At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 18-24 September 2020
The headlines you might have missed between 18-24 September 2020.
Dave Lunt: Why simplicity is key to pension engagement
Corporate Adviser: Engaging staff with their pensions? Keep it simple says Dave Lunt Head of Business Development at The People’s Pension. Read story
Thames Water signs Aon for three-year master trust contract
Professional Pensions: Thames Water has contracted Aon to bring an “inspiring and innovative approach” to its 4,500-member strong defined contribution stakeholder plan. Read story
A Covid-19 tax relief raid could exacerbate generational pensions divide
Professional Pensions: With rumours once again swirling around the future of pensions tax relief in the run up to this year's Budget, any reduced incentive for long-term savers could risk further exacerbating the generational divide in pensions, says Tom Selby. Read story
Outsourced workers at Yeovil District Hospital to receive Covid-19 sick pay
Employee Benefits: Outsourced employees working at NHS Trust Yeovil district hospital will receive full sick pay for if they have to self-isolate due to contracting or being in contact with someone who has Covid-19 (Coronavirus). Read story
Walmart increases pay for 165,000 employees
Employee Benefits: US supermarket Walmart is increasing the pay of 165,000 employees to reward them for their hard work during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, effective October 2020. Read story
Channel Five reports mean gender pay gap of 15.3%
Employee Benefits: Channel five has reported a mean gender pay gap of 15.3% for average hourly pay as at April 2020. Read story
Two-thirds of savers unaware of where pension contributions are invested
Pensions Age: Two-thirds (66 per cent) of pension savers are unaware of where or how their contributions are invested, a Teamspirit survey has revealed. Read story
Guest comment: Mixed messages as TPR announces end of Covid easement for payment failures
Pensions Age: By way of background, DC schemes are under a statutory obligation to report pension contribution failures that are of "material significance to TPR in the exercise of its functions". TPR's Codes of Practice 5 and 6 (the COPS) clarify what it considers to be of “material significance” for these purposes. One such failure is where contributions have been outstanding for 90 days. Read story
Three ways the health and wellbeing of employees will be at risk, if employers don’t encourage staff to utilise benefits
HR News: Employees have avoided medical institutions for fear of contracting Covid-19. This not only results in critical illnesses going undiagnosed, it also means that wider health and wellbeing is also being compromised. Read story
UK workers want to volunteer but expect employer support
HR Magazine: The increased sense of community created by the coronavirus pandemic has meant many of Britain's workers are keen to volunteer their professional skills to charities, but new research from business skills charity Pilotlight has found that they need the time and support from their employers to do it. Read story
Over £215m of furlough funds repaid to HMRC by employers
HR Review: Over 80,000 UK companies have voluntarily paid back more than £215 million in furlough scheme payments which they either claimed in error or did not need. Read story
Low paid could opt out of pensions in radical overhaul of AE
Corporate Adviser: TISA proposes measures to stop low paid getting further into debt, as well as increased pension contributions from those on higher salaries. Read story
Stuart Reid: The unexpected benefits of transferring to a master trust
Corporate Adviser: Employers are currently getting real benefits from transferring to a master trust, and advisers are increasingly seeing ways to broaden those benefits says Stuart Reid, head of business development, workplace savings, Scottish Widows. Read story
Pension scheme members owed as much as £25,000 in GMP equalisation back payments
Professional Pensions: Pension scheme members could be owed as much as £25,000 in back payments from GMP equalisation, according to research by XPS Pensions. Read story
Ultra-low interest rates and QE 'broke 4% drawdown rule'
Professional Pensions: The 4% rule of thumb often used to define a sustainable approach for drawdown in retirement is no longer fit for purpose due to prevailing and sustained market conditions, says Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP). Read story
72% of organisations want to be seen as a caring employer when introducing a health benefits programme
Employee Benefits: This year, being seen as a caring employer remains firmly at the top of the list when respondents consider what their healthcare benefits programme has been successful in achieving, according to research by Employee Benefits. Read story
Co-op increases pay for 33,000 employees
Employee Benefits: Supermarket retailer Co-op is giving 33,000 of its employees a pay rise aligned to the real living wage, in recognition of their hard work during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Read story
Admiral’s chief executive announces £10 million bonus payment to employees
Employee Benefits: David Stevens, chief executive of Admiral, has announced that all employees are to receive a share of a £10 million bonus payment to mark his retirement from the business. Read story
Nearly half of savers unaware of environmentally-friendly pension options
Pensions Age: Almost half (48 per cent) of savers are unaware that there are ways to ensure their pension is environmentally friendly, whilst one in 10 are unaware they have any options to manage at all, according to analysis by Scottish Widows. Read story
Employees need to understand how to make the most of their redundancy pay
HR News: The Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme comes to an end on 31 October 2020 in which a third of the UK workforce were furloughed. Given the global impact of the coronavirus crisis along with many recent redundancy announcements, it is an inevitable and an unfortunate fact that more redundancies are likely. Read story
