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29 Apr 2016
by Rebecca Patton

At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week

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 22-28 April 

L&G: City bosses get paid too much
Money Marketing: Legal & General chief executive Nigel Wilson says City executives get paid “too much” after a report from the Executive Remuneration Working Group called for wide-ranging changes to executive pay. Read story

Out in the cold: Are providers doing enough to protect the vulnerable?
Money Marketing: Pension providers run the risk of “cutting loose” vulnerable savers if they do not find better ways of monitoring signs of cognitive decline in ageing customers. Read story

Women undersave due to childcare, but AE carer credits unlikely
Pensions Expert: Women do not save enough for pensions due to the persistence of the breadwinner model and a lack of confidence in their own financial aptitude, a new study shows. Despite this, a proposal to introduce carer credits to auto-enrolment was rebuffed by the pensions minister this week. Read story

Govt banks £350m in lifetime allowance charges
Money Marketing: The Government has collected £353m in tax charges paid by people breaking the lifetime allowance limit, leading to renewed calls to scrap the penalty. Read story

Swindon Town Football Club fined for auto-enrolment non-compliance
Employee Benefits: The Pensions Regulator has fined Swindon Town Football Company (STFC) for not fulfilling its pensions auto-enrolment duties. Read story

43% of female students are confident that gender will not impact pay and reward
Employee Benefits: Less than half (43%) of female student respondents are confident that their gender will have no bearing on pay and reward in their future careers, according to research by the 30% Club and KPMG. Read story

Advisers hit out at Aegon Sipp property transfers delay
Money Marketing: Advisers have been left frustrated by delays in Sipp property transfers as a result of Aegon’s year long administration switch from Capita to James Hay. Read story

Johnson’s blueprint for Workplace Isa
Corporate Adviser: Employees should be given the freedom to choose whether their auto-enrolment contributions go into their occupational pension, a Lifetime Isa or a new Workplace Isa, under radical proposals outlined by Centre for Policy Studies fellow Michael Johnson. Read story

Average worker now over 41
Corporate Adviser: The average age of a UK worker is now over 41 and the 50-plus cohort will become the largest in the workforce in the next decade, but the rise is not keeping pace with the rise in life expectancy according to analysis of new Office for National Statistics data. Read story

AMII to lobby Govt on ‘illogical’ IPT on PMI
Corporate Adviser: The Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries (AMII) is to lobby the Government for health insurance to be exempt from Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) following two increases in the tax in less than a year. Read story

Abolish pension tax relief and remove NI relief on employer contributions – Johnson
Corporate Adviser: NICs relief on employer contributions should be stopped saving up to £10.8bn a year, while abolishing tax relief would save the Government £14bn a year says CPS fellow Michael Johnson. Read story

Jaguar Land Rover revs up global credit
Pensions Expert: Jaguar Land Rover has decided to alter the strategic asset allocation in its two pension schemes by boosting its exposure to global credit, while decreasing assets held for the purposes of matching changes in the fund’s liabilities. Read story

Consultations to flesh out details of secondary annuity market
Pensions Expert: The Financial Conduct Authority and HM Revenue & Customs have both launched consultations to shed further light on how the secondary annuity market could work, but questions were raised about the projected level of take-up. Read story

Roboadvisers: Your new benefits tool
HR Magazine: 'Roboadvice’ could be a great way to give employees advice on even tricky subjects. Read story

FCA sets out revamped pension freedom rules
Money Marketing: The FCA has published new rules reacting to the first year of the Government’s pension freedom reforms. Read story

Uber agrees $84m settlement for employee status cases
Employee Benefits: Taxi organisation Uber has agreed to a settlement for class-action lawsuits disputing the status of Uber drivers as independent contractors. Read story

Chiswick Park Enjoy-Work hosts eco event for 8,000 employees
Employee Benefits: Organisations located at Chiswick Park marked Earth Day on Friday 22 April with a lunchtime event for the 8,000 employees on site. Read story

63% have begun preparing for gender pay reporting requirements
Employee Benefits: Almost two-thirds (63%) of employer respondents have taken action to prepare for the introduction of compulsory gender pay reporting, according to research by Willis Towers Watson. Read story

Employer or employee: who is responsible for financial awareness?
Reward Guide: Increasing numbers of employees are concerned that they will never be able to afford to retire. Whose responsibility is it to help staff better plan for their future? Read story

