Your quick-read round up of the reward and benefits stories appearing in the press in the past seven days.The headlines you might have missed between 25 June-2 July 2015.Why Manchester Airports Group is taking up the retirement freedomsProfessional Pensions: The retirement freedoms could place increasing demands on employers. Read storyAll change: How the Railways Pension Scheme has transformed its approach to investmentProfessional Pensions: How the £21bn Railways Pension Scheme (RPS) has transformed its approach to investment over the past 18 months. Read storyNorthern Ireland case considers voluntary overtime in holiday pay calculationsCIPP: Another case in the ongoing saga of holiday pay calculation comes from Northern Ireland where a tribunal conceded that there is nothing in principle to stop voluntary overtime being included within the calculation of holiday pay. Read story Nine lessons from the UK's healthiest workplacesHR magazine: Here's what some of the most forward-thinking firms are using to keep their people happy and healthy. Read storyNICE guidance puts senior management at the heart of workplace wellbeingCover: The body which develops clinical guidelines for the NHS has published guidance to support employers in creating healthy workplaces which will boost productivity. Read storyJust 6% see work-life balance as a priorityEmployee Benefits: Just 6% of HR directors say work-life balance is a priority for their department, according to research by executive coaching provider Morgan Redwood. Read storyOpenbet sees high voluntary benefits take-upWorkplace Savings & Benefits: Openbet has revealed its voluntary benefits portal, launched alongside its flexible benefits platform, has received high employee engagement. Read storyHow the voluntary benefits market is changingWorkplace Savings & Benefits: The UK voluntary benefits market has been stable for some time but that could be changing. Read storyTUC calls for same-sex parity on survivor pensionsPensions Expert: One in four defined benefit schemes do not treat same-sex and opposite-sex couples equally on survivor benefits and the TUC is pressing government to close the gap, which could cost around £3.3bn. Read storyTowry revives plans to floatMoney Marketing: National advice firm Towry is reconsidering a plan to float on the stockmarket, with insiders valuing the company at up to £800m. Read storyNest reveals its blueprint for pension freedomsMoney Marketing: Its proposals for post-retirement portfolios centre on three strands: an income drawdown fund, a cash lump sum fund, and a later life protected income fund. Read storyAge to be measured in BITC Diversity and Wellbeing BenchmarkHR magazine: The benchmark allows organisations to supply metrics to determine their performance on gender, ethnicity, and now age, and compare themselves to others. Read storyPrice Bailey staff rewarded with 25,000 sharesWorkplace Savings & Benefits: Staff with more than one year's service will receive 25,000 shares, valued at approximately £250 - a total investment of around £75,000. Read storyFit for Work service completes rollout in Wales Workplace Savings & Benefits: The service offers occupational health support in the form of return to work plans for staff who have been, or are expected to be, off work for at least four weeks. Read storyNest eyes non-advised income drawdown with guarantees solutionCorporate Adviser: Nest has launched a blueprint for a core strategy to meet the freedom and choice reforms that envisages mass market income drawdown and gradual purchase of secure income. Read storyCapital One develops proposition to become a destination employerEmployee Benefits: Capital One has implemented schemes to help build employee engagement and has developed a culture to help the organisation become a destination employer. Read storyTowers Watson and Willis in £11.5bn mergerCorporate Adviser: Willis Group and Towers Watson are merging in an £11.5bn merger that will create a combined global consultancy named Willis Towers Watson. Read storySky uses film imagery to increase flexible benefits take upEmployee Benefits: Sky has increased the take up of its flexible benefits by more than 30% following the introduction of new communication techniques. Read story59% unaware of employer pension contributionsEmployee Benefits: Some 59% of employees are unaware of how much their current employer contributes towards their pension, according to research from life insurance, pensions and asset management provider Aegon. Read storyWhat mandatory gender pay reporting means for employersPeople Management: New regulations requiring larger employers in the private and third sectors to publish details of their gender pay gap are due to be in place by March 2016. Read story Three-quarters of employees stressed by holidayHR magazine: Almost three-quarters (73%) of employees feel stressed ahead of taking annual leave, according to research from the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM). Read storyWhy the Willis, Towers Watson merger won’t be the lastEmployee Benefits News: The merger is indicative of the industry’s focus on offering a more comprehensive suite of insurance, benefit advising and professional services to a wider customer base. Read storyCourt rules on voluntary overtime in holiday pay Employee Benefits: In the case of Patterson v Castlereagh Borough Council, Mr Patterson brought the claim forward on the basis that the calculation of his holiday pay should have included pay for overtime hours that he volunteered to work. Read storyIBM granted appeal against pension judgementEmployee Benefits: At the time, the technology firm said it would seek to appeal the decision in the case of IBM vs Dagleish, which it ‘respectfully’ disagreed