At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 3-9 August 2018

The headlines you might have missed between 3-9 August.

76% believe there has been an increase in demand for wellbeing benefits
Employee Benefits: More than three-quarters (76%) of respondents believe there has been an increase in employee demand for wellbeing benefits at their organisation. Read story

 FTSE 350 defined benefit pension deficit increases to £32bn
Employee Benefits: The accounting deficit of defined benefit (DB) pensions at the UK’s top 350 organisations has increased from £29 billion at the end of June 2018 to £32 billion as of 31 July 2018, according to research by Mercer. Read story

Californian garage door supplier to pay $55,764 in back pay for minimum wage non-compliance
Employee Benefits: California-based garage door manufacturing and supply organisation Ziegler is to pay $55,764 (£42,911.79) in back pay to 43 employees for violating minimum wage and overtime regulations. Read story

NHS staff participate in demonstration over pay dispute
Employee Benefits: NHS frontline staff, ambulance professionals and support staff who are members of the trade union GMB are today (Friday 3 August 2018) participating in a lunchtime demonstration in a dispute over pay. Read story

Ford uses body tracking technology to create personalised workstations for employees
Employee Benefits: Car manufacturing organisation Ford is using advanced body tracking technology to ergonomically design personalised workstations for its auto-assembly line staff. Read story

MPs launch probe into pensions cost and transparency
Pensions: The Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) has launched an inquiry to ask whether the pensions industry provides "sufficient transparency" of charges, strategy and performance to savers. Read story

Government to consider five days’ paid leave for working carers
Personnel Today: The government has committed to exploring the case for five days’ statutory paid leave for carers, but has been criticised for “barely paying lip service” to other recommendations made to help improve working carers’ lives. Read story

'Disloyalty bonus' for workers who switch jobs
HR Grapevine: Workers who change jobs are benefitting from a ‘disloyalty bonus’ in the form of bigger pay rises than those who choose to stay put, a study has found. Read story

SMEs miss out on private medical insurance benefits
Incentive and Motivation: SMEs are missing out on the vast array of benefits private medical insurance (PMI) can provide, commonly viewing it as something only large corporations can offer, according to The Health Insurance Group. Read story

Experts call on businesses to tackle ‘concerning’ trends in paternity leave uptake
People Management: Organisations must tackle ‘concerning’ trends around paternity leave uptake, experts have warned, as research continues to suggest a number of working fathers are taking less than two weeks off after the birth of their children. Read story

How to protect employees from pension scams
HR Magazine: As soon as it became easier for people to access large chunks of money in one go they became a target of scammers. Read story

Workplace protection: extending cover beyond the boardroom
Corporate Adviser: At a time when a strong people strategy has become a competitive advantage, good employee benefits consultancy for companies of all shapes and sizes will be highly sought after, says Suzanne Clarkson. Read story

More than half of UK employers do not understand life assurance payout policies
Employee Benefits: More than half (55%) of employers do not accurately understand the circumstances in which group life assurance (GLA) policies pay out, according to research by Opinium on behalf of Group Risk Development (Grid). Read story

FTSE 100 DB pension schemes move into surplus for the first time in 10 years
Employee Benefits: Defined benefit (DB) pension schemes for FTSE 100 organisations have achieved a surplus of £3 billion, moving out of deficit for the first time in 10 years, according the JLT Employee Benefits monthly index. Read story

Samsung extends financial education to employees in Ireland
Employee Benefits: Multinational technology organisation Samsung has launched an online financial wellness programme for its 40 employees in Ireland. Read story

TPO finds Northumbria Police Authority guilty of maladministration; Gives 'new hope' to scam victims
Professional Pensions: A ruling by The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) could mean past victims get redress if it finds trustees failed to alert members to pension transfer risks or did not perform mandatory checks. Read story 

Pension transfers could cost members £2,600 over expected lifetime
Employee Benefits: Pension members choosing to transfer out of their employer’s scheme could receive an income that is £2,600 lower over their expected lifetime, according to research by XPS Pensions Group. Read story 

IWGB joint employer case to be heard in the High Court
Employee Benefits: The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has today (7 August 2018) announced that it will face government lawyers in a landmark case regarding the rights of outsourced workers. Read story

DB transfer members risk running out of money seven years earlier
Professional Pensions: An individual transferring a £230,000 defined benefit (DB) pension could lose up to seven years of retirement income if they draw a fixed sum of £10,000 a year, according to XPS Pensions Group research. Read story

Provider view: Julian Nurse – Preventing mental health issues with workplace wellbeing
Corporate Adviser: With an increased focus from Government, charities and the media, intermediaries will be more aware than ever of the mental health issues facing their clients’ workforces – and will be conscious of the need to help them address the challenges they represent, says Aviva group protection propositions manager Julian Nurse. Read story