Cost of advice no longer a barrier to employees
Reward Guide: Government tax relief to help employees access financial advice. Read story

PPF and TPR in talks over BHS pension scheme
Professional Pensions: The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has confirmed it is working with The Pensions Regulator (TPR) to secure the best outcome for BHS scheme members after the retailer entered administration today. Read story

BBC launches audit into scheme contribution guidance
Professional Pensions: The BBC has launched an audit of its pension scheme after complaints about confusing guidance on its website. Read story

Men earn more when they become fathers, says study
People Management: Men who become fathers are paid almost a quarter (21 per cent) more than their childless co-workers, according to a TUC analysis of 17,000 people’s earnings – but working mothers receive 11 per cent less than women without children. Read story

Webb – Increase NI and nudge self-employed into pensions
Corporate Adviser: Self-employed workers should be nudged into retirement saving by increasing their NI contributions and then allowing them to divert that increase into a private pension plan says Royal London. Read story

Resilience training key to wellbeing – MetLife
Corporate Adviser: Resilience training should play a major role in helping organisations to support employees and to boost productivity says MetLife. Read story

Widows bulk-switches to pension freedoms defaults
Corporate Adviser: Scottish Widows is bulk switching its workplace pension customers into a pension freedoms-friendly default fund, away from lifestyle defaults targeting annuity purchase. Read story

Employers warned of Lisa misbuying risk
Corporate Adviser: Employers could face future regulatory action if Lifetime Isa is offered alongside pension without the pros and cons of each being fully explained, trustees and HR professionals have been warned.

DB transfer analysis doubles
Corporate Adviser: The number of defined benefit scheme members researching transfers through advisers has more than doubled since pension freedoms were introduced, according to pension and investment software provider Selectapension. Read story

Are mastertrusts financially stable?
Pensions Expert: A couple of years ago Andrew Warwick-Thompson, executive director of defined contribution and public service pension schemes at the Pensions Regulator, was quoted as saying: “There are 70 mastertrusts and that’s 60 too many”. Read story

Our priorities and approach – an update from the Pensions Regulator
Pensions Expert: Our recently published corporate plan identifies 10 priorities for the period up to 2019. It outlines how we will retain a flexible approach, allowing us to adapt to a changing pensions landscape and help ensure savers receive the retirement income they expect. Read story

Regular voluntary overtime should be considered ‘normal’ when calculating holiday pay, judge rules
People Management: A first instance case is about to add ‘fuel to the fire’, says employment lawyer. Read story

TPR to provide GPP list to help firms comply with AE
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is to publish a list of group personal pensions (GPPs) open to any employers seeking to comply with their automatic enrolment (AE) duties. Read story

More than two thirds of over-55s will not cash in annuities
Professional Pensions: Two thirds of people aged over 55 who have bought an annuity (68%) would be unlikely to cash it in despite being able to from next year. Read story

University of Lincoln introduces car salary sacrifice scheme
Employee Benefits: The university, which employs 1,600 core members of staff, is introducing the scheme to further enhance its employee benefits offering. Read story

Zonal Retail Data Systems to launch discounts for staff
Employee Benefits: Zonal Retail Data Systems is to launch a new benefits platform and retail discount programme for its employees. Read story

59% say CEOs are focused on finances rather than their employees
Employee Benefits: More than half (59%) of respondents believe that chief executive officers (CEOs) are focused on finances rather than employees, according to research by Coleman Parkes and the Workforce Institute at Kronos. Read story

A third of companies lack gender pay gap data
HR Magazine: Just under two-thirds (63%) have already taken action to prepare for the new reporting legislation. Read story

Pick and mix benefits case studies
HR Magazine: Allowing staff to pick and mix benefits can help employers stand out. Here's how to make it work. Read story

Scapa reduces liabilities by £4m via mortality study
Pensions Expert: Adhesive tape manufacturer Scapa has reduced its defined benefit liability by £4m, having undertaken a mortality study across its pensioner population as part of a holistic approach to managing risk across the scheme’s assets and long-term obligations. Read story

Making the Lisa work
Pensions Expert: The Lifetime Isa announced last month has raised fears that lower earners will opt out of auto-enrolment, seduced by the Lisa’s greater accessibility and apparent simplicity. Read story

