Employment News

Gender pay reporting deadline closes with largest gap at 85.2 per cent

People Management – 5 April

The deadline for publishing companies gender pay gap has closed, with over 10,000 organisations reporting their pay gap. On average, the pay gap was 18.4% with 78% of organisations paying men more than their female counterparts. NWN Media reported the largest pay gap, with a difference of 85.2%.

Hogan Lovells partner pay gap favours women

The Law Society Gazette – 3 April

International law firm, Hogan Lovells, has published its gender pay gap figures, revealing that women in the partnership are paid 2.8% more than the men. For non-partners, the overall pay gap was 15.3% in favour of men. The firm has stated that 58% of people in the highest paid quartile are women, which demonstrates their commitment to women filling senior roles.

Fall in apprenticeship starts could be down to quality provision focus, experts suggest

People Management – 3 April

The latest government figures on apprenticeships reveal a decline of 25% in the number of new starters. 194,100 apprentices started in the first half of the 2017-18 academic year, compared to 258,800 starters in the previous year. However, despite the decline experts are optimistic.

Pensions News

38% opt out of workplace pension because they cannot afford contributions

Employee Benefits – 9 April

According to a survey by Now: Pensions, 38% of respondents who have opted out of their workplace pensions did so because they cannot afford the pensions contributions. 19% have opted out
because they do not trust pensions, and 24% opted out because the contributions were too small.

Government publishes report into pension freedoms

Employee Benefits – 5 April

The Work and Pensions Committee has published the Pension freedoms: ninth report of session 2017-19 report that suggests measures to ‘facilitate a pension freedoms market that works better
for pension scheme members.’ Employee Benefits discusses the proposals in detail.

Royal Mail to proceed with pay and collective DC pension scheme deal

Employee Benefits – 3 April

Over 100,000 Royal Mail employees have voted to proceed with its new pay and pensions scheme. The new proposals come after employees who are members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) threatened industrial action. Employees will now receive a 5% pay increase and a collective defined contribution scheme (DC).