All Article articles – Page 766
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J Sainsbury CEO calls for simple share plans
Share plans should be made as simple and straightforward as possible, said Justin King, chief executive at J Sainsbury, during the keynote address at the IFS Proshare employee share plans conference on 10 October.“We have to peel away the mystery and make it as simple as possible,” he said. “The ...
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Reading Uni buys EAP with pensions savings
EXCLUSIVE: The University of Reading has used the savings made from introducing a pensions salary sacrifice arrangement to add an employee assistance programme (EAP) to its benefits package.The salary sacrifice arrangement was added to the university’s three pension schemes from 1 August, and has seen a take-up of 85%. The ...
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Bromford Group launches reward statements
EXCLUSIVE: Bromford Group has launched total reward statements to raise awareness among employees of the total benefit package the organisation offers.The statements have been sent out to 987 employees. The majority received the statement online, while 26 employees without access to a computer at home have been sent a paper-based ...
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BNP Paribas to host diversity week
BNP Paribas is hosting a diversity week, which will include a number of educational events for staff aimed at engendering understanding and learning around diversity issues.The event, which will be held across the bank’s UK offices from 15 to 19 October, will bring together discussions on ability, gender, sexual orientation, ...
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BBC and E.On awarded PQM
The BBC, BASF, E.On and Age UK have been awarded the Pension Quality Mark (PQM) for their defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.The PQM recognises DC schemes with total contributions of at least 10%, with a minimum employer contribution of 6%. It also distinguishes pension schemes that are clearly communicated to ...
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Orbit to move to DC pension for auto-enrolment
Orbit Group is to move its employees to a contract-based defined contribution (DC) pension scheme for all future pensions provision and has closed its defined benefit (DB) scheme to future accrual as part of its plans for auto-enrolment.The move followed a review of the landlord’s pensions strategy, which identified potential ...
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Edenred launches auto-enrolment service
Edenred has launched a pensions auto-enrolment service to help employers understand how to fulfil their obligations under the legislation.The service includes a focus on financial education for employees, provided by accountancy and business advisory firm RSM Tenon.The initiative began in September with a series of question-and-answer webinars for employers on ...
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BHSF to launch group life assurance plan
Health insurer and employee benefits provider BHSF has launched a group life assurance plan for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).The plan features a fixed level of death-in-service benefit for a pre-stated market rate premium. It offers either £25,000 or £50,000 of benefit in the event of a covered employee’s death.Brian ...
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Highest quarterly fall for annuity rates
The average conventional and enhanced annuity rates fell by 7% and 5%, respectively, in the last three months, according to research by MGM Advantage.The MGM Advantage annuity index, which tracks income paid on convential and enhanced rates on a quarterly basis, found that this decrease is the highest quarterly fall ...
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Alliance Surgical enters PMI market
Alliance Surgical has entered the private medical insurance (PMI) market with the launch of a plan designed for medium and large employers.The independent surgical services provider, which is part owned and run by about 1,200 specialist consultants of which 430 are shareholders in the company, will case manage each claim ...
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Debenhams agrees pension recovery plan
Debenhams is to contribute £8.9 million each year until 2022 to restore two of its pension schemes to a fully funded position.The Debenhams Retirement Scheme and the Debenhams Executive Pension Plan, which closed to future accrual from 31 October 2006, showed a deficit of £57.3 million on 1 September 2012, ...
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ABF reviews pensions ahead of auto-enrolment
Associated British Foods (ABF) has appointed a default fund provider as parts of its pension scheme review ahead of auto-enrolment.From October 2012, the scheme will offer its members flexible target date funds as the default option, which will be managed by investment management firm AllianceBernstein.The international food, ingredients and retail ...
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A pillow for the workplace
After a busy week attending Employee Benefits Live 2012, a power nap with the Ostrich pillow could be just what the doctor ordered for staff here on the news desk.The Ostrich Pillow, from designers Kawamura-Ganjavian and product innovators Studio Banana Things, is designed so that its users can rest their ...
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HR needs commercial outlook
HR and benefits professionals require a commercial approach to their role to win support from their finance team for their initiatives.Speaking in a panel debate, entitled ‘How do you get the FD on side? Tricks and tips for HR and benefits managers’, at Employee Benefits Live, Catherine Ward, group director, ...
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Hargreaves Lansdown adds bonus to funds
EXCLUSIVE: Hargreaves Lansdown has introduced a 0.5% loyalty bonus on over 1,000 of its investment funds, which will benefit 120,000 members of its self-invested personal pensions (Sipp).Of these, 4,734 are employees who use one of 47 Hargreaves Lansdown workplace savings platforms, which have been set up in the last two ...
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Executive remuneration consultation closes
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) consultation exercise on revised executive remuneration reporting regulations has closed.The consultation, Directors’ pay: revised remuneration reporting regulations, includes draft regulations setting out the proposed form and content of the director’s remuneration report.The proposals of the report, if enacted, will give shareholders a ...
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50p pensions compliance product
A software system designed to help financial advisers provide essential pension compliance to the 968,545 micro firms in the UK employing fewer than 10 people has been launched by JargonFree founder Steve Bee.JargonFree Pensions Compliance is a middleware product that will allow even the smallest firms in the UK to ...
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Devonshire NHS Trust runs wellbeing event
Devonshire Partnership NHS Trust is running an activity and wellbeing event today (27 September) to provide staff with more information about healthy living.This will include free taster sessions on yoga and massage, and stands and presentations on benefits such as childcare vouchers, pensions and automotive leasing. Staff from a local ...
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Review suppliers on a regular basis
Employers should review their benefits suppliers at least every two years, advised Paul Bissell, head of reward at Cable and Wireless Worldwide.Speaking on day two of Employee Benefits Live, Bissell warned that organisations can get too comfortable when working with a supplier for a number of years, which could mean ...
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Engagement Task Force reveals next step
The Employee Engagement Task Force will launch a website, which will include advice, tools and networks, in the next phase of its work around improving the employee engagement of the UK workforce.Speaking during the keynote address at day two of Employee Benefits Live, David MacLeod, co-chair of the task force ...