At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 6-12 October
The headlines you might have missed between 6-12 October.
Lower AE eligibility age to 16 says industry
Professional Pensions: Respondents say starting contributions from an earlier age will benefit workers at retirement. Read story
43% believe taking shared parental leave would not make financial sense
Employee Benefits: More than two-fifths (43%) of respondents who are working mothers say they would not take shared parental leave because it would not make financial sense, according to research by workingmums.co.uk. Read story
Carillion to withdraw discretionary increases in pension payments
Employee Benefits: Facilities management and construction organisation Carillion is to withdraw annual discretionary increases in pension payments in order to reduce its pension deficit by £80 million. Read story
Virgin Management hosts spin class to improve employee wellbeing
Employee Benefits: Corporate affairs organisation Virgin Management has hosted a spin class for employees and senior management to support employee wellbeing and help integrate senior leaders with the wider workforce. Read story
Ryanair CEO offers pilots better pay to stay
HR Grapevine: Chief Executive Michael O'Leary is offering the staff better pay and conditions, apologising for changes that caused major disruptions to their rotas – the BBC reports. However, despite the CEO’s efforts, the letter has reportedly not been well received. Read story
34% of employee absences in financial services are related to mental ill health
Employee Benefits: Around a third (34%) of employee absences in the financial services sector since 2013 have been due to mental ill health, according to research by AdviserPlus. Read story
Aviva introduces carers policy and enhances bereavement leave for UK staff
Employee Benefits: Insurance organisation Aviva has introduced a carers policy and enhanced its bereavement leave benefit for its 16,000 UK-based employees. Read story
Schneider Electric launches paid global family leave policy across 100 locations
Employee Benefits: Energy management and automation organisation Schneider Electric has launched a new paid global family leave policy that will be rolled out across its 100 worldwide operating locations by January 2019. Read story
The top 10 UK locations for a pay rise
HR Grapevine: Negotiating a pay packet can be one of the most uncomfortable career conversations. In fact, a study conducted by CV-Library found that almost two-thirds (63.6%) of employees are reluctant to ask their bosses for a raise. Read story
1.2million UK employees face disciplinary for disclosing mental health
HR Grapevine: A staggering number of UK employees have faced demotion, disciplinary or dismissal after disclosing their mental health issues at work, a new report has found. Read story
Nearly one million hospitality staff face retirement poverty as study reveals AE blackspots
Professional Pensions: Six in ten hospitality workers are slipping through the net of automatic enrolment (AE), a Trades Union Congress (TUC) analysis has found. Read story
Small incremental benefits boost productivity
HR Magazine: Like marginal gains in competitive sport, small incremental benefits affect individuals by making their work quicker and smoother. Read story
Rewarding Employees Without Cash
Incentive and Motivation: Just how can you reward without cash? Is it possible? We spoke to James Kelly, Red Letter Days Motivates Director around the hints and tips that can really work. Read story
Orchestra votes for lower pay rise to up pensions
Pensions Expert: Members of the Royal Opera House orchestra have voted in favour of taking a lower pay rise to fund an improved pension scheme for new and future members, a decision that has struck a chord with experts. Read story
Employee benefits ‘can save 1,000-strong company £125,000 a year’
Health Insurance Daily: Savings come from reduced absence, lower tax and improved retention. Read story
EY reports a 19.7% mean gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: Professional services organisation EY has reported a mean gender pay gap of 19.7% for fixed hourly pay as at 5 April 2017. Read story
BMW Group UK and Royal College of Nursing launch divorce support service for staff
Employee Benefits: Car manufacturer BMW Group UK and membership organisation the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has launched a new divorce support service for its employees. Read story
Law firm Horwich Farrelly appoints mental health first aiders
Employee Benefits: Insurance industry law firm Horwich Farrelly has appointed 19 mental health first aiders to promote good mental health at work across its six offices. Read story
Towards robust workplace wellbeing strategies
HR Magazine: A mentally healthy workplace is something we should all be striving for. Read story
Top tips for employees to cut costs and boost savings
Reward Guide: 27% of UK adults cite financial worries as a trigger for mental health issues but more than a third don’t know where to go for help. WEALTH at work shares some tips on how employers can help combat this before it spirals out of control. Read story
Asda equal pay claims: What are the implications for similar employers?
