At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week
The headlines you might have missed between 5-11 February
Organisations failing to own and incentivise collaboration
HR Magazine: Collaboration must be encouraged through reward and intelligently-designed office space. Read story
Employers must recognise scale of mental wellbeing challenge, says shadow minister
CIPD: Despite government interventions, mental health is still the leading cause of sickness absence in the UK, with 70 million days of work lost each year due to workers suffering from stress, depression, and other mental health conditions. Read story
Rift Group launches employee engagement platform
Employee Benefits: Tax prediction services provider Rift Group has launched an employee engagement, reward and recognition platform for its 150 members of staff. Read story
35% of female staff would leave their employer due to poor work-life balance
Employee Benefits: Just over a third (35%) of female respondents would leave their current employer because of poor work-life balance, according to research by recruitment firm Ambition UK. Read story
UK second highest healthcare tax in EU
Corporate Adviser: The Chancellor’s increase in insurance premium tax (IPT) from April means the UK will have the second highest tax on healthcare in the EU, according to Medicash. Read story
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service gains living wage accreditation
Employee Benefits: The West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has been accredited as a living wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation. Read story
75% offer flexible working policies
Employee Benefits: Three-quarters (75%) of employer respondents offer a flexible working policy to their employees, according to research by Vodafone. Read story
Why employees should be wary of robo advice
Reward Guide: Wealth At Work examines the risks attached to robo advice. Read story
Altmann: I’ve been vilified and bullied by WASPI supporters
Professional Pensions: Pensions minister Ros Altmann has said that she has been bullied by supporters of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign. Read story
BSW Timber makes £5m liability savings through mortality study
Professional Pensions: BSW Timber has saved £5m in liabilities and reduced its deficit by a quarter due to a medically underwritten mortality study (MUMS). Read story
National living wage will impose greater payroll costs than expected, warn pay experts
CIPD:The forthcoming introduction of a national living wage (NLW) will lead to larger-than-expected increases in payroll costs among British businesses, according to reward experts. Read story
Historic AE data transfer claimed by Pensionsync
Corporate Adviser: The first fully automated pensions data transfer between a payroll bureau and pension providers has been achieved, removing the need for manual export of data to CSV file says Pensionsync. Read story
Knight Harwood embraces auto-escalation
Employee Benefits: Construction firm Knight Harwood’s group personal pension scheme started with a contribution basis of 3% and 3% and introduced the concept of auto-escalation, through what it calls the Pension Increase Pledge (Pip). Read story
How Labour plans to wage the pensions policy battle
Money Marketing: Labour’s fourth shadow pensions minister in under a year says she will introduce a “campaigning element” to the role, holding the Government to account over the retirement freedoms, automatic enrolment and the new state pension. Read story
B&Q to increase pay for 90% of shop floor staff
Employee Benefits: DIY store chain B&Q is to raise the hourly pay of 90% of its shop floor workers to at least £7.66 an hour from 1 April 2016. Read story
English National Opera chorus to vote on strike action over pay
Employee Benefits: Members of the chorus at the English National Opera (Eno) are to take part in a ballot on industrial action over pay. Read story
WNDirect introduces new benefits and gains living wage accreditation
Employee Benefits: Delivery firm WNDirect has introduced new benefits for its 80 employees and has been accredited as a living wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation. Read story
Flexible working boosts profits and productivity, say majority of employers
CIPD: High-speed mobile data services enables ‘profound and rapid shift’ in work practices. Read story
Rise in member contributions at Scottish Power shows impact of online tools
Pensions Expert: Energy company Scottish Power has seen a tenth of its stakeholder pension plan up their contributions following the introduction of a member portal that models pension outcomes and warns if an individual is likely to miss their target. Read story
US court proceeds with FedEx pension case
Employee Benefits: In January 2016, a US District Court Judge allowed a pension benefits claim brought by the same-sex widow of a FedEx employee to proceed while dismissing two other claims by the plaintiff. Read story
Juliette Graham: The implications of the Bank of England’s proposal on bonus buy-outs
Employee Benefits: The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) last month published a controversial proposal on buy-out bonuses aimed at stopping employees at the largest banks from being able to wipe the slate clean when they move firm. Read story
New contracts: not what the junior doctor ordered
HR Magazine: How will junior doctors' resistance to a new contract will affect HR in the NHS? Read story
