All news – Page 72
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ArticleConsumer Rights Bill to impact salary sacrifice benefits
(Article UPDATED on 24 June 2014: see additional information below)The Consumer Rights Bill (CRB) could impact the provision of flexible benefits schemes and salary sacrifice arrangements.The CRB, which has passed through the House of Commons and has had its first reading in the House of Lords, with a second reading ...
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Article£4.6m paid out to 22,000 staff in minimum wage arrears
More than £4.6 million has been paid to more than 22,000 employees in wage arrears following investigations by HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) national minimum wage enforcement teams.In the past year, HMRC has conducted 1,455 investigations and issued 652 financial penalties worth £815,269.HMRC found arrears in 47% of cases and ...
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Article43% expect to have to plug NHS support gap
Some 43% of employers expect to have to plug the support gap created by the National Health Service (NHS) without the government introducing tax breaks on health and wellbeing products and services, according to the Employee Benefits/Lorica 100 Club research 2014.A large majority (85%) of 54 respondents believe tax breaks ...
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ArticleQueen’s Speech sets out collective DC pension plans
Collective defined contribution (CDC) pension schemes will be included in primary legislation in next year’s pensions bill, announced the Queen during the state opening of Parliament.The Private Pensions Bill would:Make provisions for a new legislative framework in relation to the different categories of pension schemes. It would establish three mutually ...
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ArticlePersonal allowance increase confirmed
The Queen has confirmed the personal allowance limit will be increased from £10,000 to £10,500 in 2015/16.The increase was first announced in the 2014 Budget in March. It means the first £10,500 of an employee’s annual salary will be exempt from income tax.Consequently, the average basic-rate taxpayer will pay £805 ...
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ArticleQueen's Speech confirms higher minimum wage penalties
The Queen has confirmed that higher penalties will be imposed on employers which fail to pay their staff the national minimum wage, first announced in January 2014.The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill will introduce an increased penalty of up to £20,000 for employers that do not pay staff the ...
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ArticleDOD’s blog: Is tax legislation hampering workplace pensions?
Yesterday the Labour party put forward proposals to lower the earnings threshold at which staff will be auto-enrolled into pensions to £5,772. In this way, more low-paid staff would be brought into workplace pensions savings.This follows tens of thousands of employees earning less than £10,000 a year finding that they ...
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ArticleCourt rules holiday pay should include commission
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has held that the Working Holiday Directive should require commission to be taken into account when calculating holiday pay.The finding in Lock v British Gas Trading Limited and others follows the Advocate General’s opinion in the case in December 2013.It means ...
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ArticleState pension reforms receive royal assent
The Pensions Bill 2013-14, which includes reforms to the state pension, received Royal Assent on 14 May.The reforms, which were first announced in the 2012 Autumn Statement, aim to create a simple flat-rate pension, the full level of which will be set above the basic means test, currently at £148.35.The ...
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ArticleThe Benefits Research 2014
Read the digital edition of the Benefits research 2014.The supplement includes the following articles:Debbie Lovewell-Tuck: Engagement is driving benefits strategiesKey findingsEngagement continues to drive benefits strategiesRecruitment and retention remain employers’ top reason for offering benefitsHR systems most popular technology used to deliver benefitsBenefits cost less than 20% of payrollTwo-thirds plan ...
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ArticleKey findings of The Benefits Research 2014
Read more findings from The Benefits Research 2014
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ArticleGovernment to amend definition of money purchase for pensions
The government has published proposed final amendments to the definition of money purchase pension schemes.The Department for Work and Pensions launched a consultation in October 2013 to attempt to clarify the definition of money purchase included in section 29 of the Pensions Act 2011.The consultation followed the Supreme Court’s July ...
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ArticleDOD’s blog: Should HR get more involved in politics?
On Wednesday I stood for several hours in a queue on Trafalgar Square, London, in order to cast my vote in the South African elections (us overseas nationals get to do it a week in advance of our compatriots back home). The passion, dedication and persistence of people from around ...
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ArticleHMRC publishes templates for share scheme returns
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published templates for organisations to use in order to comply with their online filing responsibilities for employee share plan returns.All employers need to submit their first annual share plan return for 2014/15 online through HMRC’s pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) online service by 6 July 2015.The templates ...
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ArticleMale staff win equal pay case against University of Wales
More than 18 male employees have won an equal pay case against the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.The support staff, which includes plumbers and caretakers, took the university to an employment tribunal on the grounds of sexual discrimination after discovering female colleagues on the same pay grade were being ...
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ArticleConfessions of a benefits manager: Candid researches multinational pooling
However, I have to look at these things creatively, and as most of the players are in Belgium, perhaps I can engineer a visit as part of the project.Big Bad Boss wouldn’t normally go for that, because suppliers must come to us, not us to them. But, given we are ...
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ArticleAsda staff launch equal pay case
More than 400 female employees at Asda have launched legal action against the supermarket around equal pay.The cases are aimed at determining if the mainly female-staffed retail jobs are of equal value to higher-paid jobs in Asda’s male-dominated distribution centres.If the case is successful, the employees who have alleged they ...
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ArticleReed Group loses £158m salary sacrifice appeal
Reed Group has lost its case in the Upper Tax Tribunal against HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) concerning the tax treatment of travel and subsistence expenses to staff.A number of Reed Group organisations now face a liability to HMRC worth up to £158 million in unpaid tax and national insurance ...
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ArticleTax and legal changes to employee benefits take effect
A number of changes affecting employee benefits came into effect on 6 April.These include:The savings limit for sharesave schemes has doubled from £250 to £500 a month, and the maximum value of shares that an employee can acquire with tax advantages through share incentive plans has risen to £1,800 a ...
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ArticleKey changes to employee benefits in the 2014 Budget
Here is a round up of all the key announcements impacting employee benefits:2014 to 2015: more flexibility to be allowed for employees retiring with defined contribution pensions.From 27 March: maximum lump sum taken from a pension pot increased to £30,000 from £18,000. From 27 March: number of small individual pension ...