All Article articles – Page 500
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ArticleConfessions of a benefits manager: Staying silent for international rescue
There is a perception that if you get sent on international assignment it is akin to winning the lottery. Our expatriates seem to expect penthouse apartments and limousines wherever they go. They want to double their salary and have the pick of the best benefits from either country as recompense ...
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ArticleAdmiral CEO gifts £1,000 to employees
Henry Engelhardt, chief executive officer (CEO) at Admiral, and his wife, Diane Engelhardt, are personally gifting between £500 and £1,000 to each member of the organisation's 8,300-strong global workforce.Engelhardt, who is retiring in May, is offering the gift as a gesture of thanks for employees’ hard work during his 25-year ...
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ArticlePorsche awards €8,911 bonus to staff
Porsche AG is awarding employees a €8,911 (£6,952) bonus in recognition of their role in helping the organisation achieve positive results for 2015.The bonus will be paid to around 15,600 members of staff who are employed under the firm’s collective pay agreement.The 2015 bonus will be adapted according to employees’ ...
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Article62% of under-25s would be more loyal to employer if paid national living wage
Almost two-thirds (62%) of respondents aged 16-24 would be more loyal to their employer if they were to receive the new national living wage rate, which is only statutory for employees aged 25 and over, according to research by workforce management firm Kronos.Its survey of 2,020 employees over the age ...
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ArticleJapanese government body seeks modern-day ninjas
Something for the weekend: Do you have stealth-like moves, a way with people and a talent for acrobatics? If you do, then you might make the cut as a modern-day ninja.The local government body in the Aichi Prefecture in Japan is recruiting six ninjas to help promote tourism in the ...
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ArticleTop 10 most read stories this week
The top 10 most read stories on www.employeebenefits.co.uk between 10 and 16 March 2016: EAT reverses ET decision on childcare vouchers.Government confirms plans to limit salary sacrifice.Employer contributions to public sector pensions to increase.Employee Benefits Connect 2016 speaker slides.National minimum wage to rise to £6.95.Tax-free childcare to be phased in ...
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ArticleUK Supreme Court rules on UBS and Deutsche Bank bonus cases
The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in a case examining the tax that should be paid on bankers’ bonuses.In the cases of UBS AG v Commissioners for HMRC and DB Group Services v Commissioners for HMRC, the banks awarded discretionary bonuses to employees ...
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ArticleHow the Budget 2016 will impact employee benefits
On 16 March, Chancellor George Osborne delivered his Budget 2016 speech. Below is a round-up of the key announcements with a bearing on employee benefits:The government plans to limit the range of benefits that can be offered under a salary sacrifice arrangement. This will not apply to pensions, childcare and ...
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ArticleScottish further education staff strike over pay
Further education lecturers in Scotland are striking over pay today (17 March).The industrial action follows a ballot among members of the trade union Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) and Further Education Lecturers’ Association (Fela). Of the 61% of members who turned out for the ballot, 88% voted in favour of ...
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ArticleGovernment commits to pensions dashboard
Budget 2016: The government has committed to ensuring that the pensions industry designs, funds and launches a pensions dashboard by 2019.The commitment, which was announced during the 2016 Budget, will enable individuals to view details of all of their retirement savings in one place.Darren Philp, director of policy and market ...
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ArticleGovernment limits capital gains exemptions for employee shareholder status
Budget 2016: The government is imposing an individual lifetime limit of £100,000 on gains eligible for capital gains tax exemption through employee shareholder status.This will apply to employee shareholder status arrangements entered into from 17 March 2016. It will not apply to existing arrangements.The limit was announced by Chancellor George ...
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Tax-free childcare to be phased in and childcare vouchers extended
Budget 2016: The government has announced that the new tax-free childcare scheme, to take effect from early 2017, will be rolled out throughout the year.The new scheme, which was first announced in 2013’s Budget as a replacement to childcare vouchers, will take a phased approach and allow parents of the ...
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ArticleGovernment to consult on extending shared parental leave to grandparents
Budget 2016: The government is to launch a consultation in May 2016 on how to extend shared parental leave (SPL) and pay to working grandparents.The consultation will look into options for streamlining the system, which will include simplifying the eligibility requirements and notification system, as well as exploring how to ...
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ArticlePensions advice allowances to be extended
Budget 2016: The £150 limit on income tax and national insurance (NI) relief on employer-arranged pensions advice is to be extended to £500.In its Budget 2016 documentation, the government also confirmed that it is to consult on the introduction of a pensions advice allowance. This would allow pension scheme members ...
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ArticleGovernment to restructure financial guidance providers
Budget 2016: The government is to restructure the Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise into two new guidance bodies.The move, which was detailed in the Budget 2016 documentation, is intended to ensure that consumers can access the help they need to make effective financial decisions.The new ...
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ArticleGovernment confirms plans to limit salary sacrifice
Budget 2016: The government has confirmed it is considering limiting the range of benefits that attract relief on tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) when offered via salary sacrifice arrangements.However, details of its intentions, set out in Budget 2016 documentation, stated that pension contributions, childcare and health-related benefits, such as ...
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ArticleGovernment to introduce Lifetime Isas to encourage long-term saving
Budget 2016: The government is to introduce a new savings mechanism known as a Lifetime individual savings account (Isa).Chancellor George Osborne announced the plans in his Budget 2016 speech today (16 March).The Lifetime Isa is aimed at helping young people save for the long term, with a particular emphasis on ...
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ArticleGovernment to increase personal allowance and higher-rate tax thresholds
Budget 2016: The tax-free personal allowance limit and higher-rate tax threshold will increase from April 2017.In his 2016 Budget speech today (16 March), Chancellor George Osborne announced that the tax-free personal allowance limit, the amount an individual earns before they pay income tax, will rise to £11,500 from April 2017, ...
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ArticleEmployer contributions to public sector pensions to increase
Budget 2016: Employer contributions to public sector pensions will increase from 2019-20 onward.In his 2016 Budget speech today (16 March), Chancellor George Osborne announced that the government has reassessed the discount rate used to set employer contributions. The discount rate is based on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR's) long-term ...
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ArticleInsurance premium tax to rise to 10%
Budget 2016: The standard rate of insurance premium tax (IPT) is to rise from 9.5% to 10%.The 0.5% increase will come into effect from October 2016.Chancellor George Osborne announced the rise in IPT in his Budget 2016 speech today (16 March).The rise will be invested in flood defences and resilience ...