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At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 25-31 October 2019

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 25-31 October. 6B34-1572002216_headlinesMAIN.jpg

Microsoft UK: ‘Flexible working should not be a benefit but a requirement’
HR Review: “Flexible working should not be a benefit but a requirement”, as it brings with it a good work-life balance. Read story

Number of small scheme bulk annuities falls 30% in five years
Professional Pensions: There has been a 30% reduction in the number of small scheme buy-in and buyout transactions, highlighting how insurer attention has shifted towards larger deals. Read story

70% of organisations do not help employees improve sleep habits
Employee Benefits: Seven in 10 (70%) Employee Benefits readers do not actively support employees in improving their sleep habits or getting a healthy night’s sleep. Read story

Merseyside-based Matalan staff vote to accept 4.6% pay increase
Employee Benefits: Around 500 staff employed by retailer Matalan, working at its northern distribution centre in Knowsley, Merseyside, have voted to accept a 4.6% pay increase. Read story

JM Smucker Company enhances paid leave benefits for 7,000 staff
Employee Benefits: US-based food manufacturing business The JM Smucker Company, also known as Smucker’s, has enhanced its paid leave benefits for more than 7,000 employees, effective 1 January 2020. Read story

Majority of 22 to 29 year-olds saving for retirement due to auto-enrolment
Employee Benefits: More than four-fifths (84%) of employees working in the private sector and aged between 22 and 29, saved for retirement via auto-enrolment in 2018, compared to the 24% who did so in 2012, according to research by The Pensions Regulator (TPR). Read story

One in 20 workers does not get paid holidays
HR News: Research into illegal work practices released last month by the Resolution Foundation Think Tank has highlighted the shocking way some UK businesses treat their employees. It found that roughly one in twenty workers do not get paid holiday entitlement, and one in ten do not even receive a payslip. Read story

Doubts cast on SMEs’ ability to manage AE responsibilities
Corporate Adviser: Latest figures from the Pensions Regulator’s annual report show there remain some concerns about employers meeting their auto-enrolment duties. Read story

Pensions bill lite misses obvious opportunity for AE reform
Professional Pensions: Failure to include auto-enrolment reforms in the Queen’s Speech and the pension schemes bill will make big problems even bigger, says Jack Jones. Read story

Gender pay gap hits older women hardest, data shows
People Management: Female workers in their 50s earn more than a quarter less than their male counterparts, according to analysis of ONS figures. Read story

Public sector outsourcing under scrutiny as workers begin walkout
People Management: Staff at a London NHS trust employed by a third-party contractor are today beginning the first in a series of strikes amid claims they are being paid significantly less than their in-house counterparts – raising the issue of pay disparity between outsourced workers and employees. Read story

Musculo-skeletal issues on the rise as a cause of sickness absence
Employee Benefits: Following a dip in last year’s research, musculo-skeletal ailments have risen overall as a cause of sickness absence, cited by 45% of respondents, an increase of 15 percentage points since 2018, and seven since 2017, according to research by Employee Benefits. Read story

Allens announces enhanced parental support for Australia-based staff
Employee Benefits: Asia-Pacific law firm Allens, which has 1,498 employees, has announced that it will be rolling out enhanced parental support in 2020, to improve the work-life balance of staff in its Australia office. Read story

BJC Healthcare increases minimum wage to $15 per hour for 3,500 employees
Employee Benefits: Missouri-based non-profit healthcare organisation based BJC Healthcare, which employs 31,510 employees across the US, has announced that it will be increasing its minimum wage in a three-stage plan that will see 3,500 of its lowest paid employees benefiting from pay rises. Read story

Staff wellbeing named top employer priority
Cover: Three quarters of UK employers plan to incorporate wellbeing into benefits strategies, research shows. Read story

From Coffee Shops to Casinos: The Rise of Rewards and Why Employers Should Embrace Them
Employer News: Companies of all sizes have so many human resource issues to contend with these days, from ensuring that they are recruiting the right talent to trying to keep a workforce happy, healthy and motivated. Read story

Pension wake-up packs “still not enough” for many savers
Pensions Age: The new pension wake-up packs that will come into effect on 1 November are “still not enough” in the battle to improve retirement income provision,according to Wealth at Work. Read story

UK employees have ‘no idea’ if they have a pension from a previous job
HR Review: Despite more than 10 million UK employees being enrolled in to a workplace pension scheme, a tenth of workers have “no idea” if they have a pension from a previous job. Read story

Seven out of 10 surgeons cut hours due to pensions tax trap
Corporate Adviser: There have been further calls for a simplification of current pension tax rules, after a survey revealed almost seven out of 10 surgeons have cut their hours to avoid being hit with tax bills on their pensions. Read story

First pension ‘wake-up’ letters to be sent to 50-year olds
Corporate Adviser: Those approaching the age of 50 will soon begin to receive standard one-page ‘wake-up’ letters, setting out their pension options, under regulatory changes made as a result of the Retirement Outcomes Review. Read story

Womens' pension prospects dulled by 'reckless conservatism'
Professional Pensions: Researchers from Cass Business School and the University of Bristol have found that the tendency of women to be more risk-adverse than men is a major contributor to pension inequality in the UK. Read story

Employees undergoing fertility treatment lack support, says survey
People Management: Majority of HR professionals say they would benefit from education to better understand issues. Read story

