At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 3-9 February 2017
The headlines you might have missed between 3-9 February 2017.
Treasury confirms £1,500 pension advice allowance
Corporate Adviser: Pension investors will be able to withdraw up to £1,500 from their pension pots tax-free to pay for financial advice, the Government has confirmed today. Read story
World Cancer Day: ‘Group risk key to workplace cancer support’
Corporate Adviser: Cancer is the most prevalent cause for claims on all three of the main types of employer-sponsored financial protection policies, group income rotection (GIP), group life assurance (GLA) and group critical illness (GCI), Group Risk Development says. Read story
Average gender pay gap for benefits professionals is £24,100
Employee Benefits: The Salary survey 2017, which surveyed 249 HR, benefits and reward professionals in November-December 2016, also found that male respondents earn an average basic annual salary of £78,600, compared to female respondents’ average basic salary of £54,500. Read story
Government sets out strategy to support older employees to stay in work
Employee Benefits: The government has launched a new strategy to promote the benefits of remaining in work for longer, which includes encouraging employers to increase the number of older employees within their workforces. Read story
Televerde gains living wage accreditation
Employee Benefits: Global marketing and sales organisation Televerde has been accredited as a living wage employer, committing to pay all employees a minimum of £8.45 an hour. Read story
Hospitality workers most likely to miss out on pensions auto-enrolment
People Management: More than 3,500 firms fined by Pensions Regulator in last three months of 2016 for failing to fulfil auto-enrolment obligations. Read story
DeVere UK ceases transfer analysis reports after FCA guidelines
Professional Pensions: DeVere UK has agreed to stop transfer analysis reports after a meeting with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Read story
Government's Brexit White Paper promises 14 weeks of paid holiday
HR Grapevine: In or out, most employees who go to work five days a week will still receive their standard 28 days holiday a year. While 14 weeks’ holiday would be fantastic, one can only imagine the legions of problems that would swarm employers if this were true. Read story
Donald Trump allegedly wants female staff to 'dress like women’
HR Grapevine: According to the report, anonymous sources allegedly spoke to Axios, claiming that Trump believes dresses to be the preferred workplace attire (for women), but if female workers chose to wear jeans then they must "look neat and orderly." Read story
Old age variant gives SPA of 74
Corporate Adviser: State pension age could rise to 74 by 2060, when there could be more than a million people over 100 years old, population projections by the Office for Budget Responsibility suggest. Read story
Employer-arranged pensions advice can be combined with pensions advice allowance
Employee Benefits: The government has confirmed that the incoming pensions advice allowance can be used alongside the tax exemption for employer-arranged pensions advice, enabling employees to access up to £1,000 of tax-advantaged financial advice in a tax year. Read story
64% of Canadian staff feel their employer supports their physical health
Employee Benefits: Less than two-thirds (64%) of respondents in Canada feel their employer supports their physical health, according to research by Sun Life Financial. Read story
Employers urged to hire one million extra over-50s
People Management: Government says shortage of younger entrants to labour market – and possible effects of Brexit – could lead to talent crunch. Read story
Is consolidation really the way forward?
Professional Pensions: There is much discussion on how consolidation will bring real benefits to schemes but Hilary Salt is not so sure. Read story
Mind the gender gap
Reward Guide: With new gender pay reporting regulations being put in place in April 2017, Kimberley Dondo finds that over half are not prepared to monitor this. Read story
Birmingham council leader slams LGPS charges as ‘national disgrace’
Corporate Adviser: The leader of Birmingham City Council is calling on the West Midlands Local Government Pension Fund (WMPF) to stop using external investment managers after a Centre for Policy Studies report hit out at ‘excessive’ charges across the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Read story
Hays highlights importance of wellbeing through benefits proposition
Employee Benefits: Global recruitment firm Hays has taken steps to ensure its benefits proposition is valued by, and appeals to, all employees. Read story
The Taxback Group launches global health and wellbeing programme
Employee Benefits: Global tax and finance organisation The Taxback Group has launched a new health and wellbeing programme for staff across its 33 international office locations. Read story
37% receive recognition for good work
Employee Benefits: Just over a third (37%) of respondents receive praise and recognition when they do good work, according to research by engagement consultancy Dragonfish. Read story
TPR 'close to interfering in markets' and needs role ‘diminished'
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has been heavily criticised in a damning indictment of the state of UK pension regulation. Read story
Pension policy is 'ad-hoc' and needs simplifying, report says
