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At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 22-28 November 2019

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 November. ADC1-1574438394_headlinesMAIN.jpg

How the pension schemes bill would increase trustee reporting obligations
Professional Pensions: Schemes must be aware of the proposed rules on reporting corporate events, or they could face a £1m fine, says Anne-Marie Winton. Read story

NHS England confirms emergency action on pension tax
Professional Pensions: NHS England has confirmed it will take urgent action on to ensure NHS workers who exceed their annual allowance during this financial year will be able to take on additional work without being left out of pocket. Read story

BW enhances parental leave policies for 250 employees
Employee Benefits: Commercial fitting and refurbishing organisation BW: Workplace Experts has introduced enhanced parental leave arrangements for its 250 employees. Read story

Half of employers say mental health is biggest challenge for staff
Employee Benefits: Almost half of employers (49%) say that mental health is one of the biggest challenges faced by employees, according to research by Towergate Health and Protection. Read story

Allianz Partners UK enlists mental health champions to help 400 employees
Employee Benefits: Insurance provider Allianz Partners UK has launched a network of 29 mental health champions for the 400 employees based at its headquarters in Croydon. Read story

How we can all deal with mental health better at work
Cover: Rhys Williams shares why opening up about his mental health at work was the best thing he ever did. Read story

Less than one in 10 believe they will be financially comfortable in retirement
Pensions Age: Fewer than one in 10 people currently believe they will be financially comfortable when they stop working, according to estimations by NFU Mutual. Read story

20.3m British workers – 3 out of 5 people – of all income groups affected by money worries
HR News: Financial worries are once again the top concern of UK employees, with three in five individuals feeling the strain this year. What’s more, they’re worrying about their later life and retirement too – this is their second biggest concern. Those impacted are not just lower-paid, as people with the highest salaries are worrying too. Read story

UK employees calling out to work from somewhere else rather than the office
HR Review: More than half of UK workers feel it would be beneficial to work from somewhere else other than the usual office space. Read story

How many of your staff has been affected by mental health issues?
HR Review: Nearly all of your employees have been affected by mental health challenges. Read story

PLSA says Conservative manifesto does not go far enough on AE improvements
Corporate Adviser: The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has welcomed commitment in the Conservative party manifesto to conduct a review on whether lower paid workers are being unfairly taxed on some auto-enrolment pensions. Read story

European court to deliver landmark ruling on PPF benefits next month
Professional Pensions: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) will deliver its judgment next month in a landmark case on whether pension lifeboat funds are paying out the right level of benefits. Read story

Conservatives commit to review of taper and net-pay issues
Professional Pensions: The Conservative party will hold reviews of the tapered annual allowance and net-pay schemes if it is elected back into government, it has said. Read story

Ombudsman: DWP failed to explain GMP downgrade to members
Pensions Expert: The Department for Work and Pensions failed to properly communicate the detrimental impact that ending contracting out had on increases for individuals with a guaranteed minimum pension, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has concluded. Read story

Wave, Moneysupermarket and Accenture recognised at workplace mental health awards
Employee Benefits: Utilities provider Wave, financial comparison service Moneysupermarket and professional services firm Accenture were among the employers recognised for their mental health strategies at the inaugural This Can Happen Workplace Mental Health Awards on 21 November 2019. Read story

Lidl GB to invest £10 million in living wage pay rises for 19,000 employees
Employee Benefits: Grocery retailer Lidl GB has announced that it will be increasing hourly pay rates for 19,000 employees from March 2020, representing an investment of £10 million into staff pay. This will uplift pay to match the real living wage levels for 2020. Read story

Staff at 60 UK universities commence strike action in dispute over pay and pensions
Employee Benefits: Staff employed at 60 UK universities, and who are members of the University and College Union (UCU), have commenced strike action today (Monday 25 November 2019) in a dispute over pay, conditions and pensions. Read story

UK employees would enjoy better mental health if they were unemployed
HR Review: More than a quarter of UK employees would have better mental health if they were unemployed. Read story

Steve Watson: Why a Lifetime Isa should be an important part of any workplace savings scheme
Corporate Adviser: There’s no doubt that the concept of retirement is changing; for many of us it won’t be the end our working lives, but just a change in working hours or even career. Several factors have driven this change but arguably the two main culprits are longevity and inadequate retirement provision. Read story

The People's Pension delays plans to cut fees for 4.7 million members
Professional Pensions: Speaking to Professional Pensions B&CE chief sales and marketing office Roy Porter said the organisation was working on resolving a problem that had surfaced during an initial testing period. Read story

National Grid agrees £1.6bn buy-in with L&G in second deal this year
Professional Pensions: The National Grid UK Pension Scheme has agreed its second buy-in this year, transferring £1.6bn of pension risk to Legal & General (L&G). Read story

No easy way out of USS strikes
Pensions Expert: With no short-term agreement likely on the liabilities of the Universities Superannuation Scheme, a straight fight on cost-sharing will be decided by the level of support academics can garner among students and the wider public. Read story

Cost of employee healthcare cover will increase 4.3 per cent in 2020, says study
People Management: Mental health provision is major factor in price rise, with further disruption to benefits models expected. Read story

ServPro ordered to pay $201,508 for wage violations
Employee Benefits: Florida-based restoration and remediation organisation ServPro has been ordered to pay  $201,508 (£156,180) in back wages to 141 employees, after an investigation by the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) discovered it was violating federal law. Read story

Tiny Hearts Day Nursery ordered to pay £8,200 for failing to pay staff pensions
Employee Benefits: Childcare provider Sulouste, which trades as Tiny Hearts Day Nursery, has been ordered to pay £8,200 to 13 employees for failure to comply with pension duties, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) has ruled. Read story

