At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 22-28 September 2017
The headlines you might have missed between 22-28 September.
Government's 'legislative paralysis' means tax relief changes likely, says Webb
Professional Pensions: The "legislative paralysis" since June's snap general election and the dominance of : debates means the Chancellor could tinker with "monstrous" tax relief in his Autumn Budget in November, Sir Steve Webb has said. Read story
AE has been moderately successful, says industry
Professional Pensions: Respondents say there has been some success with automatic enrolment (AE) but members are still not saving enough. Read story
Claire Trott: Why it’s better to be in a final salary scheme than out
Money Marketing: People are opting out of final salary schemes over annual allowance and tax fears but the benefits of staying in are obvious. Read story
BT looks to High Court for indexation swap ruling
Professional Pensions: BT is seeking to switch indexation for the final section of its scheme in order to stem a ballooning deficit. Read story
29% of group income protection claims are for cancer
Employee Benefits: 29% of group income protection claims are for cancer. Read story
67% have specific benefits in place to support staff mental health
Employee Benefits: More than two-thirds (67%) of respondents’ organisations have specific benefits and strategies in place to support their employees’ mental health, according to research by Employee Benefits and Health Shield. Read story
Yum! Brands holds employee development week
Employee Benefits: Yum! Brands has held an employee development week for its Louisville-based staff to help employees explore aspects of their personal wellbeing and build on skills to further their professional development. Read story
77% offer support or counselling services to some or all employees
Employee Benefits: More than three-quarters (77%) of employer respondents offer support or counselling services to some or all employees, according to research by Employee Benefits and Health Shield. Read story
66% have not heard about GDPR legislation
Employee Benefits: Two-thirds (66%) of respondents have no knowledge of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation, or have any plans in place to prepare to comply with the upcoming legislation, according to research by DocsCorp. Read story
Labour to unveil Waspi early access plan
Corporate Adviser: Women born in the 1950s would be able to access their state pension early if Labour were in power, shadow work and pensions secretary Debbie Abrahams is set to announce at the party’s conference this week. Read story
HR gender pay gap revealed
HR Magazine: The gender pay gap for managers is particularly high in finance sector businesses and lowest in IT. Read story
Why PwC decided to report its BAME pay gap
HR Magazine: The progress being made on gender diversity has made the firm think about broader areas of difference. Read story
Pitman Training leads UK campaign for shorter working week
Incentive and Motivation: Statistics show UK workers are struggling to leave their 9-5 on time, with the majority of UK-based employees now working an extra day (8.73 hours) every week on top of their contracted hours. Read story
Promoting positive emotional wellbeing
Reward Guide: Good health extends beyond the physical, and the wise employer makes sure that their staff are supported psychologically, too. Kirsty Jagielko, head of marketing at Cigna explains how employers can ensure this. Read story
Should you be giving your staff an MOT?
HR Grapevine: Whilst UK car drivers will be used to checking on the state of their vehicle, how many employers are checking in on the state of their workforce? Read story
Managing annual leave: five common employer pitfalls
Personnel Today: Mismanagement of annual leave can have a dramatic impact on a company’s business, as demonstrated by Ryanair’s cancellation of hundreds of flights after it admitted “messing up” the planning of pilots’ holiday. Where do employers commonly get annual leave wrong? Read story
Labour backs collective DC to give certainty and control to savers
Professional Pensions: Labour will call for collective defined contribution (DC) schemes in order to protect savers against longevity risk and costs, the party has announced. Read story
43% do not know how much of their monthly salary to invest into their DC pension
Employee Benefits: Around four in 10 (43%) of defined contribution (DC) pension scheme members do not know how much of their monthly salary they should be saving into their workplace pension, according to research by BlackRock. Read story
Employment tribunal rules in favour of Addison Lee drivers in worker-status case
Employee Benefits: The Central London Employment Tribunal has ruled that three drivers working for car and courier organisation Addison Lee are employed as workers rather than independent contractors, and are therefore entitled to employment rights such as the national minimum wage and holiday pay. Read story
Gender pay reporting methods will mask the true problems
HR Magazine: There are multiple ways companies can manipulate their gender pay gap results. Read story
Number of private sector employees in a pension has increased by a third since AE
Pensions Age: The proportion of eligible private sector employees who save into a workplace pension has increased by more than a third from 42 per cent to 73 per cent, since the introduction of auto-enrolment, prompting the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) to call it a “huge success story” . Read story
Financial education is key to long-term success of workplace pension scheme
Reward Guide: In order for employees to understand the importance of workplace pension schemes, WEALTH at Work emphasises how financial education plays a vital role in this. Read story
McDonald's employees blast firm for 'multiple failings’
HR Grapevine: McDonald’s has been accused of serious employee safety failings, “belittling and degrading staff” with some staff claiming they have to borrow money to make ends meet – Independent reports. Read story
REVEALED: The happiest UK professions
HR Grapevine: When it comes to pay and job satisfaction, it’s good news that those in human resources are some of the happiest workers in the UK - despite the gender pay gap still sitting at 10%. Read story
Women ‘tolerating high levels of workplace stress’, finds study
People Management: Women are putting up with high levels of stress and unhappiness in the workplace, with new research revealing that 70 per cent ranked their stress levels at five or higher out of 10. Read story
'Superfunds' could ensure 100% of member benefits, PLSA says
Professional Pensions: Consolidating defined benefit (DB) schemes could give members greater security and lead to more affordable benefits, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association's (PLSA) taskforce has said. Read story
Most DC members support compulsory contribution rates, finds research
Professional Pensions: Seven in 10 savers want the government to introduce mandatory contribution rates as many are confused about how much they need to save into their pension, according to a BlackRock survey. Read story
Richard Parkin: Can a parliamentary inquiry make sense of pension freedoms?
