At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 1-7 December 2017
The headlines you might have missed between 1-7 December.
46% believe Uber drivers and Deliveroo riders should be treated equally
Employee Benefits: Under half (46%) of respondents feel that Uber drivers and Deliveroo riders should be treated equally in terms of access to employment rights, such as receiving holiday pay and the national minimum wage. Read story
Earthmiles app to launch to employers
Employee Benefits: Healthy lifestyle reward app Earthmiles will be launching to UK employers from April 2018. Read story
Accenture reports a 16.7% mean gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: Global management consultancy and professional services organisation Accenture has reported a 16.7% mean gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay as at 5 April 2017. Read story
Shell UK reports a 22.2% mean gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: Energy and fuel organisation Shell UK has reported a mean gender pay gap of 22.2% for fixed hourly pay across its seven employing entities with more than 250 employees and five employing entities with less than 250 employees as at 5 April 2017. Read story
Select committee calls special probe of BSPS advice
Professional Pensions: A "special" evidence hearing will be held by the Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) in order to probe "questionable approaches and unsuitable advice" given to British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) members. Read story
USS overhaul could leave staff over £200,000 worse off at retirement
Professional Pensions: A lecturer starting work today could be £208,000 worse off over the course of their retirement if Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) proposals take effect. Read story
DB deficit climbs £40bn as rate rise fails to dent
Professional Pensions: The aggregate deficit of the UK's defined benefit (DB) schemes rose to £450bn over the course of November, PwC's Skyval index has recorded. Read story
Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability
Reward: The Government’s new ten-year work, health and disability strategy proposes solutions that are welcome, but the pace of change needs to accelerate. Read story
‘Fit for Work’ scheme for long-term illness to be scrapped
People Management: Low referral rate blamed for programme’s failure as government announces possible changes to statutory sick pay. Read story
53% of employers cannot afford non-performance-related benefits
Employee Benefits: More than half (53%) of employer respondents cannot afford to provide non-performance-related benefits because their organisation does not have sufficient budget, according to research by One4all Rewards. Read story
Advertised salaries increase by 1.9% year-on-year
Employee Benefits: Advertised salaries in the UK have increased by 1.9% year-on-year as at November 2017, according to research by CV Library. Read story
High Court rules Morrisons is liable in payroll data leak case
Employee Benefits: The High Court has ruled that retailer Morrisons is legally responsible for a payroll data leak committed by a former employee. Read story
AE review: Five things to watch out for
Professional Pensions: Ahead of the results of the automatic enrolment (AE) review, PP looks at what could come up. Read story
BA Pensions suspends transfer values for all active members
Professional Pensions: An increased volume of enquiries has led British Airways (BA) Pensions to temporarily suspend transfer values for active members. Read story
National pensions debate needed before de-risking bubble bursts
Professional Pensions: A national debate is needed to consider whether the investment approach of defined benefit (DB) schemes is storing up problems for the future, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) president Sir Brian Souter has said. Read story
Creating a Nation of Savers
Reward: The majority (60%) of employees want help to make the right pension and savings decisions, according to research by LifeSight. Read story
Shocking levels of UK workers slam 'negative' workplace
HR Grapevine: Half of all UK employees believe their workplace is having a negative impact on their mental, physical and financial wellbeing. Read story
Group risk ‘must not exacerbate gender pay differences’
Health Insurance Daily: Employers are being urged to ensure that any group risk benefits they offer do not exacerbate any pay differences. Read story
Holiday pay case raises stakes for employers
People Management: A recent ECJ decision exposes businesses to significant holiday pay liabilities where they have self-employed staff who are determined to be workers, as Sarah Ozanne reports. Read story
New rules mean firms must consider wider workforce when setting executive pay
People Management: FRC proposals welcomed for empowering HR, but concerns are raised over backtrack on formal pay ratios. Read story
36% say workplace pensions are the most valuable employee benefit
Employee Benefits: Just over a third (36%) of employer respondents say that workplace pensions are the most valued employee benefit, according to research by Hargreaves Lansdown. Read story
British Airways suspends pension transfer values for active members
Employee Benefits: British Airways (BA) has temporarily suspended the provision of transfer values to all its active British Airways Pensions members. Read story
