At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week
The headlines you might have missed between 3 July - 9 July 2015
Flexible working key to solving sickness absence
Workplace savings and benefits: Employers have been urged to adopt more flexible working practices after figures showed one in five workers called in sick due to unmanageable stress. Read story
Younger generations turn to benefits
Pay and Benefits: Benefits are becoming more important than cash among younger employees, according to Jimmy McLoughlin, deputy director of Policy at the Institute of Directors. Read story
FCA reveals Pension Wise policing plans
Money Marketing: The FCA has revealed how it will be policing the organisations providing government-backed guidance service Pension Wise. Read story
Accountants issue scheme guide to revised recommended practice rules
Pensions Expert: The Pensions Research Accountants Group has issued a practical guide to help scheme practitioners fulfil new reporting requirements following last year’s revisions to the statement of recommended practice. Read story
Findel forks out £2.3m to repair equalisation error
Pensions Expert: Findel Group Pension Scheme has paid more than £2.3m in past-service costs to make good an error in which a member benefit equalisation exercise was implemented incorrectly. Read story
Environment Agency fund shares five-point ESG selection test
Pensions Expert: Environment Agency Pension Fund has detailed the five-point criteria it uses to assess managers for its responsible investments. Read story
ABInBev introduces financial education
Employee Benefits: ABInBev, the world’s largest brewer, has introduced a financial wellness programme for its 1,000 UK employees. Read story
Mintel research: Holiday most important perk for staff
Employee Benefits: Around two-thirds (65%) of workers consider flexible-working options to be the most important staff benefit. Read story
Nest appoints new chief executive officer
Employee Benefits: Nest Corporation has appointed Helen Dean chief executive officer. Read story
Qantas pay £43m in bonuses to staff
HR Grapevine: Qantas Airways, Australia’s national airline, is set to pay staff a share of £43million after the company managed an extraordinary financial turnaround. Read story
KPMG calculate actual cost of nationwide Living Wage
HR Grapevine: KPMG has calculated the actual impact of a national adoption of the Living Wage. Read story
Sainsbury’s and M&S guilty of pay disparity
HR Grapevine: Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer have come under fire from shareholders over the disparity in pay between executives and staff. Read story
Minimum wage falls far short of a decent standard of living, charity finds
People Management: Single people on the national minimum wage (NMW) only earn 70 per cent of what the public believes is needed for a reasonable standard of living. Read story
Aetna agrees to buy Humana for $37B in cash, stock
Employee Benefit News: Aetna agreed to buy Humana for $37 billion in cash and stock to broaden its health care coverage. Read story
Corporate PMI market is ‘fundamentally broken'
Workplace savings and benefits: The corporate private medical insurance (PMI) market is "unsustainable" and "fundamentally broken" in its current format. Read story
Pay positioning shifts
Pay and Benefits: Employers are putting less emphasis on top pay rates despite economic improvements, says the CIPD. Read story
How Hargreaves calculates doubling of pension freedoms tax take
Corporate Advisor: The Treasury’s tax take is likely to be nearer to £700m higher this year as a result of the pension freedom reforms, more than double the £320m extra originally forecast. Read story
Balreed boosts cancer awareness at work
Employee Benefits: The programme, provided by HealthScreen UK, offered male staff over the age of 40 a free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test following a workshop. Read story
Ikea to raise minimum hourly salaries to almost $12 in the US
Employee Benefits: Ikea will increase its minimum hourly wage for its US employees to $11.87, which is $4.62 above the US national minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Read story
49% offer performance-related reward
Employee Benefits: Less than half (49%) of respondents offered a performance-related reward, incentive or recognition scheme in 2014. Read story
83% opt to take entire pension pot in cash
Employee Benefits: Research has shown 83% of those that have taken up the new options have chosen to take all of their pension savings as cash. Read story
What is the most important staff perk?
