At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 26 October - 1 November 2018
The headlines you might have missed between 26 October - 1 November.
GMPs must be equalised and arrears paid, High Court rules
Professional Pensions: Thousands of defined benefit (DB) schemes will be forced to amend their scheme rules and equalise guaranteed minimum pensions (GMPs) between men and women, the High Court has ruled. Read story
35% don’t incorporate the needs of transgender employees in HR policies
Employee Benefits: Over a third (35%) of respondents’ employers don not have HR policies in place that incorporate the needs of transgender employees. Read story
Median gross weekly earnings increased by 3.5% for full-time employees
Employee Benefits: The median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in the UK was £569 as at April 2018, a 3.5% improvement since 2017, according to research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Read story
Leeds Building Society achieves Leaders in Diversity accreditation
Employee Benefits: Leeds Building Society has received a Leaders in Diversity accreditation from the National Centre for Diversity. Read story
90% not offered support when returning from maternity leaveEmployee Benefits: The majority (90%) of respondents who have returned to work after maternity leave state that they were not offered support, either through a return-to-work programme or one-to-one coaching, according to research by working parents’ website MMB. Read story
Japanese organisation Crazy rewards staff for sleeping six hours or more
Employee Benefits: Japanese wedding planning organisation Crazy has introduced a new wellbeing initiative that rewards employees for getting six or more hours of sleep for a minimum of five days across the week. Read story
Andrew Tully: FCA has given much-needed clarity on pension transfers
Money Marketing: The recent FCA policy statement on pension transfers makes clear the process it wants advisers to follow when considering them. Read story
Pensions minister calls for schemes to step up environmental commitments
Professional Pensions: Pension funds can step up their environmental commitments by ensuring they take full account of climate change in their investment strategies, pensions minister Guy Opperman has said. Read story
Ethnicity pay gap reporting: What employers need to know
Personnel Today: Earlier this month the government published a consultation into whether organisations should be required to report on the pay differentials between people from different ethnic backgrounds. Kate Hodgkiss from DLA Piper considers how the proposals might impact employers if they become reality. Read story
More than 800,000 employees covered by non-pension life cover
Health Insurance Daily: More than 800,000 employees covered by non-pension life cover. Read story
Fewer than one in five women feel confident returning to work after maternity leave
People Management: Lack of organisational support so damaging 37 per cent consider handing in their notice, says survey. Read story
Bank faces £150m bill after landmark pensions ruling
People Management: Thousands of organisations may have to make payouts to bring gender parity to final salary schemes, experts warn. Read story
Health insurers demand Budget freeze on IPT
Corporate Adviser: In an open letter the chief executives of four health insurers have urged the chancellor not to increase insurance premium tax again in today’s Budget - claiming it will increase pressure on the NHS. Read story
39% do not know the cost of providing healthcare benefits
Employee Benefits: Nearly two-fifths (39%) of respondents do not know the approximate cost of providing healthcare benefits, an increase of 9% since 2017, according to research by Employee Benefits and Health Shield. Read story
Workchain staff fined and sentenced for illegal pension opt-outs
Employee Benefits: Directors and senior staff at Derby-based recruitment organisation Workchain have received suspended prison sentences, and have been ordered to pay more than £280,000 in fines for plotting to illegally opt workers out of their pension scheme. Read story
Lloyds Banking Group ordered to equalise pensions for men and women
Employee Benefits: The High Court has ruled that Lloyds Banking Group must equalise its guaranteed minimum pensions (GMP) for men and women, in a landmark judgment that could cost major pension schemes £15 billion. Read story
Over 50% of FTSE 100 schemes report 'significant' deficit contributions totalling £14.8bn
Professional Pensions: Some 53 FTSE 100 sponsors made "significant" deficit recovery contributions (DRCs) to their defined benefit (DB) schemes over the year to 31 March 2018, according to JLT Employee Benefits. Read story
Off-payroll working reforms to be extended to private sector
Employee Benefits: The government is to extend reforms to the taxation of off-payroll working to the private sector, Chancellor Philip Hammond (pictured) has announced in his 2018 budget. Read story
Government to increase tax-free personal allowance to £12,500
Employee Benefits: The government has today (29 October 2018) announced a commitment to increase the tax-free personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher-rate threshold to £50,000 in April 2019. Read story
National living wage to increase to £8.21 an hour from April 2019
Employee Benefits: The national living wage will increase by 4.9% from April 2019, rising from £7.83 an hour to £8.21 an hour for employees aged 25 and over. Read story
SJP: Budget offers no long-term solutions for pensions
Money marketing: Pension measures in yesterday’s Budget confirming banning cold-calling and raising the lifetime allowance are only small solutions for larger problems, according to St James’s Place. Read story
Government increases funding for industrial strategy to boost UK’s productivity
Employee Benefits: The government has announced increased investment for initiatives within its Industrial Strategy in order to improve productivity across the UK. Read story
Co-investment rate for apprenticeship training to be halved for small employers
Employee Benefits: Small employers’ co-investment rate for apprenticeship training is to be cut from 10% to 5%, chancellor Philip Hammond announced in the Autumn Budget 2018. Read story
DC pensions to target ‘patient capital’
Corporate Adviser: New consultation to look at how £1 trillion DC market can be unlocked to fund technology and infrastructure projects. Read story
Pensions cold calling to be made illegal
Employee Benefits: The government has confirmed that it will be introducing new legislation to make pensions cold calling illegal. Read story
