Employment law SOS: rewarding improvement ideas

Employers can choose to implement a reward programme for only one section of their workforce. However, such implementation may leave you vulnerable to claims of discrimination from non-eligible employees. If, for example, your office staff are primarily female and the shopfloor workers primarily male, introducing a reward scheme in which only the shopfloor workers are eligible to participate could leave you open to allegations of indirect sex discrimination. An employer would probably be able to justify such potential indirect discrimination by asserting that the rationale for limited introduction was that it was only seeking to innovate in the area of production, so limiting the reward scheme to shopfloor workers was 'a proportionate means of achieving this legitimate aim'. However, the potential for a negative employee relations backlash due to selective implementation might outweigh the benefits of introducing the scheme. Key to implementing an effective reward scheme is simplicity of operation and clear communication. Although cash will usually be the most popular form of reward, other types of reward could include additional holiday entitlement, vouchers or accumulation of points which can ultimately be exchanged for products such as meals or days out. Any financial reward you decide to provide under a suggestion scheme will be treated as a benefit in kind and subject to tax and national insurance, unless the operation of the reward scheme complies with specific exemption conditions set by HM Revenue and Customs.