1,300 approx		Nearly £1m
Sovereign	Housing association	£300	2,000 approx	All staff	£600,000
Taylor Wimpey	Housebuilder	£1,000	Around 4,700	Those earning less than £70,000

Cala Homes, a housebuilding company owned by institutional investment giant L&G, has made a £1,500 payment to around 1,100 staff at a cost to the business of around £1.6m. Cala restricted the bonus to those below regional director level, around 90% of its workforce.

While some firms have limited the payment based on seniority, others have chosen a salary threshold. Taylor Wimpey for instance has provided a £1,000 payment to around 4,800 staff earning below £70,000 a year at an approximate total cost of around £4.9m.

Contractor Keltbray and housebuilder Keepmoat set a salary limit of £50,000 while housing association A2 Dominion plumped for a £30,000 threshold, although its payment of £250 was lower than other firms.

Some businesses made a payment to all members of staff, including Wembley Park contractor Sisk, and housing associations Sovereign and Poplar Harca.

Other type of payments

Along with pay rises, housing association giant Places for People, which has a turnover of £850m, has set up a colleague hardship fund through which “employees affected by the cost-of-living crisis and other serious financial difficulties” can apply for £500 payments. Notting Hill Genesis has expanded its annual bonus scheme to “all eligible staff”, meaning they get a £1,000 bonus this year although it its not clear what the criteria are.

Pay rises

One-off payments are all well and good but many staff would doubtless be happier with an increase in salary and some firms have used the crisis as an opportunity to review pay.

Places for People, Riverside and Anchor have all increased their minimum pay to the Living Wage Foundation’s real living wage, which is calculated based on living cost and at £10.90 an hour (£11.95 in London) is higher than both the minimum wage and living wage (£9.18 and £9.50 an hour respectively).

A spokesperson for £526m-turnover care and support housing specialist Anchor said: “We know the cost-of-living crisis is very real and were the first large national care and housing provider to commit to being a Living Wage Foundation employer and we cemented that commitment on Monday, 14 November by becoming an accredited real living wage employer.”

>> See also: Latest trends and prices data dashboard

Contractor Keltbray meanwhile has recently increased pay for its staff on a sliding scale, with those on lower salaries given bigger percentage pay rises up to a maximum of 5%.

Other types of support

• Financial advice: Several firms have told us they are providing assistance schemes to help staff in these difficult times. Galliford Try is providing financial advice, as is A2 Dominion, which is helping colleagues with budgeting. Orbit has recently a created a “cost-of-living advice hub” to provide access to financial webinars run with pensions provider Aviva.
• Medical support: In January Barratt extended private medical insurance cover to all of its employees and also launched a new discounted dental plan. Aster’s assistance programme gives employees access to qualified therapists and money back on healthcare, along with an app providing access to mental health and wellbeing support.
• Vouchers/discounts: Some firms, including A2 Dominion and Notting Hill Genesis, offer vouchers or discounts to allow staff to access benefits for free or for a lower cost. Aster has set up an employee discounts site providing savings at supermarkets and on household utility bills. 
• Loans: Skanska has teamed with financial wellbeing provider Salary Finance to offer loans with a low fixed interest rate to it staff.