Government to introduce 2% digital services tax in 2020
Employee Benefits: From April 2020, the government will introduce a new 2% digital services tax on large organisations, Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced in his 2018 budget. Read story
Employment allowance access restricted to smaller employers
Employee Benefits: Access to the employment allowance (EA) will be restricted to employers with a national insurance contributions (NICs) bill below £100,000 in the previous tax year, chancellor Philip Hammond revealed in the Autumn Budget 2018. Read story
Government to provide £5m additional funding to make pensions dashboard a reality
Employee Benefits: The government will provide an additional £5 million in funding in 2019-2020 to help bring the pensions dashboard to fruition. Read story
DB 'revival' is possible for UK, says PPF chief
Professional Pensions: The UK could see a "revival" of defined benefit (DB) schemes in the future, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) chief executive says. Read story
Budget fails to address anomalies in pension system
Corporate Adviser: Raised personal allowance means more low pay workers missing out on tax relief, however there was more encouraging news on pensions dashboard. Read story
40,000 Uber drivers 'nearly £20k out of pocket’
HR Grapevine: Uber have come under fire after reports emerged revealing that their drivers are owed an estimated £20,000 each – The Guardian reports. Read story
Breakspear Park gives 300 pumpkins to staff for Halloween
Employee Benefits: Hemel Hempstead-based business park Breakspear Park has gifted 300 pumpkins to employees based on-site, to help staff manage their work-life balance and avoid extra trips to the supermarket in the run up to Halloween. Read story
Gig economy workers strike as Uber’s employment status case hits the Court of Appeal
Employee Benefits: Individuals who work within the gig economy are undertaking a two-day march on Tuesday 30 and Wednesday 31 October 2018, to align with transportation organisation Uber contesting the result of its employment status case at the Court of Appeal. Read story
Acas, HSBC and Sky recognised as Best Employers for Race 2018
Employee Benefits: Non-departmental public body The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), financial services organisation HSBC (pictured), telecommunications business Sky and law firm Slaughter and May are among the organisations recognised on the Best Employers for Race 2018 list, compiled by business-community outreach charity Business in the Community (BITC). Read story
One in two SMEs switch AE provider
Corporate Adviser: More than one in two small businesses have already switched pension providers, with 20 per cent looking to switch in the next six months. Read story
NICs rise reduces higher-rate tax gains
Corporate Adviser: Higher earners will not get the full benefit of the chancellor’s decision to raise the higher-rate tax threshold to £50,000. Read story
HR overestimates benefits satisfaction
HR Magazine: HR professionals in large UK enterprises tend to overestimate employee satisfaction when it comes to rewards and benefits programmes, research by Hawk Incentives has found. Read story
Four steps for employers to tackle mental ill-health at work
People Management: Get the topic into “every single one-to-one, every single agenda, every day” say experts at the Not a Red Card Forum. Read story
LifeSight to adopt 50% ESG strategy for default fund amid DC ‘challenges'
Professional Pensions: Willis Towers Watson's LifeSight is the first defined contribution (DC) master trust to allocate around half of equity investments in the default fund to environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies. Read story
HMRC pays out £38m to pension freedom users after overtaxing
Professional Pensions: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has had to pay £38m to pension freedom users after more than 18,000 counts of tax overpayment were reported. Read story
One third admit that retirement is not part of current financial planning
Employee Benefits: Nearly half (46%) of working people in the UK say their biggest fear for the future is not having enough money in retirement, but almost a third (30%) admit retirement is not part of their current financial planning, according to research by Punter Southall Aspire. Read story
Flexibility is the key to workplace happiness for 33% of employees
Employee Benefits: Other than salary, flexible working is the most important factor contributing to the workplace happiness of UK employees, according to research conducted by recruitment organisation Badenoch and Clark. Read story
Bakkavor Group offers discounts to 17,000 UK employees
Employee Benefits: Food provider Bakkavor Group, which employs 19,000 staff across 39 sites in the UK, US and China, has launched a discounts package for its 17,000 UK-based employees via engagement specialist Xexec’s voluntary benefits portal. Read story
Implementation of Lloyds GMP ruling will be simpler than it looks, lawyers say|
Professional Pensions: The High Court ruling on guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) equalisation may have said various methods were possible but, in practice, schemes will find it fairly easy to implement, legal experts say. Read story
What the Lloyds case means for advising DB schemes
Professional Pensions: Henry Tapper says the Lloyds GMP ruling will see little benefit for members but profound fees to administrators. Read story
Govt blocks mandatory climate risk reporting in 'disappointing' response to EAC proposal
Professional Pensions: The government has rejected the Environmental Audit Committee's (EAC) proposal to make pension fund climate-related financial disclosures mandatory. Read story
Zurich calls for new approach to workplace financial protection
Corporate Adviser: Research will look at how industry can be reformed to reflect needs of modern labour market. Read story
Google workers stage global walkout
Personnel Today: Staff and freelancers at Google offices across the world are walking out in protest of the tech giant’s treatment of women. The walkouts are taking place at 11:10am local time, with the first one in Tokyo. Read story
Notts to report itself to TPR after employers botch data
Pensions Expert: The Nottinghamshire County Council Pension Fund is set to report itself to the Pensions Regulator after failing to produce some of its annual benefit statements on time. Read story
Work-related stress jumps by a quarter to reach ‘epidemic’ levels
People Management: Experts criticise ‘half-hearted’ attempts to tackle a crisis caused by workload and management style. Read story