Professional Pensions: Pension legislation and regulation need a radical overhaul in order to reduce complexity and communicate a coherent message, according to a report. Read story
More people than ever in insecure work, claims TUC
People Management: Growth of gig economy sees use of seasonal and casual contracts rise dramatically, but experts are divided on the implications. Read story
FCA issues suitability warning over 500 DB transfers
Money Marketing: The FCA has issued a warning notice to an individual after their firms advised more than 700 defined benefit scheme members about the merits of transferring to a defined contribution pension. Read story
Actual and perceived costs key barriers to GIP – Grid research
Corporate Adviser: Actual and perceived costs are the main barriers to employers offering group income protection (GIP), with awareness of the product and incentives key to increasing coverage, research from Group Risk Development has found. Read story
Final draft regulations bring further clarity to gender pay gap reporting
Employee Benefits: The government published final draft regulations for gender pay gap reporting in December 2016, providing further clarification around the information that employers will have to report. Read story
Auto-enrolment review to consider how to widen workplace pension scope
Employee Benefits: On 12 December 2016, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed the key areas that will be tackled in the 2017 review of pensions auto-enrolment. Read story
Supreme Court ruling puts spotlight on death benefits for unmarried couples
Professional Pensions: A Supreme Court ruling could result in trustees having to review the way death benefits are awarded to surviving partners of unmarried couples. Read story
HMRC downplays industry cost of advice allowance
Money Marketing: The Government’s new pensions advice allowance will impose a “negligible” cost on providers and the Exchequer, a new policy paper says. Read story
Govt names the pensions experts leading auto-enrol review
Money Marketing: Standard Life pensions strategy head Jamie Jenkins has been appointed one of three chairs of the advisory group for the Government’s auto-enrolment review. Read story
CEO sets £40k minimum wage for all staff
HR Grapevine: Dan Price is the entrepreneurial businessman who decided to pay his staff a $70,000 (£56,700) minimum yearly wage – it earned him a book deal, as well as a company full of happy employees. Read story
20 best firms for staff perks
HR Grapevine: The benefits a workplace provides hold a strong influence over talent attraction, retention and of course, employee satisfaction – and there’s a good reason for perks, seeing as work is where we spend most of our time. Read story
70% of benefits professionals receive a cash bonus
Employee Benefits: This figure has remained relatively consistent since we first carried out this research in 2008. That year, 71% received a cash bonus, while 74% did so in 2014. Read story
Trust-based savers ‘worst hit’ by draconian MPAA cut
Corporate Adviser: The Treasury’s plan to introduce a money purchase annual allowance of £4,000 has been accused of penalising members of trust-based schemes and damaging pension freedoms’ ability to help older workers adapt to changing work patterns. Read story
Millennial men earn £12,500 less by 30 than Gen X
People Management: More men in low-paid work, while women have moved ‘overwhelmingly’ into higher-skilled jobs. Read story
NHS must get better at flexible working to compete with agencies, say experts
People Management: Staff still flocking to casual work despite agency cap; it ‘beggars belief’ that health service cannot offer same work-life balance as other employers. Read story
Field: AE review is missed opportunity for rate hikes
Professional Pensions: The government has blundered by failing to include rate hikes past 8% in its forthcoming review of automatic enrolment (AE), Frank Field has said. Read story
TPR spends £10m in external costs on nine anti-avoidance cases
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Regulator has spent more than £10m on external costs chasing nine employers to settle pension debts in major cases involving Lehman Brothers and BHS. Read story
Silentnight intervention costs TPR £1.4m in external costs
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has incurred around £1.4m of external costs during its anti-avoidance investigation of the Silentnight pension scheme. Read story
Proving the value of your reward
Reward Guide: Emerging from a recession of wage freezes, employers might be thinking that pay is the real kicker for employees in a better job market – but research from Bupa has shown that for the younger generations, reward and company values are more important. Read story
Court rules that woman can receive co-habiting partner’s workplace pension
Employee Benefits: The Supreme Court has ruled that an unmarried woman is entitled to receive payments from her co-habiting partner’s workplace pension scheme following his death. Read story
Jewson to increase pay to £7.80 an hour for staff aged over 21
Employee Benefits: Timber and building materials organisation Jewson is to increase the minimum rate of pay for UK-based staff aged 21-years-old or over to £7.80 an hour. Read story
50% do not understand the role of their employer or trustee in their retirement planning
Employee Benefits: Half (50%) of respondents do not understand the role and responsibilities of their employer or trustee when it comes to planning for their retirement, according to research by LV=. Read story