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29 May 2015
by Debi O'Donovan

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 21-28 May 2015.Bitcoin alternative DNotes launches world's first digital currency employee incentive benefits planDigital Journal: Employees need to have a DNotesVault account, and sign up with the link given to their employer, which requires only the employee’s e-mail used to register at DNotesVault. Read storyPIPA 2015: The winners revealed…Pensions Expert: Pensions Expert can announce the winners of the 16th annual Pension and Investment Provider Awards. Read storyTesco boss nets £300k pension windfall while cutting DB schemeWorkplace Savings & Benefits: The chief executive of Britain’s biggest retailer is expected to receive a pension contribution of more than £300,000 while pushing plans to close the firm’s defined benefit scheme for employees. Read storyTesco introduces bonus clawback measuresEmployee Benefits: Tesco has introduced new measures to allow it to claw back annual bonuses and performance share plan awards. Read storyKPMG rewards ‘unsung heroes' with paid leaveWorkplace Savings & Benefits: Professional service company KPMG has launched its first internal awards ceremony rewarding staff with paid leave and holiday vouchers. Read storyCorporate governance tops Unilever ESG agendaPensions Expert: Close to half of Unilever Pension Fund’s engagement activity in 2014 centred on corporate governance as wider trends emphasise environmental issues, calling into question the terms used when reporting such activity. Read storyTelent engages staff with pensions via default investment strategyEmployee Benefits: Technology service organisation Telent engaged its 1,600 employees with pensions and savings through its default investment strategy. Read storyTax-efficient ways to get workers fighting fitHR magazine: We all know that a healthier workforce is a more productive workforce. As well as generating a greater output in the working day, healthy employees should have fewer days off work. Read storyTwo-thirds of schemes offering pension freedoms Workplace Savings & Benefits: Two-thirds of defined contribution (DC) pension schemes are offering members the chance to access the freedom and choice reforms launched last month. Read storyHow to build financial resilience among lower-paid employeesWorkplace Savings & Benefits: Research shows that since the economic downturn low paid employees are suffering more than ever and desperately need to build up better financial buffers. Read storyScottish government pledges to improve productivity through living wageEmployee Benefits: The Scottish government has launched a voluntary code of conduct aimed at encouraging employers to improve employee productivity and diversity through measures such as paying the national living wage. Read storyMercer acquires executive reward firm Kepler AssociatesEmployee Benefits: Kepler, which has more than 20 employees, advises around 16% of FTSE 350 remuneration committees, as well as a growing number of firms overseas. Read storyAlign executive pay rises with workforces, says Legal & GeneralHR Grapevine: Executive pay rises should be in line with that of the general workforce, according to Legal & General Investment Management. Read storyDog Walkers earn more than teachers, nurses and police officersHR Grapevine: Dog walkers earn an average of £26,496 a year, taking home more than police, nurses and teachers, according to research conducted by Direct Line Pet Insurance. Read storyMember’s £100,000 fund trapped in suspected pension liberation schemeProfessional Pensions: A pension saver who transferred combined pots of £100,708 into a suspicious scheme has been unsuccessful in unlocking his funds. Read storyOne in four have done nothing to prepare for the end of contracting out Professional Pensions: A worrying number of defined benefit (DB) scheme sponsors appear under-prepared for the end of contracting out says Hymans Robertson. Read storyHigh Court rules Granada has to pay directors’ pensions top upEmployee Benefits: The High Court has ruled that a pensions top-up arrangement set up to provide security for unfunded pensions promises for four ex-directors at Granada Group did not require shareholder approval to be considered viable. Read storyQueen’s Speech announces doubling of free childcarePay & Benefits: Plans to double state-subsidised childcare for the working parents of three- and four-year-olds to 30 hours a week were set out in today's Queen’s Speech to the new parliament. Read storyInvestigating the impact of low payPay & Benefits: The Low Pay Commission (LPC) has planned a nationwide tour to collect evidence from businesses and workers for its next recommendations on the national minimum wage (NMW) and low pay. Read storyAlmost a third of employees receive no benefitsPay & Benefits: The number of employees who receive no workplace benefits has risen to almost a third, despite the economic upturn, a Canada Life Group survey has shown. Read storyWarning over death-in-service payoutsPay & Benefits: Death-in-service payouts risk being caught out by gradual reductions in the lifetime allowance, Steve Herbert of Jelf Employee Benefits has warned. Read storyEDF expects battle over generous staff perksHR Grapevine: The company hope to buy staff out of a deal dating back to 1946 which allows around 30,000 top level staff to work 32 hours a week or around 196 days a year. Read storyCEO to pay college tuition fees for employees' childrenHR Grapevine: Chieh Huang, boss of New York based tech-company Boxed, will be launching a not-for-profit foundation specifically for the project. Read storyQueen's Speech confirms legislation on tax and NIEmployee Benefits: The Queen has confirmed that