More police officers take on second jobs
Personnel Today: Thousands of police officers have taken on a second job, while more than four in 10 worry about the state of their personal finances most days, a survey has found. Read story

Paternity leave uptake falls for first time in five years
Personnel Today: The number of new fathers taking paternity leave fell for the first time in five years last year, while almost three times more women took maternity leave. Read story

London cleaners strike for National Living Wage
HR Grapevine: Cleaners across the capital are walking out of their jobs today as they fight for the London living wage and decent sick pay - The Guardian reports. Read story

TPR warns schemes could unwittingly become master trusts
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has warned schemes that making future changes to benefits or structures could cause them to become subject to its master trust regime. Read story

Manchester University plans to close final salary scheme for support staff
Professional Pensions: The University of Manchester is consulting on closing its non-academic staff final salary fund to future accrual and enrolling new recruits into a defined contribution (DC) scheme. Read story

20% provide counselling to support staff mental health
Employee Benefits: A fifth (20%) of employer respondents organise counselling for their employees in order to support staff mental health, according to research by insurance organisation Aviva and the British Chambers of Commerce. Read story

PR organisation Bottle pays to take staff to music festival
Employee Benefits: Oxford-based public relations organisation Bottle has taken its employees on a four-day, employer-funded trip to a music festival to boost employee engagement and creativity. Read story 

Greater Manchester-based Metrolink tram drivers accept three-year pay deal
Employee Benefits: Tram drivers who work for Metrolink in Greater Manchester and who are members of trade union Unite have voted to accept a three-year pay deal. Read story

Demonstrating ROI on early intervention in workplace health
Corporate Adviser: Employers tend not to be impressed by generic industry ROI stats for early intervention – so advisers should create bespoke ones for them, says Edmund Tirbutt. Read story

Vacancies and salaries enjoy “summer bounce”, says REC
Personnel Today: Vacancies for both permanent and temporary staff increased at the quickest rate for eight months in July, according to the latest Report on Jobs from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Read story

DB transfers heading into costly drawdown products, research finds
Pensions Expert: Defined benefit members transferring out of their scheme to take advantage of freedom and choice may be wasting money on fees for flexibilities they are unlikely to use, according to a new report. Read story 

31% of women do not know how much they have saved into their pension
Employee Benefits: Less than a third (31%) of female respondents do not how much they have saved into their pension, compared to 21% of men, according to research by Aegon. Read story

Digital wellbeing provider Hero acquires Colour-Fit
Employee Benefits: Digital wellness organisation Hero has acquired professional sports nutrition business Colour-Fit in order to enhance its service offering to corporate clients. Read story

Civil service trade unions launch legal action over implementation of new pay cap
Employee Benefits: Three trade unions representing more than 200,000 civil servants have jointly launched legal action in a dispute over the government’s implementation of a 1.5% pay cap for civil service employees. Read story

Pensions dashboard petition victim of ‘minister bureaucracy’ over lack of govt debate
Money Marketing: Provider Aegon has called out the government’s lack of recognition for an independent petition against proposed plans to shelve the pensions dashboard that collected 130,000 signatures in three weeks. Read story

Regulator pressing DB schemes to match dividends with deficit contributions
Professional Pensions: Defined benefit (DB) pension funds are increasingly under pressure to put in place dividend-sharing mechanisms as the regulator seeks to address the disparity with deficit contributions. Read story

FTSE 350 DB deficits fall to 17% of pre-tax profits
Professional Pensions: Pension deficits at the UK's 350 largest listed companies fell by £27bn over the 18 months to June on an accounting basis, according to Barnett Waddingham. Read story

Earthmiles’ Megha Prakash: Making technology that delivers wellbeing
Corporate Adviser: Earthmiles@Work co-founder Megha Prakash is on a mission to improve workplace wellbeing. The 33-year-old explains why gamification, rewards and nudges are the key to engagement levels not normally seen in the world of employee benefits. Read story

Office workers spend less time outdoors than prisoners
HR Grapevine: The majority of office workers in the UK spend less time outdoors than prisoners, with around 35% spending less than 15 minutes outside each day. Read story

Mental health at work becoming less taboo - BCC and Aviva
Cover: Survey by British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) and Aviva finds nearly a third of businesses have witnessed increased absence due to mental health. Read story

32% of US Companies Will Use Tax Savings on Employee Reward Programmes
Incentive and Motivation: A new poll from Mercer says 32 percent of the employers it surveyed will be putting portions of their income tax savings into employee reward programs. This news comes as some well-known brands also announced they will be sharing their windfall in the form pay raises and bonuses for their employees. Read story

Are employee wellness programmes effective?
Incentive and Motivation: A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that employee wellness programmes “did not significantly save employees money or make them healthier.” Read story