At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week
Your quick-read round up of the reward and benefits stories appearing in the press in the past seven days.
The headlines you might have missed between 21-26 May 2016
Relevant life plan awareness falls despite employer appetite
Corporate Adviser: Awareness of relevant life plans (RLPs) has fallen by 24 per cent in the last two years, with only 28 per cent of businesses being aware of such policies in 2015, according to research from Legal & General. Read story
TTF finds over 100 types of charges in pensions
Corporate Adviser: More than 100 types of costs and charges in pensions and investments have been identified by research carried out by the Transparency Task Force (TTF). Read story
Tata ‘quick fix’ risks undermining DB – Webb
Corporate Adviser: A ‘quick fix’ on the British Steel pension scheme to help save jobs at Tata Steel UK could risk undermining the pension security of millions of people, warns Royal London director of policy Steve Webb. Read story
Aegon sells £3bn annuity book to L&G
Corporate Adviser: Aegon is selling £3bn of its UK annuity portfolio to Legal & General just weeks after it sold £6bn of its annuity portfolio to Rothesay Life. Read story
Workplace pensions can increase staff loyalty
Professional Pensions: Over half (57%) of people are more likely to stay with a company that offers pensions related advice according to Wealth Wizards. Read story
TPR enforcement action quadruples as whistleblowing surges
Professional Pensions: Whistleblowing reports to the Pensions Regulator (TPR) have increased by 29% during the last year amid concerns many small employers are not complying with auto-enrolment (AE). Read story
Ombudsman rejects erroneous claim to full DB pension
Professional Pensions: The ombudsman’s ruling in favour of the trustees and sponsor in the Kingfisher Pension Scheme case could have huge implications for future cases, writes Michael Klimes. Read story
Volkswagen to increase base pay by 4.8%
Employee Benefits: Volkswagen is to increase base pay for 120,000 employees by a total of 4.8% by August 2017. Read story
60% believe employers should offer free screening for depression
Employee Benefits: More than half (60%) of respondents living with mental ill health believe that employers should offer free screening for depression in the workplace, according to research by Axa PPP Healthcare. Read story
Wealth at Work acquires Affinity
Employee Benefits: Financial education provider Wealth at Work has acquired the Affinity group. Read story
Employers not considering impact of ‘Brexit’
Reward Guide: With the EU vote exactly a month away, Jelf Employee Benefits commissioned a survey to look at the impact on the workplace. Read story
British workers call for change on appearance discrimination
Reward Guide: Office Genie survey reveals British employees’ demands, in light of Nicola Thorp being sent home after refusing to wear high heels. Read story
Opinion: we must recognise the needs of employees caring for someone with dementia
People Management: An ageing population means more and more workers will have caring responsibilities, writes Sara Wilcox – and organisations must support them before they are forced to leave. Read story
TalkTalk gets the message across on total reward
Employee Benefits: Telecommunications organisation TalkTalk introduced a total reward strategy in 2011. As part of the exercise, it introduced banding to achieve clarity and alignment across different sections of employees. Read story
Link between employee health and performance
Pay and Benefits: More than nine in ten employers across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region have identified a connection between the health and performance of their workforce. Read story
Driving growth in group risk: It's time to knuckle down and hit the road
Cover Magazine: Despite a few lingering challenges, the latest Swiss Re Group Watch survey paints a strong picture of growth in the group risk sector. Chris Morgan summarises the key trends. Read story
US government raises salary threshold for overtime pay
Employee Benefits: The US government has extended the salary threshold for overtime pay eligibility. Read story
63% view financial wellness as an employer’s responsibility
Employee Benefits: Almost two-thirds (63%) of respondents view employees’ financial wellness as an employer’s responsibility, according to research by mobile employee engagement platform LifeWorks. Read story
Trustees and advisers ‘could not have done more’ to save BHS
Professional Pensions: The British Home Stores (BHS) trustees did everything possible to make the buyer and seller understand the scale of the deficit at the time of the sale, MPs heard yesterday. Read story
Small employers could fall foul of AE compliance rules
Professional Pensions: Small employers which stage over the next 18 months could fail to sign declaration of compliance forms and be fined £400 according to Alan Smith. Read story
DB schemes urged to review DGF allocations
Professional Pensions: Diversified growth funds are in the spotlight after disappointing 2015 performance and concerns they’ve led DB schemes to miss out on good equity returns in previous years. Stephanie Baxter hears concerns about the popular universe. Read story
Fewer than one in 10 vacancies offer flexibility in ‘broken’ jobs market
People Management: Employers shun quality talent by failing to openly discuss flexible working during recruitment. Read story
DB transfer requests soar in April
Corporate Adviser: The number of DB scheme members requesting a transfer value of their benefits has returned to the highs seen in the immediate aftermath of the freedom and choice reforms, research from Xafinity shows. Read story
