At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 11 - 17 December 2020
The headlines you might have missed between 11–17 December 2020.
How can employee loyalty in your organisation be improved?
HR Review: A new report uncovers some of the key features that would make employees more loyal to their company. In addition, it highlights the significant discrepancies between employers and workers’ views regarding what factors would make talent retention more likely. Read story
Cometh the hour, cometh the cash plan
Corporate Adviser: Nimble and flexible, cash plans have supported thousands of workers through these difficult days. And they are now are working on new ways to support staff and employers hears Sam Barrett. Read story
Colin Fitzgerald: Benefits employees need right now
Corporate Adviser: SME investment in wellbeing needs to be adjusted to reflect the reality of what employees want today says Colin Fitzgerald distribution director – group protection, Legal & General. Read story
Pension schemes urged to avoid 'over-reacting' to impact of Covid-19
Professional Pensions: Aon has urged the pensions industry to avoid over-reacting to the impact of Covid-19, as it predicts another huge year for the UK risk settlement industry in 2021. Read story
Weetabix Food Company reduces median gender pay gap to 4.4%
Employee Benefits: Weetabix Food Company, which also produces the Alpen and Ready Brek brands, has made further progress in reducing its gender pay gap, closing the median gap to 4.4% as at April 2020, down from 6.6% the previous year. Read story
35% of organisations provide financial education to all employees
Employee Benefits: Juts over a third (35%) of organisations provide financial education for all employees, a two percentage point drop year on year, according to research by Employee Benefits. Read story
Asda to reward front-line staff with 100% bonus and Boxing Day paid leave
Employee Benefits: Asda is to give front-line staff an additional day’s paid leave and reward them with 100% of their bonus entitlement for 2020. Read story
Lloyds Banking Group reports 6.8% mean ethnicity pay gap
Employee Benefits: Lloyds Banking Group has reported a mean ethnicity pay gap for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) employees of 6.8%, while the BAME bonus gap was 26.3%. Read story
One in four employees 'not looked after' during Covid
Cover: Less than half supported during homeworking transition, YuLife research shows. Read story
University of Cambridge reps highlight 'serious concerns' over USS valuation
Pensions Age: Representatives for the University of Cambridge have written to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) to express “serious concerns” over the approach taken to the March 2020 valuation. Read story
Pay freezes could put HR in a difficult position
HR Magazine: HR will need to properly communicate how and why pay freezes are being put in place in order to avoid scrutiny in the year ahead. Read story
Barclays Retirement Fund completes £5bn longevity swap with Reinsurance Group of America
Professional Pensions: The Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund has completed a £5bn longevity swap with Reinsurance Group of America (RGA). Read story
Exclusive: Members' push for ESG should be a 'wake up' call for lagging schemes
Professional Pensions: Substantial engagement from pension scheme members on ESG has not been matched by strategic change in defined contribution (DC) schemes, the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) says. Read story
CIPD calls for further extension of furlough scheme
People Management: Open letter urges government to maintain support until June and delay introducing employer contributions or risk more ‘significant’ redundancies. Read story
Northern Gas Networks completes £385 million pensions buy-in transaction
Employee Benefits: Gas distributor Northern Gas Networks (NGN) has completed a £385 million pensions buy-in transaction with Legal and General. Read story
44% of employers support staff at retirement
Employee Benefits: Just over two-fifths (44%) of respondents to this year’s research stated that their organisation supports staff at an employee’s retirement life stage according to research by Employee Benefits. Read story
Maintenance staff at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital to receive 4.5% pay increase
Employee Benefits: Outsourced maintenance staff, incuding electricians and plumbers, at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital have accepted a new pay deal for 2020-21. Read story
Self-employed workers' confidence in pension preparedness falls amid Covid-19
Pensions Age: Belief in the importance of retirement savings amongst the self-employed remains unaffected by the pandemic, but confidence in retirement preparedness has been negatively impacted, research from Nest Insight has revealed. Read story
The way employees work is set to change in 2021
HR News: Artificial intelligence is the new buzzword for companies all over the world, and it is quite exciting to see how this is being implemented all over the world. Using AI on a large scale will mean that the day-to-day experience will be very different for millions of employees all over the world, and they will need to change and adapt the way they work to be of any use in this new environment. Some of the ways in which AI and technology will change the work environment are detailed here. Read story
