At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 8-14 December 2017
The headlines you might have missed between 8-14 December.
British Airways to close New Airways Pension Scheme to future accrual
Professional Pensions: British Airways is set to close the New Airways Pension Scheme to future accrual and launch a flexible benefits scheme incorporating a new defined contribution pension scheme. Read story
Scottish pension savers face tax relief ‘chaos'
Professional Pensions: Proposed changes to Scottish income tax bands could see savers receiving too little tax relief, commentators have warned. Read story
Avery Healthcare sees 1,930 staff sign up to benefits platform
Employee Benefits: Residential care home provider Avery Healthcare has seen 1,930 of its 4,200 employees activate accounts on its benefits platform since it launched in October 2017. Read story
Primark and Sports Direct named on minimum wage non-compliance list
Employee Benefits: Retail organisations Primark and Sports Direct are among the 260 employers named by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) for failure to pay employees the national minimum wage and national living wage. Read story
Travis Perkins launches financial education programme
Employee Benefits: Building merchants Travis Perkins has launched a financial education programme for its 30,000 UK employees. Read story
Financial wellness initiatives failing to change behaviour – MetLife report
Corporate Adviser: Employee financial wellness initiatives are failing to deliver because they focus on offering information rather than helping workers to change their financial behaviour, a new report concludes. Read story
Pearson scheme upgrades comms to boost engagement
Pensions Expert: The Pearson Pension Plan has revamped its member communications strategy, using the experience to apply a similar approach to the scheme’s member-nominated trustee appointment process. Read story
Some gender pay gap reporting “statistically improbable”
Personnel Today: Companies submitting their gender pay gaps are getting their sums wrong and providing statistically impossible numbers, according to an equal pay expert at a law firm. Read story
MPs urge Govt to bring in cold-calling ban by summer
Money Marketing: The work and pensions select committee is calling on the Government to ban pension cold-calling through the Financial Claims and Guidance Bill next year, as well as making people either take or opt out of guidance before accessing their pension. Read story
TPR to prosecute second company under AE non-compliance powers
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is seeking to convict a healthcare company and its managing director for allegedly breaching their auto-enrolment (AE) duties. Read story
Nearly half of employees are concerned their pension will not last in retirement, survey finds
Professional Pensions: Over a third (37%) of 50- to 75-year-olds are unsure when and how to access their pension, Old Mutual Wealth and YouGov research reveals. Read story
86% cite pay as the most important aspect of their job
Employee Benefits: More than four-fifths (86%) of respondents cite pay as the most important aspect of their job, according to research by Paymentsense. Read story
British Airways to introduce new defined contribution pension scheme
Employee Benefits: British Airways (BA) is to introduce a new defined contribution (DC) pension scheme as part of a new flexible benefits package for staff. Read story
Top 5 considerations for employees before cashing in their pension
Reward: Over half (53%) of retirees who accessed their defined contribution (DC) pensions chose to withdraw their entire pension pots, according to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) interim findings of its ‘Retirement Outcomes Review’. Read story
Pension scheme rejigs: avoiding the pitfalls
People Management: With BT announcing proposals for a shake-up of its defined benefit scheme, Paula Warnock and Lisa Suares offer tips for employers thinking of following suit. Read story
Employers ‘can withhold pay if weather keeps staff from work’
People Management: Ensure employees understand policies on adverse conditions, say experts – and view snow as an opportunity to improve trust and boost flexible working. Read story
Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund completes £490m pensions buy-in
Employee Benefits: The Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund (MNOPF) has completed a £490 million pensions buy-in transaction. Read story
CBRE staff based at the Royal Berkshire Hospital to receive 5% pay rise
Employee Benefits: Maintenance employees who work for property organisation CBRE at the Royal Berkshire Hospital are to receive a minimum 5% pay rise. Read story
Crest Healthcare to be prosecuted for auto-enrolment non-compliance
Employee Benefits: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is to prosecute healthcare organisation Crest Healthcare and its managing director for failing to automatically enrol its employees into a workplace pension scheme. Read story