Tory MP calls for salary sacrifice cap in radical savings overhaul
Money Marketing: A Conservative MP has called for a £10,000 restriction on salary sacrifice and a new 30 per cent flat rate of pension tax relief to deliver £10bn in annual savings for the Government. Read story
Advisers warned over death-in-service lifetime allowance tax risk
Money Marketing: Advisers must be wary of a little-known quirk in pension lifetime allowance rules that could see savers hit with a “nasty” tax charge, AJ Bell says. Read story
Atos launches car salary sacrifice scheme
Employee Benefits: Digital services provider Atos has introduced a car salary sacrifice scheme for its 10,000 employees. Read story
Intel reveals 100% gender pay parity
Employee Benefits: Intel has achieved 100% gender pay parity throughout the United States. Read story
Govt targets trust-based schemes in pension transfer overhaul
Money Marketing: Trust-based pension schemes are to be forced to report their performance processing transfers as part of a raft of measures designed to make it easier for consumers to access their savings. Read story
Berkshire pension fund in talks with Lancashire/LPFA pool
Professional Pensions: The £1.7bn Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund is in discussions to join the investment pool set up by London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) and Lancashire County Council Pension Fund. Read story
Instacart broadens its benefits offering with subsidised genetic testing
Employee Benefits: US online grocery delivery firm Instacart added genetic testing to its benefits offering in October 2015 when it signed up to the Color Genomics Breast Cancer Pledge to mark Breast Cancer Awareness month. Read story
Landmark turns to genetic testing to engage staff with fitness and nutrition
Employee Benefits: Landmark offered staff the chance to participate in a genetically guided wellness programme. Around 70 employees took a DNAFit test, which was made available through a prize draw and further incentive schemes. Read story
Ombudsman ill-health decision underscores complexity for members
Pensions Expert: Schemes have been urged to maintain open channels of communication with employers and members around ill-health benefits after an ombudsman determination ruled against a member’s attempt to "rewrite history”. Read story
Asda, Roche and Vauxhall Motors are among the UK’s Top Employers 2016
Employee Benefits: Asda, Bentley Motors, HCL Technologies, KFC, Roche and Vauxhall Motors were among the winners at the Top Employers UK 2016 Awards, which took place on 10 February at London’s Guildhall. Read story
23% of law firms believe workplace stress and burnout are increasing
Employee Benefits: Almost a quarter (23%) of law firm respondents believe that burnout and stress are increasing among fee-earning staff, according to research by Xerox HR Services. Read story
66% would not apply to work for an employer with a gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: Two-thirds (66%) of UK respondents are unlikely to apply to work for an organisation that they believe has a gender pay gap, according to research by recruitment firm Glassdoor. Read story
AE exemption for company directors and LLP partners planned
Corporate Adviser: Company directors and LLP partners could be exempt from auto-enrolment requirements under proposals put forward by the Department for Work and Pensions. Read story
NAO: Poor process and lack of resources explain civil service pension delay
Professional Pensions: A series of system and communication errors led to delayed pension payments to civil servants after administration was moved to MyCSP, a National Audit Office (NAO) report says. Read story
Seven in ten schemes not integrated risk management
Professional Pensions: Just 30% of defined benefit (DB) pension funds have developed an integrated approach to risk management, according to a survey by Xafinity. Read story
Treasury's action plan to tackle transfer issues and high exit fees
Professional Pensions: PP gives a run-down of how the Treasury will act to remove ‘unjustifiable barriers’ to people looking to access their pension pots under the pension freedoms. Read story
Two thirds of millennials not saving into workplace pensions
Professional Pensions: Just one third of 18-24 year-olds are in a workplace pension, suggesting much more action is needed according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Read story
Seven Families: How would my family manage if…
Reward Guide: A year-long initiative to help raise awareness of the impact on families of long-term illness is drawing to a close. Nic Paton looks at how the project has achieved its aims. Read story
Views across the pensions landscape
Reward Guide: Maggie Williams (MW) interviews Sophia Singleton (SS), head of defined contribution consulting at Aon, about the consultancy’s latest pensions survey. Read story
Employers feel strain as more staff save into work pensions, finds CIPD
CIPD: Latest Employee Outlook survey reveals financial impact of auto-enrolment. Read story
Universities leaders collect inflation busting pay rises, FOI request reveals
CIPD: Vice chancellors well rewarded despite sector-wide budget cuts. Read story
Failing to provide childcare vouchers during unpaid maternity leave could be discrimination
CIPD: Employers should check their own schemes for potential problems. Read story