Personnel Today: As the latest stage of the UK’s largest even private sector equal pay claim, against supermarket giant Asda, begins tomorrow, what implications might this have for other employers?? Andrew Gibson and Emma Ahmed from Hill Dickinson consider the issues. Read story
Employers must tackle gender pay gap reporting now
Employee Benefits: Employers must start tackling their gender pay gap analysis now to avoid being swamped by voluminous data sets in the run up to the government’s April 2018 deadline. Read story
High Court to rule in Morrisons payroll data leak case
Employee Benefits: More than 5,500 employees who brought a payroll data leak class action lawsuit against retail organisation Morrisons will see the trial progress to the High Court in London this week. Read story
Deloitte UK enhances organisation culture to reduce gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: Deloitte UK has implemented agile working and an unpaid leave programme in order to improve its organisation culture and gender diversity. Read story
Facebook uses engagement surveys to highlight benefits opportunities
Employee Benefits: Social media organisation Facebook uses employee engagement surveys to inform strategic workforce planning decisions, and support the design of a benefits proposition that increases employee satisfaction and engagement. Read story
PLSA calls for 'tangible' national retirement income targets
Professional Pensions: National retirement income targets are needed to help savers understand whether they are putting away enough money for old age, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) suggests. Read story
How to prepare for pay equality reporting
HR Magazine: Race and disability pay gap reporting could prove much more difficult than with gender reporting. Read story
Handy Tips For Selecting Staff Rewards
Incentive and Motivation: Employee reward and recognition isn’t just a nice thing to do, it is an essential thing to do to make your employees feel valued and in turn ensure the success of your business. Read story
Under-25s earn less for doing the same work, argues charity
Personnel Today: Workers aged under 25 are missing out on up to nearly £6,300 per year because they’re not entitled to the national living wage, according to the Young Women’s Trust. Read story
'Walking the talk': What we've done with engagement
HR Magazine: Walking the talk involves a huge shift in the corporate mindset. Read story
Cap on NHS staff pay to be scrapped
HR Magazine: The move follows a letter delivered to chancellor Philip Hammond last month signed by 14 unions. Read story
Debunking the myths
Reward Guide: Tusker, the Car Benefit People, have been leading discussions with Government over the salary sacrifice legislation. Faced with a range of questions regarding the changes to Car Benefit Schemes, Tusker address them here. Read story
Scottish Widows to buy Zurich's £15bn workplace pensions business
Professional Pensions: Lloyds Banking Group has agreed to acquire Zurich's UK workplace pensions and savings business, which has assets under administration of more than £15bn and around 500,000 customers. Read story
ABI: Government must compel schemes over dashboard
Professional Pensions: The government must introduce legislation to force schemes to give data to the pensions dashboard if it is to succeed, an Association of British Insurers (ABI) report says. Read story
Rigid minimum wage rules could end gig economy work, warns Matthew Taylor
People Management: Requiring gig economy employers to stick to strict minimum wage rules could put an end to ‘valued’ modern-day flexible-working options, the author of the Taylor review has cautioned. Read story
Team GB Paracycling counterbalances demanding work with personalised support
Employee Benefits: Team GB Paracycling provides its athletes and employees with a range of personalised support measures in order to help staff manage high demand workloads in the professional sporting industry. Read story
Thames Water uses virtual reality technology in mental health strategy
Employee Benefits: Thames Water is using virtual reality headsets to help mental health first aiders experience what it feels like to be suffering from mental health issues to aid them in spotting the first signs that a colleague needs help. Read story
Sanofi uses roadshow to communicate benefits to dispersed workforce
Employee Benefits: Pharmaceutical organisation Sanofi used a benefits roadshow to help launch a new flexible benefits offering to its dispersed and diverse UK workforce. Read story
Civil Service to launch diversity and inclusion strategy
Employee Benefits: The Civil Service is to launch a new strategy to improve diversity and inclusion (D&I) within its workforce, in order to see improvements in its business performance. Read story