All Article articles – Page 726
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Aviva scraps plans to add workplace savings options to benefits platform
Aviva has scrapped plans to add new workplace savings options to its benefits platform Work:Life.The platform, which went live in December 2012, is a single online benefits hub giving employees access to benefits, including the provider’s group personal pension (GPP), pension tracker and flexible benefits package.It had planned to add ...
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UK Chamber of Shipping extends pension buy-in
The trustees of the UK Chamber of Shipping’s defined benefit (DB) pension plan have agreed an extension to its buy-in arrangement for the scheme.The arrangement, which was initially agreed with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) in January 2013, includes the deferred members of the plan, representing about 20% of the scheme ...
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FTSE 100 pension deficit improves
The total deficit of FTSE 100 defined benefit (DB) pension schemes improved by £8 billion in 2012, according to research by JLT Pension Capital Strategies.This found that the total deficit of FTSE 100 pension schemes at 30 December 2012 was estimated to be £50 billion.It also found that the total ...
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Virgin Atlantic to freeze pay for staff
Virgin Atlantic is to freeze pay for thousands of staff this year.A statement from Virgin Atlantic attributed its decision to suspend salary increases to external challenges.It stated: “The UK airline industry has faced continued challenges over the past year – this is made worse by government imposed taxes on passengers ...
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New adviser for local government pension
The Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee (NILGOSC) has appointed an actuarial adviser to its local government pension scheme for Northern Ireland.Aon Hewitt will be working closely with the committee and its officers to help manage the £4 billion fund, which has 90,000 members.David Murphy, chief executive and secretary ...
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Barclays C&ES launches global shares and reward services
Barclays Corporate and Employer Solutions (C&ES) has launched its global shares and reward services.The formal launch follows the announcement at the end of 2012 that Barclays C&ES had signed an agreement with Solium Capital to create a version of its Solium Shareworks platform and administration services.At the same time, Barclays ...
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Auto-enrolment legislation deemed unnecessarily complex
Auto-enrolment legislation is considered unnecessarily complex or difficult by HR, payroll and finance professionals, according to research by Ceridian.Its survey of more than 600 HR, payroll and finance professionals found that 76% considered auto-enrolment legislation to be either unnecessarily complex or difficult.Of these, 22% of respondents considered auto-enrolment legislation to ...
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Vinci UK offers mentor scheme to staff
EXCLUSIVE: Vinci UK has offered employees the opportunity to mentor members of the armed forces who are resettling into civilian life.The opportunity is through its partnership with charity Help for Heroes, part of the construction company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, which also includes partnerships with three other charities: The ...
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HMRC wins legal battle against NAPF
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has won a legal battle against the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) and Wheels Common Investment Fund (WCIF) over the payment of VAT by defined benefit (DB) schemes.The Court of Justice of European Union (CJEU) ruled that the DB schemes are not special investment ...
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Bombardier Transportation appoints Mercer
Rail engineer Bombardier Transportation has appointed Mercer to provide pension scheme actuarial services to the trustees of its three defined benefit (DB) plans across seven schemes, with combined assets of around £1 billion in the UK.The organisation has more than 26,000 employees across Europe and has yearly revenues of $6.275 ...
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Employees want government to incentivise flexible working policies
The majority (82%) of employee respondents said the government must do more to incentivise organisations to implement flexible working policies, according to research commissioned by Plantronics and conducted by OnePoll.The research, The state of the flexible working nation, surveyed 2,000 UK employees to gain understanding of the UK’s changing working ...
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SMEs unprepared for pensions auto-enrolment
Fewer than half (42%) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) surveyed have taken concrete steps towards auto-enrolment implementation, according to research by Jelf Employee Benefits.The Jelf Employee Benefits Auto-enrolment tracker, which surveyed 124 SMEs, found that just 29% of respondents are aware of their staging date.This compares to 38% in ...
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Employer support essential on musculoskeletal issues
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) account for 50% of all workplace absences lasting more than three days in Europe, according to research by The Work Foundation for Fit for Work Europe.The Fit for work patient survey, found that two-thirds of people living with MSDs are primary earners in their families, yet many ...
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British workers experienced sharpest wage fall in developed world
Employees in the UK have experienced a bigger fall in real wages than any other workforce in the world’s top ten developed economies, according to research by trade union Trades Union Congress (TUC).Its Global race report found that real wages fell by 4.5% in the UK between 2007 and 2011, ...
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Virtual windscreen ends work woes
Something for the weekend …Field-based employees or those who travel frequently on business may well be used to making do with whatever facilities they can find to conduct business while on the road or between meetings. But this could be set to change thanks to new interactive windscreen technology, which ...
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Balfour Beatty to close DB pension scheme
Balfour Beatty is consulting with staff about closing its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme to future accrual.Its proposals would affect around 2,500 active pension scheme members, which represents about 10% of its workforce.The consultation will end in May and the scheme closure will take effect from September.In its Full year ...
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John Lewis staff share £210.8m in profit
Employees at John Lewis and Waitrose will share £210.8 million in profit.Each of the John Lewis Partnership’s 84,000 employees will receive the same percentage of annual pay as a cash bonus. This represent 17% of each employee’s annual salary, equivalent to nearly nine weeks’ pay.According to the retailer’s results for ...
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Wolseley to close DB pension scheme
Wolseley is consulting with staff about proposals to close its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme to future accrual on 31 December 2013.Under the terms of the plumbing organisation’s proposals, the pension benefits staff have already built up within the scheme will be protected and there will be no changes to ...
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Admiral Group awards shares for performance
Admiral Group is rewarding its 6,500 employees with shares worth £3,000 each following strong end-of-year results.According to its Preliminary Results 2012, staff were awarded £1,500-worth of shares on 3 September 2012 based on the organisation’s performance in the first half of 2012. Employees will receive a further £1,500-worth of shares ...
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GlaxoSmithKline lowers exec bonuses by £1.781 million
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) lowered annual bonuses for executive directors by £1.781 million in 2012.According to the pharmaceutical firm’s Annual Report 2012, the group’s executive directors received £2.131 million in annual bonuses for 2012, compared to £3.912 million in 2011.However, GSK’s remuneration committee decided to increase annual salaries for executive directors’ by ...