At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week
The headlines you might have missed between 20-26 November
Advisers and insurers 'should get behind Fit for Work’
Corporate Adviser: Insurers, consultants and advisers should all get behind the government’s new Fit for Work service as it supports their objectives as well as those of their customers says Fit for Work director Mario Dunn. Read story
Salary sacrifice schemes help retain and motivate staff
WSB: The majority of benefits professionals believe salary sacrifice schemes "form an excellent element" of reward packages in motivating and retaining staff. Read story
Auto-enrolment hits 60,000 firms and 5.5 million workers
WSB: Almost 5.5 million people in 60,000 firms have been automatically enrolled since 2012, according to the latest government figures. Read story
Three in five fear cancer will leave them unable to pay the bills
WSB: Three in five (61%) adults fear they will not be able to pay the bills if they become ill with cancer. Read story
Asda increases share plan take up by 45%
Employee Benefits: The number of employees taking part in Asda’s share plan has increased by 45% over the last five years. Read story
Domestic and General offers staff free flu jabs
Employee Benefits: Domestic and General is running a free flu jab scheme for its employees for the fifth year in a row. Read story
Lendlease links physical environment to its employees’ wellbeing
Employee Benefits: Lendlease has linked its physical office environment to its employees’ health and wellbeing. Read story
Master trusts under scrutiny ahead of micro test
Corporate Adviser: Competition for auto-enrolment business is strong. Advisers must ensure their recommendations are robust. John Lappin reports. Read story
99% of junior doctors vote in favour of industrial action
Employee Benefits: Junior doctors in England have voted in favour of industrial action over changes to their contracts, including pay and working hours. Read story
48% are concerned about saving enough for retirement
Employee Benefits: Almost half (48%) of respondents are concerned about saving enough for retirement, according to research by Mercer. Read story
£80bn was saved into workplace pensions in 2014
Employee Benefits: More than £80bn was saved into workplace pensions in 2014, up almost £3bn on 2013, according to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). Read story
Willis offers £118m merger sweetener to Towers Watson
WSB: Willis plans to offer Towers Watson shareholders a £117.75m ($179m) sweetener to head off legal challenges targeting the merger of the two consultants. Read story
Director disqualified for 12 years for £26m pension fraud
WSB: A former owner of Carrington Wire Limited (CWL) has been banned from acting as a company director after helping the firm’s parent company dump its defined benefit (DB) scheme. Read story
FT journalists vote to strike over pensions
WSB: Talks are continuing between staff and management at the Financial Times after journalists voted overwhelmingly to strike over proposed pension changes. Read story
Auto-enrolment 'emergency pause' played down by DWP
Corporate Adviser: The government is playing down reports that it is considering a pause in auto-enrolment, saying its contingency plans are standard practice for any major government policy initiative. Read story
Retirees close income gap on workers
Corporate Adviser: UK retiree household income has increased by 77 per cent in real terms over the last 20 years, compared to just 49 per cent for non-retirees. Read story
DWP consults on further regulatory changes for post-freedoms world
Professional Pensions: The government has proposed simplifying guaranteed annuity rate (GAR) valuations and introducing a statutory requirement for trustees to give risk warnings to members wanting to take advantage of the April freedoms. Read story
Just Retirement and Partnership delay merger until Solvency II approval
Professional Pensions: The proposed merger between Just Retirement and Partnership has been put on hold subject to meeting Solvency II requirements and is expected in January. Read story
Pay cap for NHS agency workers ‘will drive skilled professionals out’
CIPD: As measures to cap what NHS trusts can pay agency workers came into force today, agency bodies warned the changes would “make staff shortages worse”. Read story
Two-thirds of employees favour employers that support volunteering, finds research
CIPD: The majority of employees (65 per cent) prefer to work for organisations that support volunteering, according to joint research from the CIPD and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). Read story
LEGAL WATCH: What is a corporate healthcare trust?
Reward Guide: Because self-insured arrangements are based around a trust, they can appear to be a bit mysterious! If we look a bit more closely at some of the legal aspects of these arrangements, it may help to clarify their benefits for mid-sized businesses. Read story
Interfleet keeps flex costs low with increased staff engagement
Employee Benefits: International rail consultancy Interfleet keeps the cost of providing flexible benefits low by ensuring that it gives staff what they want. Read story
Govt plans “emergency pause” for auto-enrolment
Money Marketing: The Government has drawn up plans to apply an “emergency pause” to the rollout of auto-enrolment to small and micro firms. Read story
Basic state pension to rise from April
Money Marketing: The Treasury is to increase the basic state pension from April in its biggest rise in real terms since 2001. Read story
Payroll errors are costing companies millions
Pay and Benefits: Payroll errors cost most FTSE 100 companies between £10 and £30 million a year, PwC research has found. Read story
Financial incentives "best way to boost productivity”
Pay and Benefits: Financial incentives are key to engaging employees and boosting productivity, but many organisations are not acting on this, research from Xactly has found. Read story
FSB says NEST as default provider would make AE easier
WSB: Auto-enrolment (AE) would be easier for small employers if the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) was the default provider and had been from the outset, says the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). Read story
Employers must be able to measure member outcomes
WSB: Achieving better member outcomes is the top priority for defined contribution (DC) pension schemes, according to Aon Hewitt. Read story
Higher minimum wage wins employer support
WSB: The majority of employers (62%) approve of the national living wage which will come into effect in April. Read story
7% to be unaffected by pension allowance changes
Employee Benefits: Some 14% of respondents expect the April 2016 reductions in lifetime and annual allowances to affect a significant number of staff, according to the Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2015. Read story
Wiggins Teape scheme agrees pension buyout
