At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week
The headlines you might have missed between 11-17 November 2016.
Aston Martin to increase pay for UK staff by 3%
Employee Benefits: Luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin is to increase pay for UK staff by 3% in 2017 and 2018. Read story
Arthur J Gallagher acquires Argentis
Employee Benefits: Arthur J Gallagher has acquired London-based financial planning and employee benefits consultancy Argentis. Read story
66% would take a pay cut to be happier at work
Employee Benefits: Two thirds (66%) of respondents would take a pay cut of at least 1% to be happier at work, according to research by Hired. Read story
DWP yet to mull aged-based pension tax relief
Money Marketing: The Department for Work and Pensions has not conducted any research into whether a system of aged-based pension tax relief would be viable, Money Marketing has learned. Read story
BA case: Increases can be awarded when a scheme is in deficit, says APS actuary
Professional Pensions: Granting discretionary increases was not necessarily precluded by the scheme being in deficit, the Airways Pension Scheme (APS) actuary has said in the landmark High Court case. Read story
Advisers deserve more scrutiny after BHS, says industry
Professional Pensions: Most respondents in this week's Pensions Buzz believe there should be higher scrutiny of advisers after the BHS fiasco. Read story
Workers and employers ‘happy to pay more than AE minimum’ – Aviva research
Corporate Adviser: Workers and larger employers are willing to increase their pension contributions beyond the auto-enrolment minimum, research from Aviva has found. Read story
Rolls-Royce in biggest buyout of 2016
Corporate Adviser: Rolls-Royce has completed a £1.1bn buyout for the Vickers Group pension scheme with Legal & General, in the biggest deal in 2016 to date. Read story
Alan Sparks: Why group risk deserves salary sacrifice
Corporate Adviser: Protection benefits should get the same salary sacrifice advantages as pensions says Canada Life Group Insurance scheme underwriting specialist Alan Sparks. Read story
Keep comms 'balanced' as DB transfer interest is up
Pensions Expert: Advisory service Intelligent Pensions has seen the number of defined benefit transfer requests it has processed increase during 2016 as members seek to take advantage of the freedom and choice reforms. Read story
Women's unrealised potential costing £23 billion
HR Magazine: Despite high-profile campaigns tackling female inclusion and the gender pay gap, progress is worryingly slow. Read story
Now Pensions: Master trust capital adequacy should be £2m minimum
Professional Pensions: Capital adequacy for master trusts should be set at a minimum of £2m to ensure a robust and innovative market according to Now Pensions. Read story
33% do not plan to offer a workplace lifetime Isa
Employee Benefits: A third (33%) of employer respondents do not plan to introduce the lifetime individual savings account (Lisa) as a workplace savings tool, according to research by Employee Benefits and Close Brothers. Read story
52% would contribute more than 5% of their salary into their workplace pension
Employee Benefits: Just over half (52%) of employee respondents who are currently saving into a workplace pension would be willing to contribute more than 5% of their salary themselves, according to research by Aviva. Read story
76% rank flexible working in their top three benefits
Employee Benefits: More than three quarters (76%) of respondents name flexible working as one of their top three priorities when it comes to being offered a benefits package from their ideal employer, according to research by BT. Read story
FCA publishes pension exit charge rules
Corporate Adviser: Early exit charges will be capped at 1 per cent of the value of existing contract-based personal pensions, including workplace personal pensions, and new contracts cannot have any exit charge at all, the FCA has confirmed today. Read story
Webb joins attack on ‘risky’ Lifetime Isa
Corporate Adviser: People should not be encouraged to take out the new Lifetime Isa if they have not already taken full advantage of matching workplace pension contributions, former pension minister Steve Webb has warned. Read story
Oracle introduces rehabilitation helpline for managers
Employee Benefits: Supporting the health and wellbeing of its UK employees is important to technology organisation Oracle. To help achieve this, in November 2015, it introduced a vocational rehabilitation helpline, Swift, for managers in collaboration with Unum, alongside its existing portfolio of healthcare and wellbeing benefits. Read story
BA case: APS trustees used increases as a threat to get additional funding
Professional Pensions: Airways Pension Scheme (APS) trustees used the threat of discretionary increases to try to get British Airways (BA) to maintain a funding schedule and recovery plan based on the Retail Price Index (RPI), the High Court has heard. Read story
33% view the availability of childcare as a key recruitment and retention issue
