Finance giant Aviva has announced one-off payments to staff after acknowledging that the cost of living was a worry for many of its employees. The payments will range from £300 to £1,000 for employees earning up to £35,000.
The company said in a message to staff: "We've been thinking about what we can do to help our people, and so today we're announcing that we're giving our colleagues who earn £35,000 or less a one-off payment in October to help with rising energy costs. While we recognise that this won't benefit everyone, we want to focus the payment where we believe it will have the biggest impact.
"The one-off payment is based on salary and subject to normal deductions such as tax and national insurance. If you're eligible, you'll see the payment in your October payslip. Thresholds and payments based on full time equivalent - payments will be pro-rated for part time colleagues.
"We hope that this one-off payment goes some way to helping a large number of our colleagues this winter. We're proud to pay our people the Real Living Wage, plus 8% to pay into their pension.
"The Real Living Wage will be reviewed in September and we'll adjust our salary ranges from January (ahead of the normal April reward review). In response to your feedback, we're also removing the £3 a day charge in our car parks in Norwich, Sheffield, York, Leatherhead and Birmingham from July 1, 2022. Any final parking charges for June will be taken from your August pay."
Union Unite called on the company to commit to a more substantial rise in salaries for all staff.
National officer Caren Evans said: "The campaign to give urgent help to the lowest paid across Aviva has borne some results today, but this doesn't go far enough and Unite will continue to press for the meaningful support the workforce deserve. Aviva made £1.63 billion in profits in 2021 and has announced a payment of £4.75 billion back to shareholders.
"So Unite has no doubt that Aviva can afford to support its staff through the cost of living crisis. Aviva workers deserve a fair share of the pie."
