Welcome to your Latest HR Highlights
We are excited to share new insights and resources to help you cultivate a happier, healthier, and more financially resilient workplace.
In this edition, we focus on Debt Awareness Week, offering essential tips and tools to promote wellbeing and education. Inside, you’ll find insightful blogs, practical guides, and expert tips aimed at empowering your workforce.
Secondsight HR Highlights
Stay tuned for next months edition.
Debt Awareness Week is an annual campaign that encourages open and honest conversations about debt and money worries, while highlighting the free, confidential support available to those who need it. The campaign aims to reduce the stigma around debt, help people understand their financial options, and empower them to seek advice early, before problems become more serious.
For employers, Debt Awareness Week is a valuable opportunity to support employee wellbeing. Financial stress and debt can have a significant impact on mental health, focus, productivity, and overall performance at work. By raising awareness, sharing trusted information and resources, and promoting existing support such as employee assistance programmes or financial wellbeing tools, employers can help employees feel supported and less alone. Taking part also helps build a more open, inclusive workplace culture where financial wellbeing is recognised as an important part of overall health.
Debt stigma exists because debt is often wrongly seen as a sign of poor decision-making or personal failure. In reality, many people experience debt due to circumstances outside their control, such as rising living costs, job changes, illness, or unexpected expenses.
Negative portrayals in the media and on social platforms can reinforce the idea that debt is something to be ashamed of. This stigma can stop people from speaking openly about money worries or seeking help early, allowing problems to grow in silence. Reducing stigma is key to encouraging open conversations and helping people access the support they need to improve their financial wellbeing.
Talk openly about money to reduce stigma and encourage people to seek help
Share trusted resources (e.g. free debt advice charities, budgeting tools)
Offer financial education like short webinars or guides on managing debt
Promote confidential support via EAPs, financial coaching, or 1-to-1 advice
Train managers to respond empathetically and signpost support
With the cost of living remaining high, tax rules evolving, and economic uncertainty continuing, many employees may be feeling increased financial pressure. These concerns can affect not only personal finances, but also wellbeing, focus, and long-term security.
Our guide is designed to support employees by outlining five practical areas that can help them better manage their money in the year ahead. It covers everyday budgeting, making the most of savings, preparing for retirement, passing on wealth efficiently, and putting protection in place for life’s unexpected events.
By providing this guide to your workforce, you can offer a clear, accessible financial wellbeing resource that helps employees build resilience, make better informed decisions, and feel more secure about their financial future.
Download the guide to help support your employees’ financial confidence in 2026 and beyond.
Page 3: ISAs provide a flexible and tax-efficient method for saving or investing. This section covers the various ISA options available, the key changes from the Autumn Budget 2025, and stresses the importance of utilising the allowance before the tax deadline.
Page 5: Why Income Protection is an essential part of financial planning, the risks many households face if income stops, and how protection could help provide financial security and peace of mind.
Page 6: The importance of your employees regularly reviewing their financial plan, with a focus on ISAs, pensions and tax-efficient gifting, to keep their finances aligned with changing circumstances and goals.
Page 8: The issue of lost pension pots, why this happens when changing jobs, and the practical steps your employees can take to trace, consolidate and safeguard their retirement savings.
Maximising the pension allowance before the tax year end
Inheritance planning
Navigating the Autumn Budget 2025
Decoding recent pension changes
As the cost of private healthcare continues to rise, many employers are under pressure to balance affordability with meaningful employee cover.
To support HR and benefits teams navigating this challenge, Secondsight is hosting a free 30-minute webinar focused on practical, creative ways to manage the cost of private healthcare plans without undermining employee value.
This session will share 10 actionable approaches that employers can explore within real-world corporate healthcare arrangements.
How each approach could impact employer costs
The potential implications for employees, including access to care and treatment options
Where these ideas tend to work best in claims-rated healthcare plans
The focus is on practical insight, not theory, and ideas you can take away and explore further within your own organisation.
HR and people teams
Reward and benefits professionals
Employers with claims-rated private healthcare plans
The session will be led by John Dean, Head of Health and Protection at Secondsight. John is one of the industry’s most recognised voices in corporate healthcare, with over 20 years’ experience advising employers and supporting benefits strategy.
February 5, 2026 | 10:00 am - 10:30 am
Book your place here
On March 8th, 2026, International Women’s Day marks 115 years of global action, advocacy, and progress toward gender equality, recognising the achievements of women while continuing the movement that began with early campaigns for fair pay and safe working conditions and has grown into a worldwide call for lasting change.
Find out more
More than 60% of employers have unseen auto-enrolment compliance risks. Could you be one of them?
Next in-person session: Thursday 19th March, London35 minutes. Hosted by Neal Shepherd and Mark Bingham.Designed for employers in London and the surrounding areas.
Find out more here
Free Wills Month, beginning March 2nd, is a UK charity campaign that lets people aged 55 and over have a simple Will written or updated for free by participating solicitors across England and Wales, helping make sure their wishes are legally recorded and giving them the option (but not obligation) to leave a gift to charity.