Employee Benefits: A third (33%) of employer respondents believe the availability of childcare is a key issue in recruiting and retaining staff, according to research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and Middlesex University. Read story
31% cite financial issues as the top cause of stress
Employee Benefits: Just under a third (31%) of employee respondents cite finances and money as the top cause of stress, according to research by BHSF Employee Benefits. Read story
Trump’s election ‘reduces Brexit damage to DB schemes’
Corporate Adviser: The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States has boosted defined benefit funding levels by £35bn, offsetting some of the negative impact on deficits caused by Brexit, research from Hymans Robertson has found. Read story
FCA spells out Lisa’s five risks to consumers
Corporate Adviser: The Lisa’s early withdrawal charge and its combination of elements of a short-to-medium-term deposit based savings product with a long-term retail investment product create risks to consumer protection, the FCA has said in a consultation published today. Read story
Total pay increases by 2.3%
Employee Benefits: Total pay, including bonuses, increased by 2.3% for employees in Great Britain between July-September 2015 and July-September 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Read story
Basic pay for engineers increases by 2%
Employee Benefits: Basic median pay for professional engineers has increased by 2% year on year, according to research by the manufacturers’ organisation, EEF. Read story
Autumn Statement: What the chancellor should do for pensions
Professional Pensions: There is much speculation over what next week’s Autumn Statement could throw up for pensions, so what does the industry want to see? Read story
DWP plans to cap early-exit charges for occupational pensions
Professional Pensions: The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) is planning to cap early exit charges for occupational pensions to ensure people over the age of 55 are not “unfairly penalised” for accessing their savings ahead of their pension age. Read story
Life expectancy to form part of state pension age review
Money Marketing: The Government Actuary’s Department is to look at projected life expectancy in future years as part of the state pension age review. Read story
IFS – AE doubles membership of non-eligible employees – but millions paying in less than 2pc
Corporate Adviser: Automatic enrolment has more than doubled membership of workplace pensions among those not directly targeted by the policy and achieved take-up by 88 per cent of those who are, according to research by the IFS. Read story
GIP incentives consultation – what providers want
Corporate Adviser: It is not every day that the Government tells the group risk industry that it likes what it does. Nor does it often ask how it can change things so more products can be sold. But the Improving Lives: Work, Health and Disability green paper, issued by the Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health last month did precisely that. Read story
Scottish Power uses technology to keep employees’ retirement plans on track
Employee Benefits: Scottish Power’s UK pensions manager, Anne Harris, is keen to keep up with advances in pension technology to ensure that employees’ retirement plans are on track. She says: “Pensions are becoming more and more complicated, so employees are becoming switched off. Read story
BA case: Granting discretionary increase power was not legally risky, says Arter
Professional Pensions: It was not legally risky for the Airways Pension Scheme (APS) trustees to unilaterally amend the trust deed to give themselves a discretionary increase power, ex-adviser Anthony Arter has said. Read story
The evolving world of health cash plans
Reward Guide: Jennie Doyle, head of marketing at Health Shield, offers an insight into the less well known benefits of a health cash plan. Read story
Picturehouse cinema staff strike in campaign for London living wage
Employee Benefits: Picturehouse cinema staff based at London venues the Ritzy in Brixton and the Hackney Picturehouse will begin strike action today (Thursday 17 November 2016) in a campaign to receive the independent London living wage. Read story
65% of employees view financial wellness in the workplace as important
Employee Benefits: Almost two thirds (65%) of employee respondents cite financial wellness in the workplace as important to them, according to research by Thomsons Online Benefits. Read story
53% of under 35s place flexible working in their top three benefits
Employee Benefits: More than half (53%) of respondents under the age of 35 cite flexible working as one of the top three most attractive benefits when applying for a new job, according to research by Fidelity International. Read story
Gender pension savings gap widening
Corporate Adviser: Half of women are saving adequately for their retirement, but the gender gap is widening as vulnerable self-employed and divorced women fall behind, according to research from Scottish Widows. Read story