MetLife UK launches Global Corporate Challenge for staff
Employee Benefits: MetLife UK is offering staff the opportunity to take part in a 100-day wellness challenge, which aims to support employee health and performance. Read story
67% believe employers do not care about financial wellness
Employee Benefits: More than two-thirds (67%) of respondents believe that their employer does not care about their financial wellness, according to research by Neyber. Read story
Project Thor cancellation caused BHS trustees to lose faith in sponsor
Professional Pensions: The withdrawal of Project Thor to rescue British Home Stores (BHS) raised concerns about the level of support for both schemes, MPs have been told. Read story
M&S reveals plans to close DB to future accrual
Professional Pensions: Marks and Spencer (M&S) has announced proposals to close its UK defined benefit (DB) scheme to future accrual as it sets out a turnaround plan for the business. Read story
BHS trustees acted ‘independently’ and ‘professionally’
Professional Pensions: The trustees and advisers for the British Home Stores (BHS) schemes were “independent” and “professional” according to former trustee chairwoman Margaret Downes. Read story
Brexit could significantly alter pension funds’ risk profiles
Professional Pensions: Schemes with heavy allocation to UK equities that have high EU exposure could see major changes to their risk profiles following a Brexit, according to research. Read story
Employers’ guide to Euro 2016: six ways to avoid an own goal
Personnel Today: The 2016 UEFA football European championships – Euro 2016 – start on 10 June, with 51 matches due to be played in France over the course of a month. With some matches taking place during or close to many employees’ normal working hours, employers need to plan ahead to minimise potential disruption. Read story
US government raises salary threshold for overtime pay
Employee Benefits: The US government has extended the salary threshold for overtime pay eligibility. Read story
US rules clarify incentive levels for wellness programmes
Employee Benefits: The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued final rules clarifying how Title 1 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) apply to workplace wellness programmes that offer incentives and request personal health information from employees and their spouses. Read story
Hidden charges weigh pension pots down
Pensions Expert: Pensions are being hit by more than 100 costs and charges, many of them hidden, which are potentially taking as much as a third off the gains of a pension over its lifetime, a study by the Transparency Task Force has found. Read story
Shaun Davis: Royal Mail puts focus on musculoskeletal support and prevention
Employee Benefits: As we know, all employers have a duty of care to protect their employees from developing musculoskeletal disorders due to their work. Royal Mail takes this responsibility very seriously and places the safety, health and wellbeing of its people as the highest priority. Read story
FCA set to cap pension exit charges at 1%
Money Marketing: The FCA has proposed introducing a 1% exit charge cap for existing contract-based and workplace personal pensions. Read story
Domestic and General staff engage in charity fundraising activities
Employee Benefits: Domestic and General employees have engaged in sports challenges and team activities to raise money for charity. Read story
38% say flexible working is top influencer of job satisfaction globally
Employee Benefits: Employees in western countries consider themselves to be happier in their jobs, more loyal to their employers and more productive at work, according to research by the Economist Intelligence Unit and Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. Read story
Experts divided on return to collective pay agreements
People Management: Labour leader Corbyn’s pledge to restore collective bargaining for central government staff viewed as ‘retrograde step’. Read story
Payroll fraud costs UK firms £12bn per year
People Management: HR has ‘pivotal’ role in combating employee scams, as total cost of business fraud tops £144bn. Read story
Voluntary overtime should be included in holiday pay calculations, says tribunal
People Management: But questions remain over how regular the additional work has to be. Read story
Govt consults on plans to rescue British Steel scheme
Professional Pensions: The government has launched a consultation on ways to reduce the British Steel Pension Scheme’s (BSPS) liabilities to find a buyer for Tata Steel UK, which could require controversial legislation. Read story
Pensions dashboard should be hosted on multiple sites, working group recommends
Professional Pensions: The pensions dashboard, which will allow consumers to see all their pension savings in one place, should be available in one location, but hosted by a number of approved finance industry websites and apps, the project’s working group has recommended. Read story
Industry rejects time limit on DB recovery plans
Professional Pensions: Majority of respondents urge against introducing mandatory time limit on recovery plans according to PP research. Read story
It doesn’t have to cost the earth
Reward Guide: Keeping a workforce happy, healthy and productive goes beyond just offering private medical insurance. Sam Barrett suggests some cost-effective alternatives. Read story
ABI to pilot prototype pension dashboard
Corporate Adviser: The Association of British Insurers is planning to create a prototype pensions dashboard, claiming it is best placed to drive forward the project’s delivery. Read story