with, according to a letter to members from its director of HR Anne Conroy. Read storyHigh Court closes two firms over pension savings scamEmployee Benefits: The High Court has wound up two organisations for operating an £11.9 million misleading pensions liberation scheme. Read storyOTS expects trivial benefits exemption to be resurrectedWorkplace Savings & Benefits: The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) expects the exemption for trivial benefits in kind to be re-introduced in 2016. Read storyTribunal fees causing fall in HR complianceWorkplace Savings & Benefits: HR departments are cutting back on compliance following the introduction of tribunal fees while trade unions are becoming stronger and more militant, an employment lawyer has warned. Read storyHMRC culls thousands of schemes from overseas pensions listMoney Marketing: HMRC has removed thousands of schemes from its list of recognised overseas pension schemes as new rules on early access to savings bite. Read storyChildcare voucher providers will not challenge Supreme Court ruling allowing tax-free childcare to proceedWorkplace Savings & Benefits: Voucher providers will not be appealing further a Supreme Court ruling that threw-out their challenge to the government’s tax-free childcare (TFC) scheme. Read storyBritish Army to offer flexible-working arrangementsEmployee Benefits: The British Army is to offer troops the option of flexible working from 3 September in a bid to double its female workforce. Read storyBackdated limit on holiday pay claims takes effectEmployee Benefits: Employees bringing pay claims at employment tribunals from today (1 July) onwards will only be able to claim for unpaid wages for up to two years. Read story50% find pensions terminology confusingEmployee Benefits: Its third annual Employee insight report, which surveyed 3,001 UK workers, also found that half (50%) of respondents find pensions related terminology complicated and confusing. Read story65% would adapt lifestyle for healthy later lifeEmployee Benefits: Just over a third (35%) of office workers do an hour or less of physical exercise a week, according to research by charity Age UK and healthcare provider Bupa. Read storyFCA launches pension freedoms auditMoney Marketing: The FCA has written to the chief executives of all pension providers as part of an investigation into the roll out of the pension freedoms. Read storyAgencies up scams fight as over-55s targetedMoney Marketing: Citizens Advice and Trading Standards Services are leading an awareness campaign over July under the slogan ‘Don’t be rushed. Don’t be hushed’. Read storyEight pensions basics for HR professionalsPersonnel Today: The pensions auto-enrolment process may be well under way, but there are still a number of reforms due to take place in the near future. Read storyWomen on maternity leave must keep childcare voucher benefitsPersonnel Today: It is discriminatory to make employees leave a childcare voucher scheme while on maternity leave, according to an employment tribunal. Read storyTax-free childcare rollout delayed until 2017Workplace Savings & Benefits: Childcare voucher providers have won a two year stay of execution with schemes remaining open following a delay to the government’s tax-free childcare programme. Read storyCIPD admits importance of pay transparencyWorkplace Savings & Benefits: The Chartered Institute or Personnel and Development (CIPD) has told employers that pay transparency is important, but that they need to be careful when implementing it. Read storyFall in employees likely to stay because of benefitsCover: The proportion of employees saying they were more likely to stay with an employer if they had good benefits has fallen to 66%, from 74% in 2013, a Capita Employee Benefits report has found. Read storyGovt eyes Pension Wise expansionMoney Marketing: The Government is considering expanding the eligibility criteria for new guidance service Pension Wise just three months after its launch. Read storyControversial payoff for former Thomas Cook CEO goes aheadPeople Management: Holiday firm Thomas Cook has given former chief executive Harriet Green £5.6 million payoff despite a backlash over the way the company dealt with the parents of two children who died of carbon monoxide poisoning at one of its villas in Corfu. Read storyEAT decides type 2 diabetes controlled by diet is not a disabilityPeople Management: A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in the case Metroline Travel v Stoute suggests it will be difficult for those with type 2 diabetes (or some other impairment) to show that the condition, in itself, constitutes a disability if they can eliminate its adverse effects by following a healthy, balanced diet. Read storyTPR to probe schemes on DC transfer proceduresProfessional Pensions: The survey will be carried out across a sample of schemes to inform the government's upcoming consultation on tackling excessive early exit fees in an attempt to develop the transfer process. Read storyHMRC culls QROPS list leaving solitary Australian optionRetirement Planner: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has updated its list of qualifying recognised oversea pension schemes (QROPS) leaving just a single Australian scheme on its books. Read storyPensions auto-transfers under threat as experts lament archaic systemsMoney Marketing: Pension transfers stuck in a “time warp” are set to come under the spotlight as the Government launches an investigation into blockages to the radical new freedoms. Read storyTransparency Task Force sets out stallCorporate Adviser: The Transparency Task Force, set up by Andy Agathangelou, intends to focus on a broad spectrum of issues ranging from transaction costs to executive pay. Read story
