All Article articles – Page 646
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Teachers' performance-related pay could reach £70,000
The best performing teachers could be paid as much as £70,000 a year under the government’s new system of performance-related pay in schools, according to a report by Policy Exchange.According to the report, under the performance-related pay system, which took effect from September 2013, top teachers would be able to ...
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Hargreaves Lansdown launches workplace savings iPad app
EXCLUSIVE: Hargreaves Lansdown has launched a free iPad application (app) for members of its workplace savings platform.The app, HL Live, is a DIY investment tool, which allows members to view their pension and other savings via their tablet.It is designed to provide investors with the tools and research needed to ...
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DOD’s blog: What will 2014 bring?
Firstly, I would like to wish you all a successful and happy 2014.I realise that the cynics among you, will mutter that it is only a change of date and no reason to get all excited. The world will not change just because there is now a ‘4’ at the ...
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Bonus cap for bankers takes effect
New legislation to cap European bankers’ bonuses took effect from 1 January 2014.The legislation, which was agreed in March 2013 by the European Parliament and European Commission, will apply to bonuses paid in 2015.The law means that:A salary/bonus ratio of 1:1 can be raised to 1:2 with a shareholder vote ...
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Reed Smith staff move to online savings platform
EXCLUSIVE: Law firm Reed Smith has seen 89% of employees register to manage their savings and benefits online since it launched an integrated workplace savings and flexible benefits platform.It introduced its platform, Path, in May 2013 because benefits take-up rates were low and the benefits were spread across different providers ...
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Trident Reach offers financial wellbeing kiosk
Charity Trident Reach has launched a touch-screen kiosk to help employees access financial and wellbeing benefits.The kiosks provide staff with access to a range of products and services, such as healthcare policies and discounts from health insurer and employee benefits provider BHSF, as well as existing savings accounts with Citysave ...
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Government to support employers in managing mental health
The government plans to support employers in managing mental health issues in the workplace, particularly in helping affected employees return to work.Its Closing the gap: priorities for essential change in mental health report outlines 25 areas for health and care services to take action to help tackle mental health conditions.For ...
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John Lewis plans to cut final salary pension scheme
The John Lewis Partnership has proposed to cut its final salary pension scheme and restructure its pension arrangements in a bid to reduce costs.In March 2013, its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme recorded a pension deficit of £840 million. At the same time, John Lewis Partnership announced it would be ...
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Employers have low confidence in government health scheme
More than four-fifths (86%) of respondents are not confident about the government’s health and work assessment and advisory service, according to research by PMI Health Group.The scheme, which was introduced in January 2013, aims to provide advice and support for employers dealing with long-term sickness absence.The research, which surveyed HR ...
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ArticleDebi O'Donovan: Employers must collaborate on pension outcomes
Firstly, employers face major constraints in the pension provider market. Default funds have been evolving over the last 20 years and have yet to come into their own as a distinctive, standalone investment choice, rather than an amalgamation of legacy funds and concepts.Secondly, the defined contribution (DC) market operates on ...
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Imperial College launches emergency child and eldercare
Imperial College London has introduced an emergency child and eldercare service.University staff can now access emergency childcare, school holiday cover and backup adult and eldercare.The scheme, which is provided by My Family Care, is designed to provide staff with greater flexibility to manage their work and family responsibilities.The university will ...
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NHS trusts renew car schemes
CPC Drive, the NHS North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative’s (NOE CPC) fleet management service, has re-appointed Tusker to provide lease cars, salary sacrifice car schemes and grey fleet management services to NHS trusts and other public sector bodies across the UK.Tusker, which was appointed to the framework agreement three ...
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DOD’s blog: Are DC default funds value for money?
Yesterday the highly insightful team from the Pensions Institute at Cass Business School delivered its latest report: Assessing value for money in defined contribution default funds.I doubt it will top too many bestseller lists, but if everyone who has ever saved for a pension were to read it, it could ...
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DOD’s blog: Flexing part-time muscle
Reading the Evening Standard on Wednesday night an article caught my eye and caused me to sigh with relief.It appears that the London mayor, Boris Johnson, has announced that part-time season ticket loans will be available on London Transport from January 2015.I acknowledge that the whole world does not live ...
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DC pensions members may not be getting best value
The value of the defined contribution (DC) pensions market is expected to grow to £1.7 trillion by 2030 from £276 billion assets under management pre-auto-enrolment in 2012, according to a report by the Pensions Institute.But its Assessing value for money in defined contribution default funds report found that members of ...
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Ikea and Lufthansa awarded Pension Quality Mark
Ikea and Lufthansa have been awarded the Pension Quality Mark (PQM) for their defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.The PQM, which was launched in 2009 by the National Association of Pension Funds, is awarded to schemes that:Have total contributions of at least 10%, with a minimum employer contribution of 6%.Have governance ...
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Fujitsu uses flex to communicate auto-enrolment
EXCLUSIVE: Fujitsu has used its annual flexible benefits enrolment process to continue its pensions auto-enrolment communications.The technology organisation, which has 15,000 employees, opened its flexible benefits window in November 2013, with employees’ benefits choices taking effect from January 2014.It included details of pensions auto-enrolment in this year’s communications, in order ...
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Employee Benefits Awards applaud financial education
This award will recognise an employer that has taken a proactive approach to its workforce’s financial needs.The winning organisation may have: brought in financial advisers for one-to-one meetings; run financial seminars or workshops; installed financial modelling programmes on the intranet or internet; provided pre-retirement education; offered staff time off work ...
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Employee Benefits Awards applaud default investments
With more employees then ever enrolled in workplace pension schemes, the pressure is on for employers to ensure that schemes are well run.If you have taken steps to offer an effective default investment strategy for your organisation’s DC pension scheme, why not receive a well-deserved pat on the back?The Employee ...
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Airbus streamlines health cash plans
Airbus has launched an employee-paid health cash plan for its 10,000 UK employees.The aircraft manufacturer previously offered its staff a range of legacy health cash plans from a number of suppliers, but these plans were not promoted to employees.It decided to streamline the offering to a single cash plan, provided ...