Employee Benefits: The Wiggins Teape pension scheme, established for UK employees of paper manufacturers Wiggins Teape and Arjo Wiggins Appleton, has entered into a £400m buyout arrangement. Read story
Deloitte creates quality culture for working parents
Employee Benefits: Deloitte aims to create an inclusive culture to support its working parents, particularly when it comes to emergencies. Read story
Auto-enrolment contribution rate rises to coincide with tax year
Employee Benefits: Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) has announced that the next two phases of minimum pension contribution rate increases under auto-enrolment will be pushed back to coincide with the tax year. Read story
Share scheme tax rules to be simplified
Employee Benefits: The Finance Bill 2016 will introduce measures to simplify the tax rules for employee share schemes. Read story
New income limits set for tax-free childcare
Employee Benefits: The upper income limit for parents to take advantage of the government’s new tax-free childcare scheme is to be lowered from £150,000 to £100,000 a year. Read story
Government to maintain pension triple lock
Employee Benefits: Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed that the government will keep the triple lock, with the basic state pension rising to £119.30 a week from April 2016. Read story
Government to gather evidence on salary sacrifice
Employee Benefits: The government will continue to consider what action, if any, will be taken around salary sacrifice arrangements. Read story
Diesel supplement to remain in company car tax to 2021
Employee Benefits: The government will retain the diesel supplement in company car tax. Read story
Public sector sickness absence review announced
Cover Magazine: The government is to conduct a review into sickness absence in the public sector. Read story
Government to remove barriers to secondary annuities market
Employee Benefits: The government has confirmed that it is to remove the barriers to creating a market for secondary annuities market to enable individuals to sell on their existing annuity income stream. Read story
Employee engagement: short termism and VUCA must be addressed
Personnel Today: Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), along with organisations’ tendencies toward short termism, are challenges that can be tackled through employee engagement. Read story
David Fairs - what Osborne's Autumn statement says about pensions tax relief
Corporate Adviser: The Chancellor’s auto-enrolment contribution increase delay points to the end of the system of tax relief on pensions as we know it says the Association of Consulting Actuaries. Read story
Autumn Statement: Key pension announcements
Professional Pensions: PP's quick fire guide to what the Autumn Statement means for pensions. Read story
Now: Pensions reveals new charging structure
Money Marketing: Now: Pensions has unveiled a new charging structure that will see employers pay up to £36 plus VAT a month to use the scheme. Read story
Companies should consider publishing pay ratio
HR Magazine: Companies should consider publishing their pay ratio between low and high earners. Read story
Danwood introduces holiday purchase scheme
Employee Benefits: Danwood has introduced holiday buying as a benefit for its 1,140 employees. Read story
The Pensions Regulator consults on new defined contribution code
Employee Benefits: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published a new draft defined contribution (DC) code of practice for consultation. Read story
Thomson Reuters offers pension freedom education
WSB: Thomson Reuters is to introduce pension freedom education for its in-house defined contribution (DC) scheme in January. Read story
Employer's AE warning: 'Providers are inundated with small schemes’
WSB: The majority of employers believe auto-enrolment administration is pretty easy, however smaller firms are feeling the pain. Read story
Autumn Statement 2015: Opportunity for all?
Reward Guide: Chancellor George Osborne once again champion the “lower welfare, higher wage economy”, including a discussion of economic growth nationwide and provisions for healthcare and families. So what are the key points in the statement for employers? Read story
Employers have a duty to deal with stress and mental health at work
CIPD: Turning a blind eye to employees taking ‘working holidays’ is not an option. Read story
The Autumn Statement’s impact on employee benefits
Employee Benefits: Chancellor George Osborne delivered the 2015 Autumn Statement and Spending Review. Here is a summary of all the key announcements impacting employee benefits. Read story
76% view financial education as essential for all staff
Employee Benefits: More than three-quarters (76%) of respondents believe it is essential to provide financial education to all staff, yet just 32% do so, according to the Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2015. Read story
60% of housing associations offer defined contribution pensions
Employee Benefits: Almost two-thirds (60%) of housing association respondents offer staff a defined contribution (DC) pension scheme, according to research by EMA Business and Management Consultancy. Read story
What the Autumn Statement means for workplace benefits
WSB: Workplace benefits saw some significant points within chancellor George Osborne's 67 minute long Autumn Statement that could have a major impact on benefits budgets. Read story
Admiral widens healthcare coverage to meet employee demand
WSB: Admiral Insurance is using its Ministry for Health to help improve employee health and wellbeing. Read story
Govt scolded over auto-enrolment contributions delay
WSB: The government has come under fire for delaying scheduled increases in auto-enrolment minimum contribution rates. Read story
Autumn Statement: Treasury to consult employers on salary sacrifice
WSB: The government is to consult employers on the use of salary sacrifice schemes and “remains concerned about the growth” of such schemes. Read story
FCA investigates drawdown charges; delays retirement review
Professional Pensions: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has written to pension and retirement income providers to request details about consumer access to - and charges on - decumulation products. Read story
How can trustees get the best deals when sponsors are bought out?
Professional Pensions: With M&A activity on the rise, Stephanie Baxter looks at what trustees need to know. Read story
DB scheme trustees urged to act now on refund surplus powers
Professional Pensions: Trustees in defined benefit (DB) schemes need to act now if they want to preserve the power to refund surplus to employers. Read story
Autumn Statement: Treasury to backdate IHT drawdown exemption
Professional Pensions: The government will legislate to ensure assets left in pensions in drawdown will not attract inheritance tax (IHT) charges, according to Autumn Statement documents. Read story