Pensions dashboard publishes key data standards
Corporate Adviser: Key data standards have been published by the Pensions Dashboard Programme, which will underpin the technology used to deliver this service. Read story
BBC enters £3bn longevity swap with Zurich and Canada Life
Professional Pensions: The BBC Pension Scheme has completed a £3bn longevity swap deal with Zurich and Canada Life Reinsurance, covering the risk of pensioner and dependent members. Read story
Aon agrees £510m buy-in with Scottish Widows
Professional Pensions: The Aon Retirement Plan has completed a £510m pensioner buy-in with Scottish Widows, insuring members in the Aon Bain Hogg Pension Scheme section. Read story
A changing landscape with unanswered questions
Professional Pensions: The impact of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes has long been an important focus area for trustees and employer directors on corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A), distressed or otherwise, writes Chris Brown. Read story
Low-paid jobs at risk as coronavirus speeds up automation, report finds
People Management: Experts call for good work to be put ‘at the heart’ of economic recovery and urge employers to consult workers in decisions about new technology. Read story
86% changing approach to health and wellbeing due to Covid-19
Employee Benefits: More than four-fifths (86%) of employers are changing their approach to employee health and wellbeing due to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, according to research by Unum. Read story
Sainsbury’s reports 9.7% mean gender and 0.4% ethnicity pay gaps
Employee Benefits: Retailer Sainsbury’s has reported a 9.7% mean gender pay gap, as at April 2020. It has also voluntarily chosen to report its ethnicity pay gap data for the first time, reporting a 0.4% mean difference. Read story
Awin to introduce four-day working week
Employee Benefits: Global affiliate network Awin is to introduce a four-day week for over 1,000 employees worldwide to support the wellbeing and productivity. Read story
How to take care of staff wellbeing this Christmas
HR Grapevine: 2020 has undoubtedly been an extremely stressful year for all HR practitioners. According to the latest data released in the Government’s Labour Force Survey, over 828,000 UK workers are currently suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety. That equates to a massive 17.9million working days lost due to stress this year alone. Read story
Preparing for a mental health epidemic is a shared responsibility
Workplace Insight: With the continuous impact of the pandemic on people’s mental health due to isolation, work uncertainty, and anxiety over health, the topic has been dominating the news, begging the question of how we can achieve accessible and cost-effective treatment for all and prevent the expected acceleration of mental health issues in the coming months. Read story
One in ten over 55’s don’t have a pension, reveal researchers
Employer News: One in ten people over 55 don’t have a pension, according to research by MoneySuperMarket. Read story
Black employees at Lloyds Bank are paid 20% less
HR Magazine: Lloyds Bank has become the first major UK bank to disclose its ethnicity pay gap, revealing black employees are being paid nearly 20% less than their colleagues. Read story
Steve Watson: The long and short of workplace savings
Corporate Adviser: Cushon's head of proposition Steve Watson explains how workplace savings product can improve the financial situation of many employees in the wake of Covid-19. Read story
Covid will trigger wave of benefit reviews: Aon
Corporate Adviser: Market events of 2020 could lead to a fresh wave of benefit reviews by UK companies and increase the number of pension scheme closures in the comping year, according to a new survey by Aon. Read story
DWP proposes hiked general levy over three years; DB costs to more than double
Professional Pensions: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation on the future of the general levy, seeking to close a potential £230m funding gap if rates remain unchanged. Read story
Maersk agrees £1.1bn buy-in with L&G
Professional Pensions: The Maersk Retirement Benefit Scheme has agreed a £1.1bn buy-in with Legal & General (L&G) Assurance Society, protecting benefits for around 4,900 members. Read story
Pinterest agrees to $22 million settlement in gender discrimination case
Employee Benefits: Social media organisation Pinterest has agreed to pay a $22.5 million (£16.9m) settlement in a gender discrimination case. Read story
68% say uncertainty on pension decision-making is their key retirement concern
Employee Benefits: For the third consecutive year, uncertainty around how to make the best decision when accessing pension benefits is the primary concern when it comes to the time leading up to, and during, retirement, according to research by Employee Benefits. Read story
Heathrow Airport introduces 20% pay cuts for staff