Money Marketing: The FCA’s own analysis of pension freedoms problems overlooks the fact the solution must start by examining outcomes rather than products. Read story
BBC to align median pay for off-air journalists
Employee Benefits: Media organisation the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has agreed to align median pay for off-air journalists who work at its BBC World Service and BBC Monitoring businesses with employee counterparts who are based at BBC Network News. Read story
39% would like more support to manage care responsibilities at work
Employee Benefits: More than a third (39%) of respondents would like more support at work to help them manage care responsibilities for an elderly relative, according to research by Simplyhealth. Read story
12% have stopped pension contributions to support financially dependent relatives
Employee Benefits: More than one in 10 (12%) of respondents over the age of 50 have stopped saving into their pension in order to support either children or parents who are financially dependent on them, according to research by Aviva. Read story
TPR and ABI enter debate on PLSA’s superfunds plan
Corporate Adviser: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) says it is looking forward to discussing how to help schemes consolidate, following the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association’s publication today of a radical plan to bring struggling schemes into superfunds. Read story
Six in 10 employees would cycle to work with the right support
Incentive & Motivation: Increased fitness and good health is the biggest benefit to employers of staff commuting by bike. Read story
Wednesday 4th November marks Stress Awareness Day
Incentive and Motivation: Wednesday 4th November marks National Stress Awareness Day (NSAD), an annual event organised by International Stress Management Association (ISMAUK) to promote awareness of the impact of stress in the workplace. Read story
PLSA proposes overhaul of DB processes to protect scheme failures
Pensions Age: The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has proposed an overhaul of defined benefit pension scheme processes to improve schemes facing the challenges of underfunding, weak employer covenants and lack of scale. Read story
The Importance of Rewards in Workplace Motivation
Reward Guide: Red Letter Days Motivates outlines how an engaging rewards package can create a more motivated and productive workforce. Read story
Mums more likely to be in work than childless men
HR Grapevine: Mothers are now more likely to be in paid work than childless men according to new data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). Read story
Uber worker status case heard at EAT
Personnel Today: Uber appears at the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) today to appeal last year’s decision on the employment status of its drivers. Read story
What do Uber's legal cases mean for drivers?
HR Magazine: Being an Uber taxi driver right now is something of a rollercoaster ride. Read story
Line up your benefits ducks in a row
Reward Guide: Wellbeing rewards can be an important weapon in the engagement armoury. Sam Barrett looks at how employers can help their staff to get the most from their group risk plans. Read story
Inflation continues to outpace pay growth
Personnel Today: Pay awards remain stubbornly below rates of inflation, according to the latest analysis from XpertHR. Read story
Will Ryanair become a ‘Southern Rail in the sky’?
Personnel Today: Ryanair has angered staff and customers after disastrous errors with its pilot rota. The company could now risk unofficial industrial action through sickness absence, as was the case at Southern Rail last year, report Richard Nicolle and Joseph Lappin from Stewarts. Read story
Pensions regulator reveals staff bonuses
Money Marketing: The Pensions Regulator has confirmed only 50 per cent of its senior leadership team and managers were awarded a bonus last year. Read story
57% of retail employees are unhappy with their pay
Employee Benefits: More than half (57%) of retail employees are unhappy with their pay, with average advertised salaries for retail positions of £29,042 a year, according to research by Adzuna. Read story
38% plan to increase their employee benefits offering in 2017
Employee Benefits: More than a third (38%) of employer respondents plan to increase the number of options in their employee benefits package in 2017, according to research by Mattioli Woods. Read story
97% include employee assistance programmes in mental health support
Employee Benefits: Nearly all (97%) employer respondents that have a strategy to support the mental health of their workforce cite an employee assistance programme (EAP) as part of this, according to research by Employee Benefits and Health Shield. Read story
DC membership soars 62.5% in 2016; active membership hits all time high - ONS stats
Professional Pensions: Occupational pension scheme membership hit yet another record high in 2016, with more than 39.2 million saving through their workplace, latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data reveal. Read story
Industry rejects Labour's early state pension plans for Waspi women
Professional Pensions: Respondents criticised the party's pledge to allow women born in the 1950s to access the state pension early. Read story
Overtime Outrage: UK staff spending shocking amount of time at work
HR Grapevine: Working hard or hardly working? We all know someone who is guilty of spending too much time in the office; a serial late-stayer. And whilst they may believe it comes across as conscientious, it’s actually rather harmful for your health and wellbeing. Read story
Majority of employers expect to help staff prepare for retirement
People Management: The majority of employers (58 per cent) expect to help their employees make more informed choices about their finances in preparation for leaving the workplace, new research has found. Read story