Analysis – Page 5
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Analysis
Benefits to support working parents
If you read nothing else, read this...Childcare vouchers and on-site nurseries are flexible, tax-efficient ways to cover staff childcare costs.Emergency childcare is a back-up service that can be offered as a core benefit, a voluntary benefit or as part of a flexible benefits package.Flexible working encompasses part-time working or flexible ...
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Analysis
Offering employee benefits to families of staff boosts employee engagement
Benefits for employees’ dependants are under pressure, but their contribution to staff engagement is clear, says Sam BarrettExtending benefits to family members has a long tradition, going back to the days when the likes of Cadbury provided employees and their families with housing, education, healthcare and sports facilities. Today, although ...
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Analysis
Drive to improve administration for childcare voucher schemes
Childcare voucher schemes can hit administration problems, but leading providers are working to improve systems efficiency, says Nicola SullivanThe government’s announcement that it is to revise plans to phase out all tax relief on childcare vouchers came as welcome news for many employers. But this is not the only issue ...
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Analysis
News analysis: Childcare crisis looms
The government's decision to withdraw tax and national insurance relief on childcare vouchers could have major repercussions, says Nicola SullivanThe future of employers' childcare provision for staff has been cast into doubt after the government announced that the tax exemption on childcare vouchers would be abolished.Many employers are concerned they ...
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Analysis
Childcare arrangements for working parents – what benefits employers can offer
Tax and NI relief changes to childcare vouchers are on the way, but employer-provided childcare benefits remain a vital employee benefit, says Peta HodgeThe childcare market suffered a significant blow last month when prime minister Gordon Brown announced the tax and national insurance (NI) breaks on childcare vouchers would be ...
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Analysis
Proposed changes to parental leave
Proposed changes to parental leave could result in increased leave and pay for both mothers and fathersOn 30 March, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) unveiled radical proposals, in its Working Better report, to change parental leave .It proposes that parents should each get four months parental leave (mothers ...
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Analysis
Providing benefits during maternity leave
Employers must quickly get to grips with the new maternity leave rights, says Victoria FurnessThe government's drive to be seen as more family-friendly in recent years - with the introduction of policies such as extended maternity leave - is having an unwanted effect: life has got more complicated for employers ...
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Analysis
Buyer’s guide to childcare
Of the four main options employers have when providing childcare for staff, vouchers and emergency childcare have seen the strongest growth in the past year, says Alison ColemanFlexibility is often said to be the key to an engaged workforce, so it is perhaps not surprising that the more flexible childcare ...
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Analysis
Providing on-site nursey facilities
Providing an on-site nursery can ease employees' concerns about their child's welfare, although this can come with a hefty price tag, says Alison ColemanFor many working parents with young children, on-site nursery facilities at their workplace are considered a luxury. Being close to their children throughout the working day may ...
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Analysis
Childcare perks can encourage parents' return to work
Employers can use childcare perks to encourage parents' return to work by easing financial burdens, so boosting retention levels, says Alison ColemanFor any working parent, the task of balancing family life with work obligations can be an expensive and sometimes stressful business. For some employees, it may all become too ...
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Analysis
A guide to childcare benefits
With a number of childcare options in the market, employers should choose wisely, says Jenny KeefeCase studies: The Gambling Commission, Goldman SachsArticle in full'Why is there so much month left at the end of the money?', is the clarion call often made by many employees, but parents may have particular ...
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Analysis
New proposals for parental leave
Employers need to consider arrangements for fathers, says Alison ColemanCase study: Mouchel ParkmanArticle in fullAmong the raft of new measures outlined in the Work and Families Act 2006 are proposals to extend paid maternity leave and allow working fathers to take up a share of it.This has provoked the usual ...
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Analysis
Gaining a return on inventment on childcare perks
Costing the return on childcare provisions is complex, but employers have an added impetus if staff take bogus absences to look after kids, says Nick GoldingCase study: Getty ImagesArticle in fullChildcare benefits frequently top the lists of employers' most commonly-offered perks. According to the Employee Benefits/Towers Perrin Flexible benefits research ...
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Analysis
How to manage working parents
Why should employers consider the needs of working parents? What should be covered in a strategy for working parents? What benefits are available to assist working parents? How do childcare vouchers work? What are the implications of providing nursery care? Preparing for an emergency How to help working parents achieve ...
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Analysis
What could extended flexible hours mean for employers?
Extensions to the overall mechanics of flexible working are a daunting possibility for employersJust as employers are preparing for next month's extension of the right to request flexible working to carers of adults, under the terms of the Work and Families Act 2006, children's minister Beverley Hughes has come out ...
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Analysis
Supporting staff with caring responsibilities is good for business
Building on new legislation to offer support to staff with caring responsibilities can have numerous business benefits for employers, says Vicki TaylorNever before has there been such a great focus on employees’ caring responsibilities outside of the workplace. While the right to request flexible working has existed for working parents ...
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Analysis
Supporting carers can be good for business
Employers are coming under increasing pressure from all quarters to offer flexible working to staff, says Amanda Wilkinson, editor of Employee Benefits. The green lobby believes it will help ease congestion, while new legislation in the form of the Work and Families Act 2006 is imposing extra duties on companies ...
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Analysis
Emergency childcare: the options
Emergency childcare can have tangible benefits for both employers and staff, explains Vicki TaylorArticle in fullEmergency childcare is one of those perks where the advantages are just as tangible for employers, if not more so, than for employees.The services that can be offered to staff range from providing childcare at ...
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Analysis
New flexible working laws
Benefits SurgeryEmployer's query: I've heard that there are new rights coming in to request flexible working, what will our obligations be?Since April 2003, the parents of children under the age of six years (or 18 years if disabled) have had the right to request to work flexibly to enable them ...
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Analysis
Do childcare vouchers work for all parents?
Fuelled by expemptions within the 2004 Budget and a furhter lifting of the cap up to £55 a week, Jamin Robertson asks if childcare vouchers are having growing pains.Article in fullTwo years ago the childcare voucher market was buzzing as organisations clamoured to take advantage of new tax efficiencies that ...