Employee Benefits: British airport Heathrow has introduced pay cuts to deal with the financial ramifications of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Read story
Hargreaves Lansdown signs Race at Work charter to tackle racial inequality
Employee Benefits: Financial services organisation Hargreaves Lansdown has signed the Race at Work charter, committing to address the issues that employees from ethnic minority groups face in the workplace. Read story
Govt launches consultation on restructuring pension schemes' general levy
Pensions Age: The government has launched a consultation on the options to increase the general levy on occupational and personal pension schemes, including plans to restructure the levy. Read story
Why Employee Training & Development Is An Effective Retention Strategy
HR News: Having a skilled and long-serving workforce can take any business to great heights. The longer the tenure of an employee at a company, the more productive their work becomes over time. But what happens when a valuable and high-performing employee decides to quit the company? It can turn out to be a nightmare to replace such a resource as the cost of procuring a new resource is extravagant. Read story
Jacobs launches mental health check-in tool to boost employee engagement
HR Magazine: Engineering firm Jacobs has launched a free mental health check-in tool One Million Lives to help employees and the wider community better understand their mental health. Read story
HMRC’s IR35 tool fails to determine employment status in a fifth of cases
HR Review: The online tool created by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has failed to determine around 20 per cent of users’ employment status over the past year, leading to criticism of the tool. Read story
Lifetime savings model kicked into long grass
Corporate Adviser: A lifetime savings model, where workers would choose an automatic enrolment pension provider for life, taking it with them from employer to employer, has been kicked into the long grass by a DWP working group report published today. Read story
Working group report draws small pot battle lines
Corporate Adviser: Saver inertia means scheme led consolidation solutions will be needed to tackle the small pots challenge because member-led solutions will only be used by a minority, according to a report from the DWP’s Small Pot Working Group. Read story
Satisfaction towards TPR improved during the Covid-19 pandemic
Professional Pensions: The trend in overall satisfaction for The Pensions Regulator (TPR) improved over the last six months amid the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Pensions Management Institute (PMI). Read story
Making pensions simple again
Professional Pensions: Girish Menezes looks at whether the two-page simpler annual statement is effective at giving members the detail they need. Read story
Employers must improve pay and conditions to ‘entice’ new workers after Brexit, report says
People Management: Think tank also warns labour shortages could tempt businesses to circumvent immigration rules. Read story
Personal Group awards shares to 250 employees
Employee Benefits: Employee benefits provider Personal Group has awarded its 250 employees free shares worth £500 under its new share incentive plan (sip). Read story
Domino’s Pizza rewards 11,500 employees with recognition bonus
Employee Benefits: Pizza restaurant and delivery chain Domino’s Pizza has rewarded over 11,500 employees with a special bonus to recognise them for their hard work during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Read story
Unlimited provides mental health training for staff
Employee Benefits: Marketing and advertising agency Unlimited has provided mental health training for all its employees to increase awareness and support the wellbeing of staff. Read story
JMK Solicitors increases minimum salary to £20,000
Employee Benefits: Law firm JMK Solicitors has committed to paying its full-time staff a minimum salary of £20,000, exceeding the legal minimum wage requirement of £8.72 an hour for employees over 25. Read story
Pension policy satisfaction declines after Pension Schemes Bill delays
Pensions Age: The industry’s overall satisfaction with the direction of pensions policy has dropped from 90 per cent in February 2019 to 51 per cent in November 2020, according to the Pensions Management Institute (PMI). Read story
Aon's proposed acquisition of WTW set for EU probe
Pensions Age: Aon's proposed acquisition of Willis Towers Watson (WTW) is set to undergo an in-depth probe by European Union (EU) regulators due to its complexity, sources have told Reuters. Read story
Employees in need of mental wellbeing support over Christmas
HR Magazine: HR needs to be wary that the Christmas period can lead to employee loneliness and must offer effective mental wellbeing support, says medical care provider RedArc. Read story
Case Study: Hybrid Workplace Savings
Incentive and Motivation: Today, Nest Insight has published a second briefing paper sharing early learnings from their sidecar savings trial. This new report focuses on how employers have responded to the idea of the savings approach, as well as insights into the experience of workplaces that are participating in the trial. Read story