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At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 21-27 February 2020

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 21-27 February 2020. 9C94-1582712203_headlinesMAIN.jpg

Cost of presenteeism in workplace spirals
Corporate Adviser: The UK economy lost almost £92bn as a result of ill-health related absence and presenteeism in the workplace — a £10bn increase on a the previous year, according to new research. Read story

Calls for pensions minister to clarify guidance on GMPs
Corporate Adviser: Advisers have called on the government to provide urgent clarification on equalising guaranteed minimum pensions in order to address concerns by trustees and sponsoring companies. Read story

Rise in employers penalised for minimum wage underpayment, data shows
People Management: Experts say an increase in penalties issued by HMRC is down to higher rates of whistleblowing. Read story

Delta Air Lines unveils ‘thank you’ livery featuring all 90,000 employees’ names
Employee Benefits: Following on from the announcement in January that it was sharing $1.6 billion (£1.2 billion) of profits with staff, air travel organisation Delta Air Lines has unveiled a new plane livery dedicated to all 90,000 of its employees. Read story

The Pensions Regulator urged to address financial risks associated with climate change
Employee Benefits: In the coming months, the government has asked that The Pensions Regulator (TPR) set out a strategy to deal with the financial risks associated with climate change. Read story

BT scheme members accruing new benefits following delays
Pensions Age: Members of the BTRSS and BT Hybrid pension schemes are now accruing additional benefits as agreed in a 2018 pension review, following 10 months' of delays. Read story

Govt proposes excluding pensions from dormant asset scheme expansion
Pensions Age: The government has proposed excluding pensions from the dormant asset scheme in a consultation on its expansion into new asset classes. Read story

Govt figures show AE opt-outs remain low
Corporate Adviser: Opt out rates for auto-enrolment remain low, despite last April’s increase in contribution rates, according to the latest data published by the Department of Work and Pensions. Read story

Five years of pension freedoms have created confusion among savers: report
Corporate Adviser: It is now five years since the introduction of pension freedom rules, but there is still widespread confusion about retirement options, particularly among the 50-plus age group. Read story

Nest tackles Barclays amid climate change pressure
Professional Pensions: Nest has demanded Barclays provide a “robust plan” on winding up investments into fossil fuel providers. Read story

Aegon UK initiates mental health awareness training for 120 managers
Employee Benefits: Pensions provider Aegon UK has launched a series of mental health awareness workshops, supporting managers as part of its ‘wellbeing in the workplace’ programme. Read story

Churchill Group launches new wellbeing strategy for 466 employees
Employee Benefits: Facilities management organisation Churchill Group has launched a new wellbeing programme for its 466 employees. Read story

Flexible working: one in three undeterred by career damage
Workplace Insight: One in three US workers have told researchers nothing would stop them from taking advantage of flexible working options, despite the potential damage to their career. Read story

Self-employed men more likely to save but gender gap narrowing – DWP
Pensions Age: Self-employed men are more likely to be saving than self-employed women, with an approximate seven percentage point difference in their propensity to save. Read story

Bosses urged to sent staff on ‘Mental Health first aid’ courses
HR News: A lawyer specialising in employment law has called on bosses to send staff on “mental health first aid courses” to help support colleagues in the workplace. Read story

Chancellor: first 12 months of IR35 will not be ‘heavy handed’
HR Review: Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer has said that the first 12 months of the enforcement of IR35 will not be “heavy handed” which has received criticism from contractors as they believe the legislation should just be delayed. Read story

Flexible working most popular emotional wellbeing solution
Corporate Adviser: Flexible working and work-life balance initiatives are the most popular ways to support employees’ emotional wellbeing according to research amongst HR decision makers undertaken on behalf of Group Risk Development (Grid). Read story

Improvements in life expectancy 'stall' over last decade
Professional Pensions: Life expectancy grew by less than a year for both men and women in the last ten years, with health inequalities widening at the same time, the Institute of Health Equality has concluded. Read story

Pension freedoms reform called for after fears savers will run out of money
Professional Pensions: Further reforms to pension freedoms are needed to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of pension freedoms, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). Read story

DWP: Government will not dictate schemes’ ESG investments
Pensions Expert: The government insists it is not intervening in pension scheme investment strategies with a climate change amendment to the pension schemes bill introduced earlier this month. Read story

One million high earners now work part time, data reveals
People Management: But experts call for employers to be more proactive and offer flexible working as standard, not because ‘legislation tells you to’. Read story

Kwalee’s profit-sharing scheme has paid £1 million to 73 staff since 2018
Employee Benefits: Mobile gaming organisation Kwalee has, as of the end of January 2020, reached £1 million profit-sharing payouts to its 73 employees. Read story

Hays Travel launches discount app for 5,400 employees
Employee Benefits: Sunderland-based travel agent chain Hays Travel has launched a new discount app for its 5,400 employees. Read story

Claims government's 'war zone' HR role doesn't pay enough
HR Grapevine: The Government’s headline-making posting of a new HR role is being questioned over whether it pays enough. Read story

Protection platform for gig workers raises £3.3m
Cover: Collective Benefits is aimed at providing benefits to the self-employed, freelancers and contractors. Read story

Why workplace culture is one of the most important assets to any business
Employer News: Gautam Sahgal, Managing Director at Perkbox. explains why workplace culture is incredibly valuable to any business. Read story

Nearly 1 in 3 pensions left untouched by people in their 60s
Pensions Age: Almost a third (32 per cent) of people in their 60s and 16 per cent of over 70s have not touched their pension, according to LV= research. Read story