Rentokil, Apple and Barclays among the UK’s 10 most popular employers
Employee Benefits: Pest control services Rentokil, US technology giant Apple and British bank Barclays are among the 10 most popular places to work in the UK, according to global job site Indeed’s league table of UK’s most popular employers. Read story

UK employers set to pay 4.3% more for employee health insurance in 2020
Employee Benefits: Employers in the UK will see a 4.3% rise in the cost of employee healthcare insurance, in 2020, according to new research by Willis Towers Watson. Read story

Minimum wage election pledges to bring AE savers a ‘£2,000 pension boost’
Pensions Age: Election pledges to increase the national minimum wage would mean a ‘significant boost’ of around £2,000 to pension pots, due to the knock-on effect on auto-enrolment contributions, according to Aegon. Read story

Thousands could face tax bill over undeclared pension contributions
Pensions Age: Thousands of pension scheme members who have failed to declare pension contributions on their tax returns could face “a large bill when HMRC finally catches up with them”, Royal London director of policy, Steve Webb, has warned. Read story

The Top Five Reward Trends that shaped 2019
HR News: 138 HR Directors, Finance Directors and Reward/Compensation Specialists provided their insights into practices affecting around 380,000 employees. Read story

Over half of UK companies use parental leave policies to attract the best talent
HR Review: More than half of UK companies said that attracting and retaining talent is the main reason why companies offer better parental leave policies. Read story

UK employers paying out a Christmas bonus may be coming a thing of the past
HR Review: A third of employees have never been given a Christmas bonus, as well as admitting they are unproductive in the run up to Xmas. Read story

HMRC disclosure of self-assessment pension failures leads to renewed calls for simplification
Professional Pensions: This follows HMRC's confirmation yesterday (27 November) that it "knows that scheme members are forgetting to declare the details of their annual allowance charge" on self-assessment returns. Read story

Medvivo named Britain’s happiest workplace
Employee Benefits: Chippenham-based telehealth service Medvivo has been named Britain’s happiest workplace at the National Happiness Awards 2019. Read story

Paul Hastings enhances parental leave for UK employees
Employee Benefits: US-owned law firm Paul Hastings has announced that it will be enhancing parental leave provisions for its 170 UK employees, to match the US policy that it launched in July 2019. Read story

UK Power Networks offers 1,000 employees 18 days of police volunteering leave
Employee Benefits: Utility organisation UK Power Networks has announced that it will be giving its 1,000 Suffolk-based employees an extra 18 days of paid leave to volunteer as special police constables. Read story

Lloyds chief exec to take 50% pension cut to meet IA guidelines
Pensions Age: Lloyds Banking Group chief executive, Antonio Horta-Ososrio, will take a pension allowance cut from 33 per cent to 15 per cent of base salary to meet Investment Association (IA) guidance for 2020. Read story

Less than half of employers provide financial education
HR Magazine: Businesses aren't doing enough around financial education in the workplace, meaning they could be missing out on opportunities to improve productivity, wellbeing and staff retention. Read story

TPR issues new guidance for advisers and trustees
Corporate Adviser: The Pensions Regulator has published new guidance for trustees and corporate advisers, to help them meet new rules on the appointment of fiduciary managers. Read story

Mind the guidance gap
Corporate Adviser: Before freedom and choice, the workplace pensions landscape was considerably more predictable than it is today. Read story

Almost 200 schools leaving Teachers’ Pension Scheme
Pensions Expert: More than one in 10 private schools participating in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme are leaving the pension fund, with the majority opting for a defined contribution arrangement to avoid a massive increase in contributions. Read story

Returning to work after career break leaves third of UK employees feeling ‘left behind’
People Management: Poll reveals majority of returners felt like it was their first day again, with others finding their roles had been abolished altogether. Read story

53% of employers offer GPPs as primary pension scheme
Employee Benefits: The most common primary pension scheme offered by employers this year is a group personal pension (GPP) plan, cited by more than half (53%) of respondents, according to research by Employee Benefits. Read story

Odfjell Drilling offshore staff vote to accept 3% pay rise
Employee Benefits: Offshore staff employed at drilling, well service and engineering organisation Odfjell Drilling, and who are members of the trade union Unite, have voted to accept a new pay offer, increasing wages by 3% for the year 2019 to 2020. Read story

Seven in 10 UK employees find health affected by stress in the workplace
Employee Benefits: Seven out of 10 (71%) UK employees have seen workplace stress affect their health, according to research by Moorepay. Read story

The Group Company offers new employees trip to Barbados
Employee Benefits: Group travel specialist The Group Company is offering new recruits the opportunity to join its current team of 35 in Barbados for a luxurious weekend away in 2020. Read story

Which retailer is giving staff a double Christmas?
HR Grapevine: Aldi, the popular German discounter, has decided to remain shut on Boxing Day as well as Christmas Day to give workers double the rest they might traditionally get working in the retail sector. Read story

The four day week will make management support more important than ever
Workplace Insight: With work collaboration tools like Facebook Workplace growing more common and constant out of hours access to work emails, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between work and leisure. Read story

20.3m British (3 out of 5) workers of all income groups affected by money worries
Employer News: Financial worries are once again the top concern of UK employees, with three in five individuals feeling the strain this year. Read story

British bosses are scrooges as a third of the nation’s workers have never had a Christmas bonus
HR News: The nationwide study by Hawk Incentives found that 33 per cent of British workers have NEVER been given a Christmas bonus by their employer. Read story