Lucy and her guests discuss the changing requirements of businesses and their staff in the wake of the pandemic - what are the resulting tax opportunities and traps that businesses need to be aware of? What are the key considerations to be made as workforces are returning?

Setting the scene - what’s on the menu for tonight’s virtual dinner party? (2m25)

Lucy’s virtual dinner party guests are: 

Glen Huxter, Senior Employment Tax Specialist with over 30 years of experience advising employers on workforce matters.

Clive Fathers, Partner who leads our specialist tax services and whose own expertise is in reward, social security and internationally mobile employees.

Aude Delechat-Patel, Head of Corporate Tax Disputes and a leading tax adviser to businesses on corporate tax governance.

Starter: Who, when and how do employers bring back their workforce? (3m32)

Glen focuses on employees returning to work from furlough over the next six months and the considerations employers face in determining who, when and how they return? What is the impact of the new off-payroll working legislation?

The impact of the pandemic on diversity within the workforce (5m49)

Clive considers the impact on diversity within the workforce and in particular, gender diversity. 

Main course: Reward and incentivisation of the workforce now and in the future (15m28)

Clive looks at reward and considers how reward packages might evolve in the post-COVID world. What kind of benefits are employees increasingly looking for? What should a reward package look, sound and feel like and what are the components? How do companies with large workforces structure their reward packages?

Clive compares the different kinds of benefits for employees to how food menus have evolved over the years. From old fashioned meaty benefits such as company cars and season ticket loans as well as different types of wellbeing benefits including – physical, ethical and mental wellbeing.

Physical wellbeing (16m32)

Clive focuses on the different physical and wellbeing related benefits including gym memberships and cycling to work. Are we going to see more people taking the opportunity to do physical activities, such as going to the gym or cycling to work, if they’re not commuting in their car or on public transport? Are these benefits going to become more attractive?

Ethical wellbeing (17m11)

Clive considers how employers should challenge themselves on what they do, what they invest in and the impact that has on employees. He also discusses how benefits ought to reflect the ethics and values of the business. 

Traditional “meaty” benefits (18m04)

Clive discusses how there is still room for the more traditional benefits such as season ticket loans and company cars, but how can employees start to look at these differently and challenge the way they think about these benefits?

Mental health and wellbeing (22m38)

Discussing how the pandemic has impacted people’s health, mental health and wellbeing. What are the developments in raising awareness of mental well-being during the pandemic?

International mobile employees (25m03)

Clive discusses what the working from home risks are, how can companies track business visitors? and social security. What are the direct and indirect tax consequences of having people in different locations?

Dessert - How are businesses ensuring they have proper tax governance in place? (27m36)

Aude discusses tax governance and why businesses should be spending time on this important topic now. How has the pandemic impacted tax governance and particularly in the context of the workforce? What does good governance look like?

Final thoughts - How will the pandemic change working practices? (36m53)

Lucy concludes the virtual dinner party with final thoughts on how the pandemic will change working practices for all sectors in the long term. 

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