All Article articles – Page 633
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ArticlePension charges cap could stifle industry
A cap on pension charges could stifle the innovation and creativity needed in pensions to provide better retirement outcomes for employees.Speaking in a session titled Does cheap mean low quality? at the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) Investment Conference on 6 March, James Churcher, pensions manager at Abbott Laboratories, ...
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ArticleGovernment increases cap on tax-free childcare
The government has increased the cap of its tax-free childcare scheme so that working parents will be able to receive up to £2,000 per child, instead of the £1,200 that was previously proposed.In its Delivering tax-free childcare: the government’s response to the consultation on design and operation, the government also ...
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BT staff to receive sharesave payout
Around 24,000 BT employees are to receive an average payout of £46,000 when a five-year sharesave scheme matures in summer of 2014.The telecommunications organisation’s 2013 Annual report showed that around 60% of employees are members of the sharesave scheme.Over the next two years, around 34,500 employees could receive shares worth ...
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ArticleBrowne Jacobson launches financial education sessions
EXCLUSIVE: Browne Jacobson is rolling out financial education sessions for its employees.The sessions are targeted at three groups of staff: those who are over 50 and planning to retire, those between the ages of 30 and 40, and those between the ages of 20 and 30 who are just starting ...
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DOD’s blog: What the Budget means for workplace pensions
Wednesday’s Budget is a game changer for workplace pensions, and one that I broadly welcome.The details and ramifications of these changes to the way savers can withdraw wealth from defined contribution (DC) pension plans will play themselves out over the coming months and years.But the new rules – some of ...
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ArticleDiscover why employers must support staff financial wellness at Employee Benefits Connect
Employers must offer the tools to help employees navigate their own financial wellness.Katie Nedl, global head of benefits at BlackRock, will speak at a session titled Understanding the effect of global financial benefits on work engagement at Employee Benefits Connect in New York on March 25, 2014.She said: “In a ...
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Interview with Sharon Tebb, compensation and benefits manager at Withers
“I marched up to KPMG with my CV and a little folder of two-line letters that I’d typed and got an interview,” she says. “It’s quite embarrassing, really; I think they felt sorry for me.”Within 18 months, she was promoted to senior secretary and then to the newly-created role of ...
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ArticleShare plan savers benefit from Isa limit increase
The annual individual savings account (Isa) allowance will be increased to £15,000 from 1 July 2014, according to Chancellor George Osborne in today’s Budget speech.This will allow staff transferring exercised shares into an Isa from a maturing employee share plan (such as sharesave) to protect more of their gains over ...
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ArticleDC pension savings to become more flexible
In the Budget 2014, Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) announced greater flexibility in the way employees retiring with defined contribution (DC) pensions can take their savings.In the future, DC members will be able to take their pension wealth as a lump sum, drawdown, or an annuity.A range of changes came in ...
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ArticleGovernment to ban public sector pension transfers
The government is to ban employees from transferring out of public sector defined benefit (DB) pension schemes under proposals announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the Budget 2014.This coincides with the government’s announcement of a radical overhaul of defined contribution (DC) pensions in the UK, which will enable anyone aged ...
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ArticleHay Group reviews benefits to fund auto-enrolment
EXCLUSIVE: Hay Group has undertaken a full review of its employee benefits to help fund the cost of auto-enrolment.The global management consultancy, which has around 350 employees, reached its auto-enrolment staging date on 1 February 2014.Charlotte Koch (pictured), head of HR at Hay Group, said: “Auto-enrolment allowed us to take ...
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ArticleLife Planning Association launched
A new national professional body has been launched to support employers and employees in life and retirement planning. The Life Planning Association has been formed because of the current challenging circumstances of an ageing population, changes in pension schemes, state benefit reforms and longer working lives.It will aim to influence ...
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Shared parental leave receives royal assent
The government’s Children and Families Act, which includes legislation for shared parental leave, has received royal assent.The act includes:From April 2015, mothers, fathers and adopters will be able to share parental leave around their child’s birth or placement.From 1 October 2014, prospective fathers or a mother’s partner will be able ...
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ArticleCompulsory pensions annuitisation scrapped
Employees will no longer have to purchase an annuity to convert their pension pot into retirement income, under new measures announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the 2014 Budget.From April 2015, DC members will have the choice of taking their pension wealth as a lump sum, drawdown, or an annuity.In ...
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ArticlePersonal allowance increase could impact auto-enrolment eligibility
The increase in the personal allowance to £10,500 a year could mean fewer employees are automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme.The increase, announced in the Budget 2014 by Chancellor George Osborne, will take effect from April 2015.Consequently, the average basic-rate taxpayer will pay £805 less income tax per year ...
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ArticleAdvisers respond to global benefits trend
Employee benefits advisers are responding to the growing trend among employers, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), of pooling benefits to achieve global cost efficiencies. For example, Willis Group restructured its global benefits in January, combining its existing employee benefits and related consultancy practices. It did this to develop and ...
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Santander streamlines pensions admin
Santander UK has streamlined its pension administration services for around 100,000 employees across its UK trust-based defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) pension schemes.The bank previously used a number of different administrators for its pension schemes, but has now appointed JLT to administer all its UK schemes.Active, deferred and ...
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DOD’s blog: Does your CSR strategy take into account staff needs?
A couple of weeks ago I went to a talk at the business forum Initiatives of Change UK on Business in the new world economy.While I found some of the ideas discussed pretty ‘out there’, there was was plenty to challenge the audience to think differently unless we want businesses ...
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ArticleEmployers see absence rates improve
More than a third (34%) of respondents have seen absence rates improve over the past 12 months, according to research by industry body Group Risk Development (Grid).Its research, which surveyed 500 UK employers, found that only 16% of respondents have seen their absence rates worsen in the past 12 months.It ...
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ArticleStaffordshire council reduces absence
Staffordshire County Council has reduced its absence levels. after introducing a range of initiatives aimed at lowering staff sickness levels.Its latest Achieving excellence quarterly performance report showed that since December 2013, the average number of days lost through sicknesshas falled to 7.06 days per employee. Prior to December, this stood ...