At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week - 9-15 February 2018
The headlines you might have missed between 9-15 February
Trinity Mirror offers £41.2m cash for Northern & Shell pensions in planned M&A
Professional Pensions: The newspaper publisher is offering a one-off upfront £41.2m cash payment and £29.2m deficit recovery plan for the Northern & Shell defined benefit (DB) schemes as part of its planned acquisition. Read story
Poll: 33% would not fund an employee holiday
Employee Benefits: A third (33%) of respondents would not fund an employee holiday designed to boost motivation, engagement and team building. Read story
Wellcome Trust reports a 30% mean gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: Global charity Wellcome Trust has reported a 30% mean gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay as at 5 April 2017. Read story
Culture Perth and Kinross gains living wage accreditation
Employee Benefits: Museum and library services trust Culture Perth and Kinross has been accredited as a living wage employer by The Poverty Alliance. Read story
The latest employee benefit trends
Incentive and Motivation: What are the latest employee benefit trends? We thought that the best person to ask would be the HR Director at one of the leading UK provider of employee services, Personal Group. Read story
UK workers expect financial incentives for living a healthy lifestyle
Reward: A third of the UK workforce feel entitled to financial rewards in order to live a healthier lifestyle. Read story
Government launches shared parental leave campaign after just 2% take-up
Personnel Today: The Government has launched a campaign to promote shared parental leave after pitiful take-up of the policy. Read story
Retirement dreams aren’t based in reality for most UK workers
Reward: British employees need more education on pensions before they must face the harsh reality of their retirement. Read story
What are the best ways to reward employees?
Incentive and Motivation: The success of an organization depends on the employees it has. Top employees are hard to find and expensive to hire. Organizations are therefore keen on keeping the acquired top talent. Read story
DB transfer values drop in January
Money Marketing: Typical transfer values for defined benefit scheme members fell steadily over the start of the year due to higher gilt yields according to Xafinity’s latest data. Read story
Perpetual Guardian to pilot four-day working week
Employee Benefits: New Zealand-based statutory trust organisation Perpetual Guardian is to pilot a four-day working week. Read story
University of Winchester rolls out sustainability and wellbeing programme
Employee Benefits: The University of Winchester has rolled out a wellbeing and sustainability programme to its 600 employees, following the success of a four-month pilot. Read story
Pinsent Masons reports a 22.4% mean gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: International law firm Pinsent Masons has reported a 22.4% mean gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay. Read story
Box Clever trustees fall foul of 'reverse moral hazard’
Professional Pensions: The trustees of the Box Clever Group Pension Scheme committed a form of "reverse moral hazard" by running the scheme on while its participating employers were in administrative receivership, ITV has claimed. Read story
NEST opt-outs lowest among youngest pension savers, at 4%
Professional Pensions: Average opt-out rates rested at 4% for 22- to 29-year-old members of NEST in December last year, compared with 26% for 60- to 64-year-olds. Read story
New civil partnerships law could add 'billions' to DB liabilities
Professional Pensions: A new law allowing co-habiting couples to register as civil partners could add billions to the liabilities of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes. Read story
Govt’s plans to tackle pension scams ‘light on detail’
Money Marketing: Government plans to combat the increasing pension scam epidemic have been described as “light on detail” by Old Mutual Wealth. Read story
Pensions minister: HMRC will not misuse SSAS de-registration powers
Money Marketing: Pensions minister Guy Opperman has given assurances HM Revenue & Customs will not use powers to de-register legitimate small self-administered schemes, in a letter seen by Money Marketing. Read story
49% of men feel there is a societal stigma to taking shared parental leave
Employee Benefits: Under half (49%) of male respondents believe that there is a societal stigma attached to taking shared parental leave, and that it is not considered the normal course of action for men to take, according to research by TSB. Read story
Taylor Wessing reports a 13.5% mean gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: International law firm Taylor Wessing has reported a 13.5% mean gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay as at 5 April 2017. Read story
General Electric reports an 8.8% mean gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: Digital industrial organisation General Electric has reported a 8.8% consolidated mean gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay across its 13 UK legal entities. Read story
DWP says cold-calling ban to be enacted 'swiftly'; guidance will become default
Professional Pensions: The ban will need a 'workable' amendment to the guidance bill. Read story
Auto-enrolment hits one millionth 'responsible employer' mark
Professional Pensions: Auto-enrolment (AE) has now brought on board its one millionth employer as the flagship programme reaches the end of its phased staging, the government has announced. Read story
Reward and Retention
Reward: Resolutions and fresh starts are still fresh in most people’s minds - whether they have kept them or not - and that can apply to companies as well as individuals. Simon Kent looks at ways to maintain these throughout 2018. Read story
Total Media gains living wage accreditation
Employee Benefits: Media strategy organisation Total Media has been accredited as a living wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation. Read story
Bird and Bird reports a 14.5% mean gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: International law firm Bird and Bird has reported a 14.5% mean gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay as at 5 April 2017. Read story
Collective individual DC schemes best route for savers, finds report
Professional Pensions: Collective individual defined contribution (CIDC) schemes should be sought as the next form of pension provision, a university paper has recommended. Read story
DB consolidation will accelerate without legislative change
Professional Pensions: Research by Hymans Robertson predicts existing options could shrink the DB universe by four-fifths in 25 years' time. Stephanie Baxter explores its predictions. Read story
Scotland’s transport police could get separate scheme section
Pensions Expert: Members of the British Transport Police Force Superannuation Fund are set to be moved to a new section in the scheme from April 2019 if trustees agree, while new recruits will join the unfunded police arrangement or Local Government Pension Scheme. Read story
Rise of the ‘total rewards’ era with flex benefits most wanted for employees
Incentive and Motivation: Employees and employers prefer variable pay and flexi benefits with salary, according to a new report by human resources firm TeamLease Services. Read story
MPs call for contingent charging ban after British Steel crisis
Money Marketing: The work and pensions select committee has called for a ban on contingent charging in a report examining how financial regulators have dealt with the British Steel pension saga. Read story
WPC urges FCA to ban contingent charging for pensions transfer advice
Professional Pensions: The Work and Pensions Select Committee has urged the FCA to ban the use of contingent charging for pension transfer advice in its latest report into the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS). Read story
Collective individual DC schemes best route for savers, finds report
Professional Pensions: Collective individual defined contribution (CIDC) schemes should be sought as the next form of pension provision, a university paper has recommended. Read story
Omni-Serv bus drivers at Gatwick Airport accept two-year pay deal
Employee Benefits: Airside bus drivers at Gatwick Airport, who are employed by Omni-Serv and are members of the trade union Unite, have voted to accept a two-year pay deal. Read story
Chipotle awards bonuses and extends paid parental leave for 71,000 US staff
Employee Benefits: Mexican food retailer Chipotle has improved its employee benefits offering to award 71,000 US-based employees cash and stock bonuses, as well as enhancing its paid parental leave policy. Read story
TPR names and shames professional trustees over poor chair's statements
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has named six schemes and their professional trustees which failed to produce compliant chair's statements. Read story
Brits set to benefit from biggest pay rise in 10 years
HR Grapevine: According to a Bank of England survey, the increases are a result of the higher minimum wage, inflation and reluctance from European workers to work in Britain. Read story
Workers on insecure contracts less likely to have family-friendly benefits, study finds
People Management: Employers urged to offer flexible working to all to ‘boost talent attraction and retention’. Read story