Women more concerned about health and wellbeing than men
HR Review: This is according to GRiD, the industry body for the group risk sector which found that women are more concerned about stress and anxiety relating to overworking, the uncertainty of the future, worries about their finances and living with long-term illnesses. Read story
Govt taskforce to address pension ‘small pots’
Corporate Adviser: The Department of Work & Pension has set up a taskforce to address the issue of small pension pots that are proliferating within workplace pensions. Read story
Nudge tactics could boost pensions by £142,000
Corporate Adviser: ‘Nudge’ tactics could boost the pensions of younger savers by up to £142,000, according to new research. Read story
TPR outlines four 'shapes of recovery' for Covid-battered pensions industry
Professional Pensions: Four possible models of economic recovery are being discussed as part of a 15-year corporate strategy plan, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has said. Read story
Redundancies cause threefold rise in member requests at BA
Pensions Expert: Redundancies at British Airways coupled with members’ concerns about the security of their pensions have significantly increased the workload of its administration team, which has prompted the schemes to set up a communication plan to deal with the issue. Read story
Businesses should return to home working where possible, says prime minister
People Management: Government reveals an abrupt U-turn on advice to reopen offices in parliamentary address on stemming an increase in Covid cases. Read story
Vodafone, BP and HSBC recognised as top global employers for LGBT inclusion
Employee Benefits: Vodafone (pictured), Zurich, and Natwest have been named among the top global employers for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) equality and inclusion by LGBT equality charity Stonewall. Read story
30% of employees do not know where their pension savings go
Employee Benefits: Just under one-third (30%) of employees do not know where their pension savings go, according to research by Teamspirit. Read story
Precision of New Hampton ordered to pay $279,505 in back wages
Employee Benefits: US manufacturing organisation Precision of New Hampton has been ordered to pay 150 employees $279,505 (£218,289) in back wages by the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD). Read story
Millions of working days lost each year through poor mental health
Workplace Insight: More than 11 million UK working adults have taken time off work for poor mental wellbeing, costing businesses an estimated 40 million working days each year, claims new research from healthcare provider, Benenden Health. Read story
Majority of employees set to carry over annual leave into 2021
HR Magazine: Over two-thirds (67%) of full-time employees are planning to roll at least one day of annual leave into their next holiday period, according to new research from personal finance comparison website finder.com. Read story
Women make up big part of low paid jobs and small part of high paid
HR Review: Over three-quarters of those with a salary over £73,000 are men and over half of workers who earn £17,000 are women. Read story
University of Exeter introduces environmental reward programme
Employee Benefits: The University of Exeter has introduced a green reward programme to engage its 5,000 employees with environmental sustainability and wellbeing across its Exeter and Falmouth campuses. Read story
54% of employers have made mental health a key focus
Employee Benefits: In 2020, the importance of mental wellbeing is as prevalent as ever; although slightly down on 2019, 54% stated that it was a key focus for the coming year compared to 60%that said the same last year, according to research by Employee Benefits. Read story
Kingfisher to repay government £23 million in furlough costs
Employee Benefits: Retail organisation Kingfisher, which owns brands such as B&Q and Screwfix, is to repay £23 million it claimed from the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention scheme. Read story
Remote working set to triple in the post-COVID world
Workplace Insight: A new survey from XpertHR, claims that the average percentage of employees remote working at least part of the time is projected to nearly triple from 12 percent before the COVID-19 pandemic to 30 percent after the pandemic. The survey Employer Response to COVID-19 was completed by 835 US employers. Read story
Aegon highlights concerns with IGC proposals in FCA consultation
Pensions Age: Aegon pensions director, Steven Cameron, has highlighted concerns with proposed responsibilities for Independent Governance Committees (IGCs) in the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) Driving value for money in pensions consultation. Read story
Govt to introduce bill to prevent state pension freeze
Pensions Age: The government is introducing a bill to the House of Commons that aims to iron out a “technical detail” that could have prevented an increase in the state pension in April 2021. Read story
Reasons Employees Become Disengaged
HR News: Employee disengagement can be corrosive to a business, which is why you need to do everything that you can to tackle it. Read story
Chancellor announces job support scheme as furlough system winds down
HR Review: Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced the Job Support Scheme, as part of his winter economy plan which means as long as an employee works a third of their usual hours, the Government and their employer will cover the cost of the hours not worked. Read story
Weightmans to restore employees to full pay
Employee Benefits: Law firm Weightmans is to return all its employees to full pay after implementing pay cuts to manage the financial constraints of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Read story
PricewaterhouseCoopers extends remote working
Employee Benefits: Professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has extended its working-from-home policy for the majority of its workforce, following guidelines set by the UK government. Read story