Further reforms needed to 'future proof' freedoms - ABI
Pensions Age: Further reforms are needed to 'future proof' the success of pension freedoms the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said, with new research revealing a "black hole" on guidance and advice. Read story

Will Coronavirus lead to an explosion of remote working?
HR Review: With the ongoing spread of Coronavirus or COVID-19, remote working seems to be a strong way of curbing the spread of the disease, as companies in South Korea and China have already implemented this. Read story

Tax hikes vital to meet spending promises, says IFS
Professional Pensions: Taxes will have to increase after the March Budget if the government plans to honour the spending plans in outlined last year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned. Read story

Hywel Dda University Health Board signs charter to support terminally ill staff
Employee Benefits: Hywel Dda University Health Board has become the latest employer to sign the Trades Union Congress’ (TUC) Dying to Work Charter, aimed at encouraging organisations to better support terminally ill employees. Read story

Rotherham Council signs ethical pay pledge to support 800 home care staff
Employee Benefits: Local authority Rotherham Council has signed an Ethical Care Charter, marking its commitment to supporting ethical pay for all care home employees. Read story

Nesta shows upskilling for the future will underpin employee engagement
Employee Benefits: Ksenia Zheltoukhova, director of research operations, research, analysis and policy at Nesta opened up the conference today (26 February 2020) with an insight into empowering employees to progress through to the jobs of the future. Read story

Most employees not getting the support they want
Cover: Survey shows majority of Brits calling for workplace health-related support, guidance or benefits. Read story

Lords debate Pension Schemes Bill Paris Agreement amendment
Pensions Age: The House of Lords is debating a Pensions Schemes Bill amendment which proposes requiring UK pension schemes to outline how they will align investment strategies with the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Read story

Three quarters of savers caught in net pay anomaly are women
Pensions Age: Three quarters of the low-earners who missed out on government tax relief for their pension contributions in 2016/17 were women, government statistics have shown. Read story

Maps appoints sector leaders to spearhead 10-year strategy
Pensions Age: The Money and Pensions Service (Maps) has announced 11 sector leaders to assist with its ten-year government-backed UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing. Read story

HMRC clarifies playback declaration requirements
Pensions Age: HMRC has updated scheme guidance on claiming relief at source tax relief for member contributions, in order to emphasise the role of member playback. Read story

Public service scheme increases for 2020 announced
Pensions Age: The annual increase level to career average public sector pension schemes in 2020 have been announced, with fire service and armed forces’ schemes seeing the largest rise. Read story

UK income inequality greater than previously thought
HR Magazine: According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the gap between the highest- and the lowest-paid people in Britain is greater than previously thought. Read story

How employers can overhaul team morale in time for March
Incentive and Motivation: With Veganuary, Dry January, and the January blues hitting the headlines every year, January seems to get all the attention. But with both Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis keeping skies grey in recent weeks, February has proven to be a real dampener on our spirits this year. Read story

Majority of industry back extension of auto-enrolment age
Professional Pensions: Four in five of Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) members say the minimum age criterion for auto-enrolment (AE) should be dropped while two thirds also want it expanded to age 75. Read story

Dashboard 'essential' as one in five do not access pension information
Professional Pensions: Almost one in five (19%) people do not access information about their pensions, research by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and research consultancy Populus has found. Read story

Which? calls for urgent introduction of a pensions dashboard
Professional Pensions: Which? has called for urgent introduction of a comprehensive pensions dashboard after an investigation revealed how the current system leaves workers struggling to track down their retirement pots. Read story

Social care crisis: is auto-enrolment the answer?
Pensions Expert: Auto-enrolment-style contributions could hold the key to solving the UK’s growing social care crisis, according to the sponsors of a report into the funding shortfall for care in later life. Read story

Bespoke benefits packages are key to attracting workforce of the future
Employee Benefits:  To meet the needs of future workforces, employers must provide a benefits package with bespoke options for employees, says Jo Monk, HR director at ALD Automotive. Read story

Business values must underpin future engagement strategies
Employee Benefits: Having clearly defined business values can be key to underpinning employee engagement strategies for the workforces of the future, according to Debrah Corey, author, speaker and adviser to Reward Gateway. Read story

Roche establishes inclusion as fundamental for business success
Employee Benefits: For pharmaceutical organisation Roche, inclusive practices are not a tick-box exercise, but a foundation for business success. Read story

Employers must harness data transparency to tackle pay gaps
Employee Benefits: Employers should harness recent advancements in technology and data analysis to help tackle gender and ethnicity pay gaps, says Dawn Moore, group people director at engineering and construction organisation Murphy. Read story

British Airways aligns customer and employee experience strategies
Employee Benefits: At air travel organisation British Airways, the evolution and progression of digital technology is embraced as a key enabler for business success, bringing together the customer and employee experiences. Read story

Employees demand changes to pay policy
HR Grapevine: On occasion, employees may be asked to carry out overtime such as staying late at work to meet a deadline or attend an after-work event. Read story

Building Benefits at Travis Perkins
Employer News: Zest Benefits has announced that its employee benefits technology platform has been selected by FTSE250 listed Travis Perkins. The company is the UK’s largest distributor of building materials to the building, construction and home improvement markets and will use the Zest solution to deliver its innovative employee benefits package to more than 25,000 employees in more than 2000 branches, stores and sites around the UK. Read story

Over three quarters of people keen to use pensions dashboard
Pensions Age: More than three quarters of people are keen to use a pensions dashboard to learn more about their retirement savings, according to research from Which?. Read story