Legg Mason enhances paid parental leave for US staff
Employee Benefits: Legg Mason has enhanced paid parental leave for its 785 US-based employees. Read story
Bond allocation hits all-time high of 56% as DB schemes mature
Professional Pensions: Defined benefit (DB) schemes further upped their allocation to bonds in the year to March 2017, continuing a four-year trend, analysis by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has found. Read story
UK worst OECD nation for mandatory retirement provision
Professional Pensions: The UK pensions system remains relatively ungenerous and unequal compared to other countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has said. Read story
2027 will spell the end of FTSE 350 final salary schemes
Professional Pensions: No FTSE 350 companies will retain a final salary scheme open to accrual by 2027, analysis by Hymans Robertson finds. Read story
Diversity and pay under spotlight in new UK corporate governance rules
Money Marketing: UK-listed companies face tighter rules around executive pay, diversity and shareholder votes under a shake-up of the UK Corporate Governance Code. Read story
44pc on course to drain pots in 12 years
Corporate Adviser: Fears that pension freedoms may result in retirees running out of cash have been heightened by research showing almost half of drawdown savers are withdrawing more than 10 per cent of their pension savings each year. Read story
EAPs are the top employer choice for tackling Domestic Violence
Reward: New research has found that Employer Assistance Programmes (EAPs) are most employers first point of action when dealing with domestic abuse but a more diversified approach is needed to handle this issue effectively. Read story
Uber application to send case straight to Supreme Court is refused
Personnel Today: It follows last month’s Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissal of the cab hailing company’s appeal in the case of Uber v Aslam. Read story
West Ham United Football Club gains living wage accreditation
Employee Benefits: West Ham United Football Club has been accredited as a living wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation. Read story
Facebook and Google among UK’s 50 best places to work
Employee Benefits: Technology organisations Facebook, Google and Salesforce are among the organisations that have been recognised on the UK’s 50 Best places to work list, compiled by Glassdoor. Read story
Costs and charges slashed for £25bn of DC accounts
Professional Pensions: Defined contribution (DC) savers face lower costs and charges after providers made a concerted effort to reduce these to less than 1% over the past two years. Read story
Ian McKenna: The pensions dashboard is heading for disaster
Money Marketing: A single service only accessible by consumers via the new guidance body would spell the end for the project. Read story
Nine in 10 workplaces have no financial wellness strategy
HR Magazine: Employers are concerned about getting too involved in employees’ affairs and about the cost of implementing such schemes. Read story
Punter Southall Group businesses to merge with Xafinity
Employee Benefits: UK pensions actuarial, consulting and administration organisation Xafinity is to acquire Punter Southall Group’s actuarial, investment consulting and administration businesses. Read story
Aviva, BT Group and ConvaTec recognised for employee share plans
Employee Benefits: Aviva, BT Group, ConvaTec, Paddy Power Betfair and UBS were among the organisations recognised for best practice in employee share schemes at the ProShare Awards 2017 on Wednesday 6 December 2017. Read story
Deloitte UK reports a 12.9% mean ethnicity pay gap
Employee Benefits: Professional services firm Deloitte UK has reported a 12.9% mean ethnicity pay gap for fixed hourly pay between black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) employees and non-BAME employees across the organisation. Read story
Why Xafinity is acquiring Punter Southall's businesses
Professional Pensions: Combining Xafinity and Punter Southall's "highly complementary" businesses to create the "largest pure-play UK pensions consultancy" will be beneficial for clients, according to Xafinity. Read story
Pensions minister: How we can boost engagement in 2018
Money Marketing: The Government is shifting its thinking to help people better understand their options. Read story
Swap smoking for holidays?
HR Magazine: This concept is certainly interesting for employers suffering from smoking-related disruption at work. Read story
Why should you consider a Car Benefit Scheme in 2018?
Reward: Let’s start with stating the obvious – benefits are important for attracting, retaining and motivating employees. In 2018, this is going to be more critical than ever before, particularly for the hard-to-reach millennial generation. Read story
The digital step-change in employee health
HR Grapevine: We are seeing a step change in employer attitudes to managing absence. It’s all about prevention - not cure. Read story
Mark Witte: Myriad of health concerns shown by employers
Cover Magazine: Mark Witte analyses the implications of some of the key conclusions of Aon's 2017 UK Health Survey of 200 organisations, including the growing recognition of the importance of an emotional health offering. Read story