Approximately 6.2 million admit to working while suffering from mental ill-health
Employee Benefits: Approximately one-fifth (19%) of UK employees admit that they have gone into work when feeling mentally unwell, according to research by Canada Life Group Insurance. Read story

Dentists in England to receive 2.42% pay increase
Employee Benefits: Trade union The British Dental Association (BDA) has confirmed that dental contracts in England will receive a pay uplift of 2.42%, effective from November 2019. Read story

National Oceanography Centre runs nutrition and wellbeing days for staff
Employee Benefits: Research and development organisation the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has run a series of nutrition and wellbeing days for employees at its sites in Southampton and Liverpool. Read story

BBC's Jeremy Vine earned '600% more than female colleague'
HR Grapevine: This week unequal pay claims were reopened against the BBC as 12 female BBC workers, headed by Newswatch Presenter Samira Ahmed, are poised to take it to tribunal over equal pay. They aim to recoup £500,000 in back pay. Read story

Govt will continue to uprate state pension beyond 2023 in five European countries
Pensions Age: The government will continue to uprate the state pension in five countries in Europe beyond 2023 if there is a no-deal Brexit. Read story

Pay gap of genders are larger in certain industries
HR Review: Certain industries see women earn 72 pence for every pound a male colleague earns. Read story

Pension freedom withdrawals top £30bn
Corporate Adviser: More people are using pensions freedoms to access their retirement savings, but the amount they are individually withdrawing has continued to fall, according to new data from HMRC. Read story

Pensions experts anticipate swift consolidation of DB schemes
Professional Pensions: The number of defined benefit (DB) schemes will fall in the next decade as superfunds begin to strengthen, pension professionals believe. Read story

Employers need to bridge the gap between members' retirement income levels
Professional Pensions: It is the role of employers, the pensions industry, and the government to close the gap between minimum and moderate levels of income in retirement, according to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA). Read story

Standard Life Aberdeen to launch enhanced parental leave for 4,500 UK employees
Employee Benefits: Global investment organisation Standard Life Aberdeen has announced that it will be launching an enhanced parental leave policy for its 4,500 UK-based employees. Read story

HSBC India introduces enhanced childcare allowance benefit for 4,000 employees
Employee Benefits: Financial organisation HSBC India has introduced enhanced childcare benefits for employees returning to work after having a baby, as a part of its approach to supporting and improving staff work-life balance. Read story

Three-fifths have increased focus on mental wellbeing over the last year
Employee Benefits: In 2018, 45% of employers intended to place an increased focus on mental wellbeing support; a year on, 60% have actually done so, according to research by Employee Benefits. Read story

Pensions taxation leading to doctors retiring earlier
Pensions Age: Forty-five per cent of doctors have decided to retire earlier than planned, with 86 per cent of those citing pensions taxation as their reason why, according to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). Read story

HMRC GMP equalisation tax guidance confirmed for December
Professional Pensions: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced it will publish its long-awaited tax guidance specific to guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) equalisation in December. Read story

DB consolidation: Weighing up the options
Professional Pensions: A panel of experts have shared their views on how DB schemes can make good consolidation decisions. Kim Kaveh reports from the PLSA’s annual conference. Read story

Rate of mothers returning to work has risen by 9.1% since 2000
Employee Benefits: The rate at which women in the UK are returning to work once becoming mothers has risen by 9.1% since 2000, according to research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Read story

Mike Osbourn Lawn Care ordered to pay $100,000 for wage violations
Employee Benefits: A US lawn service organisation based in Kentucky, Mike Osbourn Lawn Care, has been ordered to pay $100,000 (£77,184) in back wages, damages and penalties to 69 employees, after an investigation by the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) discovered the organisation was violating federal law. Read story

UK Power Networks enlists Olympic kayaker to promote staff wellbeing
Employee Benefits: Electricity provider UK Power Networks has launched a series of events aimed at energising employees and boosting wellbeing, with the help of two-time Olympian and six-time world champion, Anna Hemmings. Read story

Sunny Bird PR employee uses perk allowance for free lunchtime Botox
Employee Benefits: Communications agency Sunny Bird PR provides its seven employees with an allowance each month, on top of salary, to spend on perks as they see fit, which has seen one employee plump up her reward package with free Botox injections. Read story

More than half of UK adults plan to work during their retirement
Pensions Age: New retirement trends research from Fidelity International suggests that more than half of UK adults are planning to keep working in some capacity during their retirement. Read story

Taking a decade out of work to raise a child could cost £2,500 a year in pension savings
Pensions Age: Taking 10 years out of work to raise a child could mean losing around a third of a private pension, the equivalent of about £2,500 a year, according to Canada Life. Read story

Govt needs to urgently review taxation of pension freedoms withdrawals
Pensions Age: Pension providers are calling on the government to urgently review its approach to the taxation of pension freedoms withdrawals in light of news that a record £54 million was repaid to savers who were overtaxed on withdrawals in the three months to September 2019. Read story

Employers urged to tackle stress in the workplace to stop rising presenteeism
HR News: During International Stress Awareness Week from 4th to 8th November 2019, organised by the International Stress Management Association, Adrian Lewis, Director, Activ Absence is encouraging employers to address stress in the workplace to tackle rising presenteeism – employees going into work sick. Read story