At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 2-8 November 2018
The headlines you might have missed between 2-8 November.
40% disparity between male and female pensions
HR Grapevine: In the UK between 2016 and 2017, women received 39.5% less than men on retirement – a circa £7,000 difference on average – economicia reports. Read story
Half do not know how much is in their pension
Employee Benefits: Around half (49%) of respondents do not know how much is in their pension pot, according to research by price comparison website MoneySuperMarket. Read story
Primadell accountant fined £6,857.50 for pensions auto-enrolment non-compliance
Employee Benefits: An accountant working on behalf of Primadell, the organisation that runs Gran Caffe Londra in Knightsbridge, has been ordered to pay £6,857.50 after pleading guilty to falsely informing The Pensions Regulator (TPR) that employees had been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme. Read story
Yorkshire Building Society recognised for mental health best practice
Employee Benefits: Rhondda Housing Association and Yorkshire Building Society (pictured) are among the organisations recognised at the inaugural Not a Red Card Awards for implementing best practice around addressing mental health in the workplace. Read story
GMP equalisation: Eight action points for pension schemes
Professional Pensions: Hogan Lovells sets out what pension funds need to do for equalising guaranteed minimum pensions (GMP) in light of the landmark Lloyds judgment. Read story
Drawdown 'increasingly common' as HMRC data shows £2bn withdrawn in Q3
Professional Pensions: Pension drawdowns are becoming "increasingly common", according to Just Group's Stephen Lowe, as the latest HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) figures show £2bn was withdrawn from pension schemes in the third quarter of 2018. Read story
Manchester University staff vote to strike over pensions reform
Professional Pensions: Support staff at Manchester University have overwhelmingly voted to take strike action over plans to reduce and close the defined benefit (DB) pension scheme. Read story
Don’t ignore the gendered happiness gap
HR Magazine: Last year data showed that on average women were 5% less happy at work, but this year the picture is more positive. Read story
Employee representation on boards could help at Google, say experts
HR Magazine: Staff are demanding changes to how sexual misconduct is dealt with, and the appointment of an employee representative to the board. Read story
Parental bereavement leave to be introduced in 2020
Personnel Today: Parents and primary carers who suffer the loss of a child will be entitled to at least two weeks’ paid parental bereavement leave from April 2020, the government has confirmed. Read story
UK must improve support for older workers or face talent shortage, says research
People Management: Experts warn of a ‘waste of expertise’ if businesses fail to engage with ageing workforce. Read story
Voluntary living wage rate increases to £9.00 an hour for UK staff
Employee Benefits: The voluntary living wage rate has increased by 25p per hour, rising from £8.75 to £9.00 an hour for employees working across the UK, as announced by the Living Wage Foundation today (Monday 5 November 2018). Read story
Southwark Council signs Time to Change pledge to support mental wellbeing of 4,500 staff
Employee Benefits: Southwark Council has signed the Time to Change employer pledge to help support the mental health of its 4,500 employees. Read story
Jaguar scheme opts for forestry and farmland
Pensions Expert: The Jaguar Pension Plan has invested in agriculture and timber funds in a bid to diversify its portfolio and develop its exposure to opportunistic private markets. Read story
Health secretary: employers must do more on prevention
Personnel Today: Schemes such as free fruit in offices, bicycle loans, support for ill employees and counselling should be the new norm in the UK workplace according to health secretary Matt Hancock. Read story
‘Real’ Living Wage increases by 2.9% outside London
Personnel Today: The “real” Living Wage, the rate of pay set by the Living Wage Foundation, has increased 25 pence to £9 per hour, a rise of 2.9%. Read story
Surge in working days lost to stress, anxiety and depression
Health Insurance Daily: Businesses are being advised to offer more support to struggling employees. Read story
Average UK lunch break plummets to just 22 minutes
HR Grapevine: New research has revealed that lunch breaks are being squeezed by work pressures with the average lunch break lasting just 22 minutes – The Telegraph reports. Read story
DWP launches consultation to legislate for CDC
Professional Pensions: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation to "shape future legislation" for collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes. Read story
The key questions the DWP is asking on CDC
Professional Pensions: The Department for Work and Pensions launched its consultation on collective defined contribution today. Here are the key questions it is asking. Read story
FTSE 350 defined benefit pension deficit reaches £36bn
Employee Benefits: The accounting deficit for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes at the UK’s top 350 organisations is £36 billion as at October 2018, resulting in the largest deficit since October 2017, according to research by Mercer. Read story
A quarter believe their organisations do not help them manage stress in the workplace
