At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 27 September - 3 October 2019

The headlines you might have missed between 27 September - 3 October.

Majority of employers failing to comply with eye care legislation
Health Insurance and Protection: Nine in 10 British businesses are failing to meet their legal responsibilities to protect their workforce’s sight, a survey shows. Read story

Women still harmed by stigma around flexible working, survey finds
People Management: Major barriers for civil servants ‘reflect broader issues affecting adoption of flexibility’. Read story

Poll: Two-fifths think volunteering days improve staff wellbeing
Employee Benefits: Almost two-fifths (38%) of Employee Benefitsreaders believe that the main benefit of providing staff with dedicated volunteering days is the improvement to employee wellbeing. Read story

Older workers will drive long term success of firms
Workplace Insight: Organisations that actively leverage the abilities and experience of their older workers will be best positioned for the future of work, according to Mercer’s report Next Stage: Are You Age-Ready?. Read story

MPs seek answers over future of Thomas Cook pension scheme
Pensions Age: The Work and Pensions Select Committee has written to the Thomas Cook pension scheme seeking answers about its future, following the collapse of its sponsoring employer. Read story

British shift workers on 40% less hours than full-time workers
HR News: Deputy, the leading workforce management app, has today published new analysis revealing the nature of British shift work. The UK Shiftwork Index shows British shift workers only work an average of 99 hours per month, which is far lower than the full-time equivalent of 164 hours. Read story

ACA: Pension coverage remains patchy and employee saving still insufficient
Professional Pensions: The government must take action to build on the successes of auto-enrolment (AE) and ensure coverage and contribution rates are increased, the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) says. Read story

University of Liverpool campus support staff strike over pay and conditions
Employee Benefits: Campus support and services employees at the University of Liverpool are undertaking continued industrial action this week in a dispute over payand working conditions. Read story

Seven in 10 UK employees feel mental health is not discussed enough in the workplace
Employee Benefits: More than seven in 10 (72%) employees in the UK feel that mental wellbeingis not discussed often enough in the workplace, with 57% feeling that the subject is outright stigmatised in this context, according to research by Babylon Health. Read story

Execs will face shareholder action without pension equity by 2022 - IA
Pensions Age: The Investment Association (IA) has told companies that they must pay all executive directors the same pension contribution levels as the majority of their workforce by the end of 2022, or risk shareholder action. Read story

Thomas Cook: Whose responsibility is it to pay staff?
HR Magazine: Affected employees may be able to apply for limited government assistance, and other travel firms are keen to recruit these experienced individuals. Read story

Breaking: Pru fined £23m for ‘spa break and bonus’ annuity sales failures
Corporate Adviser: The FCA has fined Prudential over £23m for failures relating to non-advised annuities sales by its direct sales force which was incentivised through big bonuses and spa breaks. It has been forced to pay £110m in redress. Read story

Limit choice to tackle unsuitable retirement decisions, says OECD
Professional Pensions: Britain is not alone in the challenge of getting people to save for pensions, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Read story

GMP Equalisation Working Group publishes methodology guidance
Professional Pensions: The cross-industry GMP Equalisation Working Group has published guidance outlining methods schemes could use to equalise for the sex based inequalities of GMPs. Read story

Experian staff up contributions following education programme
Pensions Expert: Credit score provider Experian has rolled out a pensions education programme for its staff, leading to 29 per cent of employees increasing pension contributions and 70 per cent asking for further guidance. Read story

‘Urgent steps’ required to tackle burnout in healthcare, study says
People Management: Nearly half of UK doctors report considering leaving the profession to improve personal wellbeing. Read story

CH and Co staff accept financial settlement to mitigate strike action
Employee Benefits: Five kitchen-based members of staff employed by hospitality catering business CH and Co at co-educational independent day school Colfe’s School have voted to accept a confidential financial settlement in order to mitigate strike action. Read story

Red Cedar Enterprises to pay $178,784 in back wages and fringe benefits
Employee Benefits: Oklahoma-based technical support services organisation Red Cedar Enterprises is to pay eight employees a total of $178,784 (£145,234.77) in back pay, as well as fringe benefits, for violating service contract provisions. Read story

How businesses can address rising absenteeism
Employer News: New research from the British Chamber of Commerce and Unum[i] has revealed that two-fifths (43%) of businesses have had employees absent from work for more than four weeks due to ill health, in the last two years. Read story

Catherine Howarth: ESG statements are just the start
Pensions Expert: Speaking to Pensions Expert, ShareAction chief executive Catherine Howarth welcomes new requirements for schemes to outline their responsible investment policies, but says trustees need to walk the walk on environmental, social and governance issues. Read story

Businesses lose £3.2bn to ‘dementia care crisis’
Health Insurance and Protection: Businesses in England lost £3.2bn last year as a result of people quitting their jobs or change their working patterns to care for someone with dementia, research shows. Read story

Telent agrees bulk annuity transaction to cover 39,000 pension scheme members
Employee Benefits: Technology and telecommunications organisation Telent has agreed a bulk annuity buy-out transaction with specialist insurance firm Rothesay Life. Read story

EAPs and flexible working are most popular mental health benefits
Employee Benefits: Employee assistance programmes (EAPs), flexible working or work-life balance policies, and access to education and guidance for staff are the most commonly offered benefits to support mental health, according to research by Employee Benefits. Read story

Stagecoach signs diversity pledge in support of National Inclusion Week
Employee Benefits: Bus and coach operator Stagecoach has signed a diversity and inclusion pledge in support of National Inclusion Week, an annual campaign created by employer membership organisation Inclusive Employers. Read story

Employers need to prepare before sending staff abroad to work
Employer News: Overseas assignments can present exciting commercial opportunities, but as a business expands into new territories it’s important to support employees travelling or relocating, says Towergate Health & Protection. There can be sizeable challenges involved in relocating, and for assignments to be successful, it’s important that employees are supported and well looked after, and preparation must start before staff travel. Read story

