At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week
The headlines you might have missed between 10 July - 17 July 2015.
Salary Survey 2015 Report
Econsultancy: Econsultancy collaborated with sister brands Marketing Week, Design Week and Creative Review to survey nearly 10,000 people across the marketing, digital, design and advertising industries. Read story
Why the industry fears 'ISA pensions
Professional Pensions: The government has opened a wide-reaching consultation on reforming pensions tax relief. Natasha Browne hears the industry’s response. Read story
EAT invokes 18 month limit on holiday pay carry-over
Workplace savings and benefits: Employees may only carry forward unused holiday as a result of sickness absence for a maximum of 18 months, the employment appeal tribunal (EAT) has ruled. Read story
Minority of employers provide health and wellbeing support
Workplace savings and benefits: The prospect of having debilitating health conditions like arthritis, joint pain and back pain is as much a worry to employees as stroke, cancer and heart disease. Read story
Revealed: FOS complaints mount over pension freedoms
Money Marketing: Frustrations over advice requirements and provider delays are dominating calls to the Financial Ombudsman Service in the opening months of the pension reforms, Money Marketing can reveal. Read story
Top motivation for men revealed - and it's not money
HR Grapevine: Scientists have uncovered the secret to motivating the male workforce, according to research carried out by Leicester University. Read story
Sainsbury's face equal pay battle with female workers
HR Grapevine: Sainsbury’s is facing legal action over claims that female shop floor workers earn less than their male counterparts. Read story
Jelf urges employers to ‘act now' following IPT increase
Cover Magazine: Jelf Employee Benefits is urging employers to consider four key steps following the Summer Budget announcement that insurance premium tax (IPT) will increase affecting private medical insurance. Read story
AXA scheme uses group company to insure £2.8bn of longevity risk
Professional Pensions: The trustees of the AXA UK Group Pension Scheme have agreed a £2.8bn longevity swap with Reinsurance Group of America (RGA). Read story
National Grid pension scheme hires chief executive
Professional Pensions: Rob Schreur has been appointed chief executive of the National Grid pension scheme. Read story
Older generations most likely to believe life insurance ‘unimportant'
Professional Pensions: Those aged 55-64 are most likely to believe life insurance is unimportant, with one in four thinking so. Read story
High street names tackle mental health stigma
Workplace Savings and Benefits: Fourteen major employers have spoken out about the experiences of actively engaging their workforces with the issue of mental health. Read story
The essential guide to workplace benefits in the Middle East
Workplace Savings and Benefits: The Middle East has been one of the booming expat economies for more than a decade. Owain Thomas explores the laws and expectations for employee benefit packages. Read story
Women urged to demand higher salaries in the digital sector
HR Grapevine: Women must demand better pay in order to fix the gender salary gap in the digital sector, a new study suggests. Read story
Doncaster Council switches voluntary benefits provider
Employee Benefits: Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council has switched voluntary benefits providers. Read story
Where should group risk sit in a health and wellbeing strategy?
Employee Benefits: Group risk benefits are a key piece of an employer’s health and wellbeing package. But how should they be promoted to staff? Read story
NHBC uses group risk benefits to prepare for the future
Employee Benefits: The National House Building Council (NHBC) aims to take care of its 1,200 staff for the long term through its provision of group risk and healthcare benefits. Read story
Katharine Moxham: Healthcare needs group risk to be effective
Employee Benefits: Benefits in silos are well and truly gone, and group risk is no exception to this. Read story
Companies forced to reveal gender pay gap
HR Magazine: Companies with more than 250 employees will be forced to disclose the gender pay gap in their workplaces from next year. Read story
Worker satisfaction with benefits tied to job satisfaction
Employee Benefits Adviser: Employee satisfaction with benefits is closely linked to their satisfaction with their employer. Read story
Boulding joins Now: Pensions
Corporate Adviser: Now: Pensions has appointed Adrian Boulding as director of policy taking up a newly created role in September on a one day a week basis. Read story
SMEs considering paying more than AE minimum
Corporate Adviser: Small and medium-sized employers are increasingly likely to contribute more than the auto-enrolment minimum according to new research. Read Story
Pension deficits continue to fall from record high
Workplace Savings and Benefits: There has been a persistent fall in defined benefit (DB) pension scheme deficits over the past quarter. Read story
Savers with small pots are struggling to access pension freedoms
Workplace Savings and Benefits: Savers with the smallest defined contribution (DC) pension pots are struggling to access freedom and choice, the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) is warning. Read story
Asda appoints pension scheme actuary