Employee Benefits: Around a quarter (26%) of respondents feel that their organisation does not help them to manage stress in the workplace, with 36% stating that they have had ongoing workplace stress for the past five years, according to research by Peldon Rose and The Stress Management Society. Read story
Amazon increases pay to $15 an hour for 250,000 US employees
Employee Benefits: Online retailer Amazon has increased its minimum rate of pay to $15 (£11.52) an hour for 250,000 US employees and 100,000 seasonal staff who will be hired in the run up to Christmas. Read story
Opperman: Employers will follow Royal Mail on CDC 'without a shadow of a doubt’
Professional Pensions: Large firms will follow the postal service's lead on introducing collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes if it works well for management and employees, the pensions minister says. Read story
New government health initiative a “wake-up call” for employers
Corporate Adviser: Workplaces have a key role to play in delivering a new government healthcare plan. Read story
Women’s state pension age changes will worsen gender pension gap
HR Magazine: From 6 November 2018, for the first time in more than 70 years, men and women will receive their pension from the same age. Read story
FOS hit with 300 pension transfer complaints since freedoms
Money Marketing: The Financial Ombudsman Service has revealed it received 300 complaints relating to defined benefit to defined contribution pension transfers since 2015. Read story
Barnardo's denied indexation swap in unanimous Supreme Court judgment
Professional Pensions: The Barnardo's pension scheme has been denied permission to switch the inflationary index it uses for uprating pension benefits in a unanimous judgment from the Supreme Court. Read story
Over 40% cite health and wellbeing as key advantage of offering eye care
Employee Benefits: More than two-fifths (42%) of employers believe the biggest advantage of offering eye care to employees is improved health and wellbeing due to early detection of illnesses through eye examinations, according to research commissioned by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare. Read story
Nearly half of UK employees have searched for new job due to work stress
Employee Benefits: Almost half (46%) of UK workers say they have searched for a new job because of work stress, according to research by project management software organisation Wrike. Read story
Lidl increases entry-level pay in line with voluntary living wage rates
Employee Benefits: Supermarket chain Lidl will increase the wages of more than 17,000 of its employees from 1 March next year, in line with the new rates for the voluntary living wage, announced this week. Read story
Workplace savings report: providers ranked/default now seen as crucial
Corporate Adviser: The quality of the provider’s default fund investment proposition is seen as the most important factor for EBCs and advisers when recommending workplace pension providers to their clients, according to research published today by Corporate Adviser. Read story
Persimmon ousts chief executive over bonus controversy
Personnel Today: The chief executive of one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, has left his role because the controversy over his £75m bonus had “become a distraction”. Read story
UK workers fall behind on work/life balance
HR Magazine: Three-quarters of UK employees (73%) like to keep their work and home lives separate. Read story
32% of US Companies Will Use Tax Savings on Employee Reward Programmes
Incentive and Motivation: A new poll from Mercer says 32 percent of the employers it surveyed will be putting portions of their income tax savings into employee reward programs. This news comes as some well-known brands also announced they will be sharing their windfall in the form pay raises and bonuses for their employees. Read story
Are employee wellness programmes effective?
Incentive and Motivation: A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that employee wellness programmes “did not significantly save employees money or make them healthier.” Read story
Financial problems affect mental wellbeing of 55% of SME senior managers
Employee Benefits: Financial problems have had a negative impact on the mental wellbeing of over half (55%) of senior managers in small to medium enterprises (SMEs), according to research on behalf of merchant banking organisation Close Brothers Invoice Finance. Read story
US Department of Labor sues Mosluoglu Inc over wage violations
Employee Benefits: The US Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Mosluoglu Inc, the operator of the Empire Diner and Restaurant in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, over violations of the federal minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Read story
Lesley Titcomb: How we are working with industry to meet the big pension challenges
Professional Pensions: The pensions watchdog's chief executive speaks to Stephanie Baxter about some of The Pensions Regulator's key priorities during her last few months in post. Read story
Pensions minister: AE is working, people are saving long term
Professional Pensions: Guy Opperman says as contribution rates increase, millions more people will be able to look ahead to retirement with confidence. Read story
TPR: 36 master trusts out – one application in
Corporate Adviser: Thirty six master trusts are leaving the market, with three already wound up and 33 currently in wind-up, according to the latest figures from the Pensions Regulator. Read story