Number of remote working jobs double over four-year period, with higher pay luring in workers
HR News: The future of employment appears to be in remote working according to new data from the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library. The research reveals that the number of remote working jobs on offer has more than doubled (51.7%) in the past four years, as businesses accept the need to change their working practices. Read story

Seven ways employers can support employee financial wellbeing
Incentive and Motivation: Aon, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions (NYSE: AON), says that recent research has shown that 62.5% of employers says it is their responsibility to support staff with financial wellbeing. Read story

Top tips for employers to boost their workers financial wellbeing
HR Review: In response to the majority of employers saying it is their responsibility to support staff with financial wellbeing, Aon has released their top tips for bosses to assist in their employees’ financial wellbeing. Read story

Gallagher buys AHC
Professional Pensions: Arthur J. Gallagher has bought Anthony Hodges Consulting (AHC) in a bid to become a major global employee communications company. Read story

TPR begins crackdown on poor record-keeping
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has ordered the trustee boards of 400 schemes to urgently conduct a data review as part of its crackdown on poor scheme record-keeping. Read story

Employers told to ‘hold themselves accountable’ for ethnicity pay gaps
People Management: Campaigners call for more businesses to collect race pay data and improve transparency around issues of discrimination. Read story

Metropolitan Police uses returners programme to address pay gap
Employee Benefits: The Metropolitan Police Service has taken steps to address its gender pay gap and increase female representation in its workforce, using its women’s returners programme. Read story

Twitter views improving work as an exercise in enhancing the human experience
Employee Benefits: Addressing delegates in the opening keynote of the 21st annual Employee Benefits Live conference, Bruce Daisley, vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Twitter, spoke about how organisations can improve the employee experience at work. Read story

Charles Stanley harnesses employee voice to boost staff engagement
Employee Benefits: Financial services organisation Charles Stanley has increased its employee engagement from 67% in 2016 to 76% in 2018, by harnessing employee ideas and empowering staff to participate in its transformation. Read story

Amazon uses diversity and inclusion to build business innovation
Employee Benefits: E-commerce giant Amazon champions diversity and inclusion not only as the right thing to do, but as a business decision aimed at improving creativity and the inventive mindset of its 30,000 full-time UK employees. Read story

The Poppy Factory uses organisational values to embed wellbeing
Employee Benefits: Veterans charity The Poppy Factory has used its organisational values to help implement a four-pronged wellbeing strategy. Read story

Workplace perks peak as workers see them mainly as gimmicks
Workplace Insight: New research from travel app provider Seatfrog claims that workers are looking for more than just fun or unusual workplace perks to brag about to their friends when starting a job. Read story

FTSE 350 pension deficit decreases £17bn in volatile September
Pensions Age: The FTSE 350’s collective pension deficit decreased by £17bn in September in a volatile month for pension valuations. Read story

Sajid Javid promises National Living Wage rise
HR Magazine: Chancellor Sajid Javid has pledged to increase the National Living Wage (NLW) to £10.50 per hour within the next five years. Read story

How businesses can bring an attitude of gratitude
Incentive and Motivation: Generous benefit schemes and reward-based incentives certainly have their place in the workplace, but sometimes going back to basics when it comes to making your employees feel valued can go a long way. We caught up with Jamie Mackenzie, Director at Sodexo Engage to get his views. Read story

UK high ranking businesswomen launch campaign to close gender pay gap
HR Review: A collective of 100 successful businesswomen have launched a campaign to put an end to the gender pay gap, called the #MeTooPay initiative. Read story

Dementia costing employers ‘billions’ as caring responsibilities force thousands to quit work
People Management: Research finds 112,000 people gave up work or retired early to look after relatives last year, as experts highlight employers’ ‘big role to play’ in supporting carers. Read story

Microsoft Ireland empowers staff to manage health and wellbeing
Employee Benefits: Dublin-based technology organisation Microsoft Ireland empowers its 2,200 staff to manage their own health and wellbeing using an experiences and treatments booking platform as part of its overall wellbeing strategy. Read story

Adidas fosters trust and promotes flexibility to drive performance
Employee Benefits: Jonathan Collinge (pictured), corporate social responsibility (CSR) manager at multinational sports clothing brand Adidas, opened day two of Employee Benefits Live 2019 with insights into how the organisation approaches culture and the employee experience. Read story

Virgin Atlantic reinvigorates benefits package for 10,000 employees
Employee Benefits: International airline Virgin Atlantic has reinvigorated its wellbeing approach and employee benefits package to better reflect and accommodate its growing workforce. Read story

London City Airport creates diverse financial wellbeing programme
Employee Benefits: London City Airport has created a programme that address many aspects of employees’ financial wellbeing. Read story

LinkedIn uses organisational culture as driver for engagement and retention
Employee Benefits: Professional social media organisation LinkedIn has adopted a people-first approach to its employee experience, business operations and organisational culture, using this as its key driver for talent attraction, retention and motivation. Read story

Royal Bank of Scotland and SAP approach wellbeing holistically
Employee Benefits: Financial institution Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and software business SAP UK and Ireland shared insights surrounding their respective wellbeing strategies at Employee Benefits Live 2019. Read story

Backto60 loses state pension age discrimination case
Pensions Age: The High Court has sided with the government and dismissed the Backto60 claim which stipulated that rises to the state pension age for women born in the 1950s were discriminatory. Read story

Employer shortfall when helping with childcare costs
HR News: Employee wellbeing platform, Catapillr, has today announced the results of its survey on employer benefits and childcare costs. Out of 300 employees surveyed, 76% of respondents felt their employer could do more to help with childcare costs. Read story