Employee Benefits: Asda has appointed Aon Hewitt as actuarial adviser to the Trustees of the Asda Group pension scheme. Read story
Retirement income a priority for half of retirees
Employee Benefits: Almost half (47%) of adults feel that securing a guaranteed retirement income is a priority when covering essential expenses, according to a study from asset management firm Fidelity Worldwide Investment. Read story
IBM to offer breast milk shipping service to working mothers
HR Grapevine: IBM is to offer a breast milk shipping service for working mothers that are away on business, allowing them to send it home temperature-controlled packaging. Read story
Barclays CEO's £28 million 'golden goodbye’
HR Grapevine: Antony Jenkins, former Barclays CEO who was ousted from the company last week, is in line to receive payments and bonuses totalling up to £28m. According to reports. Read story
NEST doubles members and quadruples assets under management
Professional Pensions: The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) quadrupled its assets under management over the year to the end of March to £420m, according to its annual report. Read story
ShareAction calls for more member representation and less regulation in pensions
Professional Pensions: Lobby group ShareAction has urged policymakers to stop imposing “heavy-handed” regulation after its research has found the UK pensions sector is “creaking”. Read story
Think tank calls for guaranteed income DC retirement default
Professional Pensions: The government should ensure a decent guaranteed income is the default option for defined contribution (DC) retirees according to the Strategic Society Centre. Read story
Prudential cleared over pension transfer to Capita Oak scheme
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Ombudsman (PO) has rejected a complaint of maladministration against Prudential after it granted a transfer request into a suspicious pension scheme. Read story
CIPD: Employers may use minimum wage rise to stop pay increases
Workplace Savings and Benefits: The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) is warning that employers may use the 50p top-up to the minimum wage as a reason not to raise salaries. Read story
Only one in five firms ready for gender pay transparency
Workplace Savings and Benefits: Barely a fifth of organisations (19%) collect data on pay variation across their workforce suggesting government demands for gender pay transparency could prove tricky for many employers to implement. Read story
BBC employees paid £54,000 on average last year
Employee Benefits: Staff at the BBC were paid £54,000 on average last year, according to the BBC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2014/15. Read story
Real wages rise almost 3%
Employee Benefits: Real wages in Great Britain increased by almost 3% year on year, excluding bonuses, when comparing the period March to May 2015 with the same months in 2014. Read story
Aga sale puts underfunded pension scheme on firmer footing
Professional Pensions: The planned £129m sale of Aga announced today will put the firm’s defined benefit pension scheme on firmer financial footing, according to the trustees’ adviser. Read story
Willis Group to buy PMI Health Group in further expansion of UK employee benefits business - UPDATED
Professional Pensions: Willis Group is set to acquire PMI Heath Group in a bid to expand its UK employee benefits and healthcare business. Read story
Industry fears government has made up its mind to axe upfront tax relief
Professional Pensions: Industry figures have warned the green paper on pensions tax relief published last week is “not a genuine consultation” as the government has already decided on the outcome. Read story
Is the “national living wage” worth shouting about?
Personnel Today: The headline announcement in this week’s budget was the introduction of a compulsory national “living wage”. But will the increase to the minimum statutory pay rate really make a difference to employees, and what will be the impact on employers? Read story
Master trusts given premium billing on TPR website
Corporate Adviser: Now: Pensions and The People’s Pension have been placed ahead of Nest on The Pensions Regulator’s ‘how to find a pension scheme’ page for employers. Read story
Oracle revamps financial education programme
Employee Benefits: EXCLUSIVE: Oracle has revamped its financial education programme for its 5,800 UK employees. Read story
27% do not measure health scheme take up
Employee Benefits: Less than a third (27%) of respondents do not measure health programme take-up rates, according to research by insurer Unum. Read story
Treasury minister 'very interested' in workplace ISA
Workplace Savings and Benefits: HM Treasury is "very interested" in the potential of a workplace ISA to replace pensions. Read story
Pension scheme membership soars
Workplace Savings and Benefits: Participation in private sector workplace pension schemes has rocketed since the start of auto-enrolment. Read story
MPs to launch Pension Wise and advice inquiry
Money Marketing: The Work and Pensions committee is to launch an inquiry into Pension Wise and the availability of advice in the wake of pension freedoms. Read story
LPFA and Lancashire start hiring process for ALM partnership
Professional Pensions: London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) and Lancashire County Pension Fund are hiring a board to oversee their asset and liability management (ALM) partnership. Read story