legislation will be brought forward by government to ensure there are no rises on income tax, value-added tax (VAT) or national insurance for five years. Read storyLandmark boosts staff awareness of wellbeingEmployee Benefits: Landmark Information Group has boosted employees’ overall awareness of their health and wellbeing since introducing its genetically-guided wellness programme. Read storyAmbition hosts wellbeing week for staffEmployee Benefits: Ambition UK has hosted a wellbeing week for its 45 employees for the second year running. Read story47% not planning to use pension freedoms Employee Benefits: Almost half (47%) of UK adults are not planning to take advantage of the pension freedoms due to a lack of understanding, finance and confidence, according to research from Avacade Future Solutions. Read storyOmbudsman fines trustee over transfer delaysProfessional Pensions: A trustee has been fined £250 for failing to respond to requests for a pension transfer submitted by a fellow trustee of a plumber’s benefit plan known as the TPR Executive Pension Scheme. Read storyHigh Court throws out appeal against BBC pensionable pay cap Professional Pensions: The High Court has dismissed an appeal brought against the BBC after it limited the amount of pensionable pay on salary increases to 1% per year in a bid to plugs its scheme deficit. Read storyQueen’s speech: Triple lock guaranteed for five yearsProfessional Pensions: The government has pledged to keep the triple lock on state pension increases until 2020 and to leave pensioner benefits such as the winter fuel allowance untouched. Read storyPay deductions for strikeCIPP: How much pay can an employer withhold for a day's strike by a salaried striker? Read storyExclusivity clauses in zero-hour contracts finally bannedCIPP: Some two months after claiming that they had been banned, the government has prohibited the use of exclusivity clauses in zero-hours contracts. Read storyWhat impact is the National Minimum Wage having in your area?CIPP: The Low Pay Commission will be visiting areas across the UK to gather first hand evidence on the National Minimum Wage and low pay. Read storyL&G’s Adrian Boulding to join TisaMoney Marketing: Legal and General pensions strategy director Adrian Boulding is to join Tisa as policy strategy director when he leaves the insurer in August. Read storyCapita Employee Benefits selects RiskFirst’s PFaroe to enhance holistic consulting approachBusinessWire: The agreement means that over a third of UK DB schemes now have an advisor using PFaroe. Read storyEmployers wasting free benefits worth £100 per employeeWorkplace Saving & Benefits: Employers are “hugely underutilising” value added absence management services that can be worth as much as £100 per employee. Read storyWhy Peel Ports is diving into dataWorkplace Saving & Benefits: Peel Ports is using HR analytics to fuel its recruitment drive. Read storyPension buy-outs expected to escalateEmployee Benefits News: In the past two years, the US corporate pension buy-out market has surged with more than $49 billion in transactions, and that trend should continue unabated as large employers try to shift pension debt off their books. Read storyThe CareFirst hack: What went right, what went wrongEmployee Benefits News: CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield first learned in May 2014 of malware on an information system that was hacked a month later, according to two health information security consultants. But the Blues plan apparently did not realize the malware was not completely eradicated and the system was hacked a month later. Read storyPension tracing failures: Expats lose £850mRetirement Planner: About 250,000 expat pensioners are missing out on as much as £850m in lost pension benefits simply because UK pension scheme trustees have been unable to trace them since they moved abroad. Read storySecurity of bankrupt’s pension to be challenged in Court of AppealProfessional Pensions: In the case of Horton v Henry heard in December 2014, the judge held the bankrupt could not be compelled to draw down his pension for the purposes of an Income Payments Order (IPO). Read storyEC De Witt winds up scheme following parent company saleProfessional Pensions: The EC De Witt pension scheme has entered a buyout with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) after its parent company was bought by a private equity firm. Read storyUK can expect pensions act in 2016 to codify IORPProfessional Pensions: The industry should be ready for another pensions act in 2016 which will clarify European regulations for UK schemes, says Dalriada Trustees director Adrian Kennett. Read storyAge UK uses benefits to extend working livesEmployee Benefits: Age UK has launched a programme to help its employees extend their working lives, better prepare for retirement and boost their health and wellbeing in the workplace. Read storyJamie Oliver's staff throw boss unbelievable birthday bashHR Grapevine: Engaged employees threw him a 40th birthday bash to remember, capturing his whole experience on camera. Read storySnapchat staff set for huge windfall as company eyes IPOHR Grapevine: Staff at Snapchat, the fast paced social media company, could be in line for a huge windfall after its founder confirmed they would make an initial public offering. Read storyStrattan teams up with master trust providerCorporate Adviser: Former Mercer partner Dick Strattan has been appointed independent strategic adviser to Trust Pensions, a multi-employer master-trust provider for automatic enrolment. Read storyAxa PPP buys Permanent Health Company PMI book Corporate Adviser: PHC will continue to operate independently and maintain its intermediary and client support services from its Rickmansworth base. Read story