MPs summon Green to give evidence on BHS
Professional Pensions: Sir Philip Green has been called to give evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee for its inquiry into the British Home Stores (BHS) scheme. Read story

How Johnson Press reduced liabilities through medical underwriting
Professional Pensions: Johnston Press has revealed how it cut its pension liabilities by £53m through a medically underwritten study to review assumed life expectancy of its members. Read story

Quarter of a million use pension freedoms in year one
Money Marketing: Around a quarter of a million people accessed their pensions using the Government’s freedom rules in the first year of the reforms. Read story

Crabb to meet Waspi campaigners
Money Marketing: New Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Stephen Crabb is to meet the Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaigners next week. Read story

BHS pension scheme and liabilities under scrutiny from regulator and parliamentary committee
Employee Benefits: The Work and Pensions Committee is to investigate the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) and the potential impact of the BHS pension liabilities upon this. Read story

60% do not measure success of pensions communication campaigns
Employee Benefits: Less than two-thirds (60%) of pension decision-maker respondents do not measure the success of pensions communication campaigns, according to research by Capita Employee Benefits. Read story

72% have not asked for a pay rise in last three years
Employee Benefits: Almost three-quarters (72%) of respondents have not asked for a pay rise in the last three years, according to research by recruitment consultancy Randstad. Read story

UK Plc has a long way to go in creating a wellbeing culture
HR Magazine: While employers understand the importance of talent, UK plc still has a while to go in becoming a wellbeing culture. Read story

Where next for employee benefits?
HR Magazine: The employee benefits landscape is changing, with a broadening out of what might be defined as such. Read story

TPR to promote approved GPP list
Corporate Adviser: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is planning to publish a list of group personal pensions (GPPs) open to any employers seeking to comply with their automatic enrolment duties. Read story

Aviva opens doors to allcomers for AE
Corporate Adviser: Aviva is the first GPP provider to come out and say it aims to be incorporated on The Pension Regulator’s approved auto-enrolment provider list. Read story

TPR escalating penalties issued over auto-enrol failures quadruples
Money Marketing: The Pensions Regulator issued 96 escalating penalty notices to employers that failed to comply with auto-enrolment rules between January and March, four times the amount in the previous quarter. Read story

One in three advisers carry out insistent client transfers
Money Marketing: Nearly one in three (29 per cent) advisers will advise and transact defined benefit to defined contribution transfers for insistent clients, FCA data has revealed. Read story

City faces losing millennials amid bonus complaints
Fund strategy: Asset managers and City firms face losing millennial workers as they are unhappy with bonus payouts, new research finds. Read story

Capital One and McDonald’s named Best Workplaces UK
Employee Benefits: Capital One, Cisco UK, Goodman Masson and McDonald’s Restaurants are among the organisations that have been named as 2016 UK Best Workplaces by the Great Place to Work Institute. Read story

Leeds Beckett University launches wellbeing challenge
Employee Benefits: Leeds Beckett University has launched a six-week health and wellbeing challenge. Read story

39% view investment in employee wellbeing as too expensive
Employee Benefits: More than a third (39%) of employer respondents feel that investing in employee wellbeing is too expensive, according to research by Barnett Waddingham. Read story

Public sector workers ‘fitter' than national average
Cover Magazine: CS Healthcare has revealed that 50% of public sector workers had a BMI regarded as ‘high' comparing favourably with national population averages of 62%. Read story

Measuring returns on EAP investment
HR Magazine: EAPs are becoming natural for employers, but how can you measure their impact? Research attempts to find out. Read story

Alphabet sees the benefits of staff involvement in motivation strategy
Employee Benefits: Fleet vehicle business Alphabet encourages staff to help shape its social and motivation initiatives through what it calls Alphabet Proactive Experts, or APEs. Read story

Creating pensions dashboard ’depends on political will’
Professional Pensions: Establishing a pension dashboard in the UK is a question of political will and not technical details according to a Dutch expert. Read story

Government knew NLW would have ‘negative employment consequences’, employers claim
People Management: Chancellor faces backlash as more evidence emerges of changes to staff terms and conditions. Read story

Gender Pay: Are HR on track?
Reward Guide
: Companies have the required tools but there are still gaps in the process. Read story