All Pensions articles – Page 51
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Mind the (contribution) gap
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published earlier this week, showed that membership of workplace pensions has reached record levels since the launch of auto-enrolment; just under three-quarters (73%) of employees contributed to a workplace pension in 2017, compared to less than 47% in 2012.According to the ONS’ ...
-
Article73% of employees have active workplace pensions due to auto-enrolment
In 2012, less than half (47%) of UK employees had active workplace pensions. By 2017, that number rose to almost three-quarters (73%), according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The ONS attributes this increase to the introduction by the government of auto-enrolment in October 2012. To be eligible for auto-enrolment, ...
-
ArticleAverage southern pension pots almost double those in the north
The average yearly pension income across the UK is £21,441, but this figure is far from evenly split among the various regions, according to research by online pension manager PensionBee.Its report, which surveyed 5,098 UK employees, also found that the south-east had the highest average pension size within England, at ...
-
ArticleFTSE 350 defined benefit pension deficit falls to £53bn
The accounting deficit for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes at the UK’s top 350 organisations has decreased by £19 billion, from £72 billion at the end of March 2018 to £53 billion at the end of April 2018, according to research by Mercer.The research, which analyses pension deficits calculated using ...
-
ArticleTPR to appoint enforcement officers to seize assets for pension non-compliance fines
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is to appoint high court enforcement officers (HCEOs) to enforce court orders or their equivalent on employers who have failed or refused to comply with auto-enrolment pension duties.The HCEOs will operate in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and will have the ability to visit the ...
-
ArticlePoll: 55% think more employers will offer collective DC pensions after Royal Mail
Employee Benefits Poll: More than half (55%) of respondents think that more employers will follow the example set by postal organisation Royal Mail and implement collective defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.A straw poll of www.employeebenefits.co.uk readers, which received 44 responses, also found that 20% of respondents do not think organisations ...
-
ArticleDefined benefit pension funding deficit falls to £200bn as of April 2018
The funding deficit for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes in the UK has fallen to £200 billion at the end of April 2018, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).Its Skyval Index, which is based on data relating to 5,800 DB pension funds and collected through the Skyval pensions platform used ...
-
ArticleEmployees entitled to at least 50% of pension if employer becomes insolvent rules EU court
The Advocate General at The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that employees are entitled to at least 50% of the total value of their accrued pension pot in the event that their employer becomes insolvent.The case concerned is Grenville Hampshire v The Board of the ...
-
ArticleTPR to prosecute Samuel Smith Old Brewery for not providing information
Image credit: Samuel Smith Old BreweryThe Pensions Regulator (TPR) is to prosecute Samuel Smith Old Brewery and its chairman for failing to provide financial information pertinent to an ongoing pensions investigation.TPR issued a notice on 12 January 2018 to the North Yorkshire brewery and its chairman, Humphrey Smith, to request ...
-
ArticleUniversity of London outsourced workers strike to gain employment rights
Workers employed by outsourcing organisations that have contracts with the University of London, and who are members of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), are undertaking a two-day strike in a dispute over employment rights.More than 100 workers will be taking strike action on Wednesday 25 and Thursday ...
-
ArticleEXCLUSIVE: Aspen launches online financial education programme
EXCLUSIVE: Insurance and reinsurance organisation Aspen has launched an online financial education programme for its 700 UK employees.Its financial education programme, which is provided by Nudge. launched on 20 April 2018, ahead of Aspen's annual flexible benefits selection window in May. It was launched via an email campaign and through ...
-
ArticleNigel Peaple: Should employers pay more than the minimum contributions required under auto-enrolment?
Automatic-enrolment has been a great success, with 9.5 million new pension savers enrolled since its introduction, according to the Automatic-enrolment declaration of compliance report: July 2012-end March 2018, published by The Pensions Regulator (TPR). Nevertheless, there is more work to do. There are more people saving for later life than ...
-
ArticleIan Baines: Should employers pay more than the minimum contributions required under auto-enrolment?
Should employers pay more than the minimum contributions required under auto-enrolment? The short answer? Yes.Very few organisations have a bottomless budget and therefore each must make a strategic decision on what benefits it offers employees and the level of provision it wants to make. At the heart of this decision ...
-
ArticleTim Middleton: Should employers pay more than the minimum contributions required under auto-enrolment?
This April saw the first phasing increase to minimum contributions arising from automatic-enrolment. The default minimum contribution for employees rose from 1% to 2% of qualifying earnings, which was greeted by the national media in predictably apocalyptic terms. The Express, for example, warned that “experts fear opt-out rates could surge ...
-
ArticleGatwick Airport and Tesco shortlisted for best pensions communications
Credit Suisse, Gatwick Airport, Hogan Lovells and Tesco are among the organisations shortlisted in the best pensions communications category for the Employee Benefits Awards 2018.This award celebrates employers that have implemented effective pensions communications strategies.The full category shortlist is:Credit Suisse, Credit Suisse Master Trust (Entered by Aon)DAC Beachcroft, Financial Wellbeing: ...
-
ArticleConfessions of a benefits manager: Candid looks into retirement planning
I need you to know I am really not that old. It is true that a girl in the bank told me, condescendingly, that ‘nowadays’ people do not ask for statement folders. It is also true my hairdresser keeps referring to her mother and me in the same sentence. Yet, ...
-
ArticleRoyal Bank of Scotland to pay £3.5bn into DB pension fund
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to pay £3.5 billion into its main defined benefit (DB) pension scheme in order to prepare for ring-fencing legislation effective in January 2026.The banking organisation has confirmed a memorandum of understanding agreement with the trustees of its RBS Group Pension Fund. This includes ...
-
ArticleKroger enhances education, pay and pension benefits
Food retail organisation Kroger has enhanced its employee benefits offering for US employees to introduce new education benefits, increase employer pension contributions and accelerate pay rises.As part of Kroger’s new Feed your Future education programme, the organisation has introduced a new education benefit to enable all full and part-time employees ...
-
ArticleUniversity employees vote to accept proposal to resolve pension dispute
University employees, who are members of the trade union University and College Union (UCU), have voted to accept proposals aimed at resolving the university pensions dispute.Just under two-thirds (64%) of members voted in favour of accepting the proposal. The decision has averted a second series of strikes that were scheduled ...
-
ArticleHigher life expectancy means employees are not saving enough for retirement
Employees are not saving enough for retirement because they are pessimistic about their life expectancy, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).Its study, Subjective expectations of survival and economic behaviour, which is based on analysis of data from the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing, found that employees ...