All Article articles – Page 723
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Stephen Hackett: Bespoke health and wellbeing strategies
Healthcare premiums often account for a large part of employers’ benefits spend. That is why a workplace health and absence prevention strategy is of growing importance to organisations seeking to create affordable, attractive and innovative benefits packages. So where should they start in creating a bespoke strategy?An employer’s first move ...
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Interview with Lesley Williams, group pensions director at Whitbread
“I looked after and rode 10 dressage horses, in return for a pittance and the chance to learn at the home of modern dressage,” says Williams, who still competes in British dressage competitions at an advanced level.Back in 1987, she decided to return to the UK and took up an ...
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Working parents' rights extended
The change was made under the revised Parental Leave (EU Directive) Regulations 2013, which were originally due to come into effect in March 2012.Paul Griffin, head of the employment division at Norton Rose, said: “It is difficult for employers to arrange cover if parental leave is split into different chunks.The ...
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Mark Sharpe: How to manage musculoskeletal disorders
A reduction in healthcare spend, coupled with an improvement in employee health, is always beneficial to a business. But what is the best approach, particularly for musculoskeletal disorders, which are one of the largest contributors to those costs?Employers should first identify the cause of the disorders and the cost of ...
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Joy Reymond: How to deal with cancer
Four in 10 people will develop cancer at some point in their life, but it remains a difficult subject to talk about, especially in the workplace.On the upside, more people are living with cancer than ever before, thanks to better awareness of diet and fitness and advances in treatments. Those ...
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Buyer's guide to contract-based defined contribution pensions
The pensions landscape is changing dramatically as the first wave of large employers continue to implement auto-enrolment and new regulations take effect. So far this year, a new initiative or consultation has been announced every few days, reflecting the government’s focus on pensions.For defined contribution (DC) schemes, a critical initiative ...
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Paul Shires: Business benefits of an effective health strategy
With the National Health Service (NHS) under pressure to save £20 billion by 2015 and sickness absence costing UK employers about £9 billion a year, employers are under great pressure to ensure the right strategy is in place to manage employee health and wellbeing. But what are the benefits for ...
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Vanessa Sallows: Group risk benefits help sick staff return to work
Group risk benefits must be used in conjunction with a comprehensive and tailored strategy to help employees return to work.Returning to work can be daunting for an employee who has been absent for a long time. Individuals often have concerns about the information they share with colleagues about the cause ...
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Alison Green: How to manage PMI costs
The wide range of private medical insurance (PMI) products available means there has never been more, or better, ways of managing their cost.There are also myriad ways employers can manage these costs, from introducing an excess, so staff pay, say, the first £200 towards their treatment, to setting an annual ...
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Employers must change attitude on ageing employees
This follows the report’s finding that 10.7 million people in the UK can currently expect inadequate income in retirement.The report also recommended that the government establish a commission to work with employers and financial services providers to improve pensions and savings.Jonathan Watts-Lay, director of Wealth at Work, said the government ...
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David Castling: Managing sickness absence effectively
Employers seeking to limit and manage employee absence require a clearly defined absence policy, which strikes a balance between supporting the majority of staff whose absence is genuine and preventing those who might seek to exploit the business. This policy needs to align with an organisation’s business objectives and define ...
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Buyer's guide to corporate eyecare 2013
Corporate eyecare benefits are popular with employees, enabling them to look after the health of their eyes with regular examinations. For an employer, the perk helps to meet some of its health and safety obligations.Under the 1992 Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations, employers have a legal obligation to ...
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BHF launches walking challenge
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has launched its Pedometer Challenge, a four-week team challenge that encourages employees to improve their physical and mental wellbeing.The Pedometer Challenge pack, which employers can order from the BHF, includes: a co-ordinator booklet, posters, editable desk drop letter and folder, editable weekly emails to send ...
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Jedi training to boost fitness levels
Something for the weekend… A new force has been unleashed on the healthcare and wellbeing world.A martial arts instructor in the United States has created Jedi warrior combat exercise classes.Alain Bloch, of San Francisco Bay Area group the Golden Gate Knights, is hoping that everyone picks up a lightsabre and ...
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DOD’s blog: three key benefits get a knockabout
In the Employee Benefits offices it has been of those weeks when you need lots of cake and biscuits to get you through (luckily our treat table is always well stocked). Then over and above the day job, to keep the excitement levels high, there have been three key announcements ...
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Final agreement on bankers' bonus cap
The European Parliament and European Commission have agreed to cap bankers’ bonuses.The move is intended to curb the banks’ bonus-driven culture and to prevent the risk-taking that led to the 2008 financial crisis.The new legislation will come into effect from January 2014 and will apply to bonuses paid in 2015.The ...
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Employee ownership scheme blocked
The government’s employee ownership scheme has been blocked in the House of Lords.The scheme, which was announced by Chancellor George Osborne in October 2012, would allow employees to give up some employment rights in return for shares in their employer. It was defeated by 232 votes to 178.The scheme was ...
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Barclays awards senior staff with £40m in shares
Barclays Group has awarded nine of its senior managers with shares worth £40 million.According to the bank, the shares are provided in respect of long-term incentive plans (Ltips), which are currently held in an account on behalf of the individual, and to satisfy awards made under a range of share ...
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Lloyds Banking Group to reward staff on customer satisfaction
Lloyds Banking Group will base its variable pay to staff on customer feedback rather than product sales from 1 April 2013.The incentive scheme was first piloted by 70 of the bank’s 1,800 UK branches, including Lloyds TSB and Halifax branches.The other requirements of the scheme include:Employees must pass the organisation’s ...
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Kudos launches flexible benefits platform
Employee benefits consultancy Kudos has launched a flexible benefits platform in response to the growing need for technology to assist employers to deliver benefits to staff.The platform, called Create, is a total reward and flexible benefits service, which is designed to assist organisations to create a suitable, cost-effective and engaging ...