DB funding soars to highest level since 2014
Professional Pensions: Defined benefit (DB) schemes have hit their best funding position since April 2014, according to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF). Read story
State Street takes stake in PensionBee
Corporate Adviser: State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) has taken a strategic equity stake in D2C pension platform PensionBee. Read story
Overtime pay shrinks
HR Magazine: Men were found to be far more likely to receive a premium for doing paid overtime. Read story
UK Businesses missing out on tax exempt bonuses
Reward: An increasing number of British businesses would like to regularly reward their staff but feel limited by budgets, according to new research. Read story
Amazon workers 'break law' to meet targets
HR Grapevine: Amazon drivers have revealed that they urinate in bottles and break speed limits, sometimes working longer than 11 hours, to meet delivery goals – Daily Mail reports. Read story
The top UK cities to work in
HR Grapevine: Whilst London is often hailed as the UK’s business centre, holding up the economy with its outstanding performance, (according to a report by the Centre for Cities, if all UK cities were as productive as the capital and the South East, Britain would be £200billion richer) several British cities are storming ahead when it comes to work. Read story
Research: Presenteeism costs more than £4,000 per employee
People Management: Colleagues blowing their noses over your desk during flu season is not only annoying, it’s expensive – with new research from Nottingham Business School claiming the average UK employee spends almost two weeks a year at work while ill, costing firms more than £4,000 per person. Read story
Pay transparency and openness increasing
HR Grapevine: Gender pay gap reporting could be influencing greater pay transparency, says the CIPD. Read story
95% do not offer a returnship programme
Employee Benefits: The majority (95%) of employer respondents do not currently offer a returnship programme for parents looking to re-enter the workplace, according to research by Totaljobs. Read story
Ryanair pilots to strike over trade union representation in pay bargaining
Employee Benefits: Ryanair pilots who are based in Ireland and are members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) plan to strike on Wednesday 20 December 2017 in a dispute over trade union representation for matters such as collective pay bargaining. Read story
Working group unveils mandatory standards for professional trustees
Professional Pensions: Professional trustees will need to comply with six areas of standards from April or May next year under plans to bolster pension scheme governance. Read story
Nine million people auto-enrolled into a pension
Professional Pensions: Auto-enrolment (AE) has now brought nine million workers into occupational pensions since its introduction in 2012, latest government figures show. Read story
SJP stops accepting DB transfers from British Steel members
Money Marketing: St James’s Place has confirmed it will no long accept new defined benefit pension transfer requests from members of the British Steel Pension Scheme. Read story
Total pay falls by 0.2% in real terms
Employee Benefits: Total pay for employees in Great Britain, including bonuses, fell by 0.2% in real terms between August to October 2016 and August to October 2017, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Read story
Pirelli completes £100m pensions buy-in
Employee Benefits: Tyre production and technology organisation Pirelli has completed a £100 million pensions buy-in transaction for three of its defined benefit (DB) pension schemes. Read story
Slaughter and May increases pay for junior lawyers
Employee Benefits: Global law firm Slaughter and May is to increase pay for its trainee and junior lawyers from January 2018, and will pay its associates bonuses of up to 16% for 2017. Read story
Why the Irish border really does matter for UK pension schemes
Professional Pensions: The Brexit deal on the Irish border is heavily vested in trade and security needs, but it also poses problems for cross-border scheme members, James Phillips writes. Read story
Scottish pension savers face tax relief ‘chaos'
Professional Pensions: Changes to Scottish income tax bands could see savers receiving too little tax relief, commentators have warned. Read story
How long do employees stay at a job?
Incentive and Motivation: New research from global recruiters, BPS World, suggests employees are far more loyal than businesses expect. Read story
Salary Sacrifice: A year in the life
Reward: What. A. Year! The 12 months since the Autumn Statement, 2016, has certainly been a challenge for salary sacrifice providers. Read story
Mandatory premium overtime pay ‘will help’ tackle Britain’s labour market challenges
People Management: Panel event hears government is expected to reform overtime rules to combat low pay. Read story