HR Grapevine: New research says that two-thirds of workers consider flexible working to be the most important staff benefit. Read story
George and Harding scheme enters FAS after six-year fight
Professional Pensions: The Group Pension Scheme (G&H) has transferred into the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) after a lengthy battle to qualify for entry. Read story
TPR to employers: work collaboratively with trustees
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Regulator has published an employer guide emphasising the importance of a collaborative approach. Read story
Financial regulators publish accountability measures as banks strengthen bonus clawback
Workplace savings and benefits: Final rules have been published to improve individual accountability in the banking sector, following up laws on variable pay. Read story
Govt blocks data request on ‘under capacity’ Pension Wise
Money Marketing: Government officials have again refused to disclose information on how Pension Wise is functioning more than three months after it first launched. Read story
Ombudsman rejects complaint over blocked transfer to suspected scam scheme
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Ombudsman (PO) has dismissed a complaint against Royal London over its decision to turn down a transfer request into a suspected pension liberation scheme. Read story
Judges reject Nortel bond holders' appeal against multi-billion dollar pension payout
Professional Pensions: Judges in the US and Canada have rejected attempts by Nortel bond holders to overturn a ground-breaking decision. Read story
British Sugar introduces holiday trading
Employee Benefits: British Sugar has introduced holiday trading to its flexible benefits offering and is launching a salary sacrifice company car scheme this month. Read story
More staff are seeking pensions advice from employers
Employee Benefits: Over a third (37%) of employers believe that the pension freedoms have encouraged them to play a greater role in financially educating their employees. Read story
Cook serves up living wage to staff
Employee Benefits: Frozen food retailer Cook has become an accredited living wage employer. Read story
Employers not sold on Fit for Work service
Workplace savings and benefits: Employers remain largely unaware of the government’s Fit for Work service. Read story
Voluntary overtime can be included in holiday pay calculations
People Management: In the case of Patterson v Castlereagh Borough Council, the NI appeal court said there was no reason in principle why voluntary overtime should not be included in holiday pay. Read story
BUDGET STORIES
Treasury plans ‘radical’ pensions tax overhaul
Money marketing: The foundations of pensions tax system could be swept away under “radical” proposals announced by George Osborne in today’s Budget. Read story
Govt delays secondary annuities reforms
Money Marketing: The Government has delayed plans to introduce a secondary annuity market amid concerns about the impact rushing the reforms could have on savers. Read story
Govt to align pension input periods with tax year
Money marketing: The Government plans to align the period over which the amount of money saved into a pension is measured with the tax year. Read story
Govt extends pension tax relief cut
Money Marketing: The Government has expanded its expected reduction to pensions tax relief for people earning less than £150,000. Read story
Govt confirms Pension Wise expansion
Money Marketing: The Government has confirmed it will extend the Pension Wise guidance service to those aged 50 and above. Read story
Govt to monitor cost of salary sacrifice schemes
Money Marketing: The Government will “actively monitor” the impact of salary sacrifice schemes on tax receipts. Read story
National living wage announced
HR Magazine: Chancellor George Osborne has announced plans to introduce a national living wage in his emergency budget. Read story
Isas and pensions could be merged in 'radical change'
Corporate Advisor: Pensions could be transformed into something closer to an Isa structure, with tax relief on contributions removed. Read story
Public sector pay rises held at 1%
Workplace savings and benefits: Increases in pay for the UK’s 5.3 million public sector workers have been frozen at just 1% for the next four years. Read story
Vehicle excise duty to be reformed
Employee Benefits: Chancellor George Osborne has announced that vehicle excise duty (VED) will be reformed in his Summer Budget 2015. Read story
Lifetime and annual allowances reduced
Employee Benefits: The lifetime allowance for pension contributions will be reduced from £1.25 million to £1 million from 6 April. Read story
Chancellor hikes insurance premium tax
Corporate Advisor: Insurance premium tax will be increased to 9.5 per cent from next November the Chancellor has confirmed in today’s Budget. Read story
Government introduces tax break for financial advice on DB to DC transfer exercises
Workplace savings and benefits: The government has introduced an income tax exemption for financial advice provided as part of employer-led transfer exercises from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) pension schemes. Read story
IPT rise will be ‘big leap’ for employer PMI bills
Workplace savings and benefits: The more than 50% increase in insurance premium tax (IPT) could cause employers to cut back on private healthcare provision while also making healthcare trusts more attractive. Read story
Government announces transitional rules for annual allowance following Budget changes - UPDATED
Professional Pensions: The 2015-16 tax year will be split into two mini tax years for the purposes of the annual allowance as part of transitional rules. Read story
Government eyes scrapping tax relief on pension contributions
Professional Pensions: The government has launched a broad-ranging consultation reviewing pensions tax relief. Read story