All Article articles – Page 794
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SSI adds flexible benefits and moves to GPP
Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) UK has launched a flexible benefits scheme and switched from a stakeholder pension scheme to a group personal pension (GPP) in preparation for auto-enrolment.The steel firm launched its flex scheme, branded One Reward, when it recruited more than 1,000 new staff, increasing its workforce to 1,800. ...
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Northumbrian Water awarded for tackling sickness absence
Northumbrian Water has won Business in the Community’s (BITC) Workwell award for its programmes to address sickness absence among its 3,000 employees.The programmes include RehabWorks, which was introduced in April 2008 to address sickness absence due to musculoskeletal disorders, and NWLSupport, which was introduced in April 2010 to address sickness ...
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Buyer's guide to childcare vouchers 2012
Focus on factsWhat are childcare vouchers?These are a government-backed scheme to help working parents afford quality childcare. Depending on their income, parents can take up to £243 a month in childcare vouchers from their employer, free of tax and national insurance (NI) contributions. Vouchers can be used for a wide ...
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Vauxhall staff stopped from watching Euro 2012 due to health and safety
Vauxhall has had to balance on a tightrope between employee motivation and health and safety after some staff complained that they could not watch the Euro 2012 football, despite the car manufacturer sponsoring the English team.Production line workers feature alongside England stars, such as Steven Gerrard and Joe Hart, in ...
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Healthcare research 2012: Sickness absence
Reactive perks such as employee assistance programmes and private medical insurance have risen in importance as ways to help reduce sickness absence, says Debbie LovewellBenefits designed to help employers manage employees’ mental and physical wellbeing top the list of methods to reduce sickness absence levels. This year, respondents cite employee ...
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Ernst and Young shortlisted in Business in the Community Awards 2012
Ernst and Young has been shortlisted in two categories at the Business in the Community (BITC) Awards for Excellence 2012.The awards recognise the role that business plays in local communities by awarding organisations for the impact and innovation of their responsible business programmes across a number of categories.The professional services ...
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NHS doctors to take industrial action over pension scheme changes
NHS doctors are to take industrial action over changes to their pension scheme.The decision came following the results of a ballot taken on 29 May by the British Medical Association (BMA) council. Overall, 50% of the 104,544 doctors eligible to vote took part. A majority of those polled said they ...
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HMRC reminds employers about late penalties for annual tax return
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has written to employers this week with a reminder about the late penalties for missing the 19 May deadline for their 2011-12 employer annual returns.Employers that missed the deadline will receive an increased penalty if they do not act by 19 June.Even if an employer ...
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Employers still taking cautious approach to pay
Employers in the private sector are increasingly taking a cautious approach to pay as they look to stay competitive, according to research conducted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and recruitment firm Harvey Nash.The quarterly CBI/Harvey Nash employment trends survey covers 319 organisations, which employ around two million people ...
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More than 30% of UK SMEs not preparing for auto-enrolment
More than 30% of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are not preparing for auto-enrolment, according to research by RSM Tenon.Its RSM Tenon business barometer, a quarterly survey of senior management in SMEs, found that only 12% have fully forecast the costs of auto-enrolment.The research also found: 23% of respondents ...
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More than half of employers to allow flexibility during Olympics
More than half of employers are making changes to their working practices during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to enable staff to work more flexibly, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).The annual CIPD/Hays resourcing and talent planning survey also found that 30% ...
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Short-term incentive payouts up in the UK
UK employers anticipate paying their executives short-term incentives (STIs) equivalent to 23% of base salary, an increase on the 22% paid out in 2011, according to research by Mercer.The research, Short-term incentives around the world, drew annual incentive information from 21,000 organisations in 62 countries with a total of 7.6 ...
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London Underground settles Olympics’ pay dispute
London Underground (LU) has settled a pay dispute, which will see some staff receive up to £850 as a bonus payment during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.The settlement, the unions the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef), the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers ...
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National Union of Journalists to cut wages and restructure pension scheme
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is to cut staff costs by £400,000 through pay cuts and redundancies, as well as restructure its pension scheme, which is facing a deficit between £500,000 and £4 million.The plans were reported in a leaked document from the union’s National Executive Committee, which decided ...
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More UK employers are launching flexible benefits schemes
Flexible benefit schemes increased in popularity among employers in 2011, according to research by Aon Hewitt.Its research, Employee benefits and trends survey, found that 70% of respondents already offered, or were about to introduce, flexible benefits schemes.The three most popular benefits on offer via a flex plan are the ability ...
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High Court rules that BBC pension scheme cap is legal
The High Court has ruled that the BBC pension scheme reforms, which cap future pensionable salary increases at 1%, are legal.The judgement, Bradbury vs. BBC, dealt with an appeal to the decision of the pensions ombudsman in a case brought by John Bradbury, a member of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. ...
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HSBC shareholders approve directors' pay
The majority of HSBC shareholders have approved the bank’s executive remuneration package, bucking the trend for shareholder backlash over top-level pay awards.At HSBC's annual general meeting, more than 89% of shareholders voted in favour of the bank’s directors’ remuneration report for 2011. This came despite recommendations from research and advisory ...
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University of Warwick appoints Towers Watson to £120m pension fund
The University of Warwick has appointed Towers Watson as delegated chief investment officer (CIO) and actuary for its £120 million pension scheme.The appointment will lead to a combined approach to investment and actuarial services for the scheme.Chris Ford, head of investment for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at ...
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35% of respondents have not selected a pension plan for auto-enrolment
More than a third (35%) of respondents have not yet selected what type of pension scheme they will use for auto-enrolment, according to research by Xafinity, part of the Equiniti Group.The research surveyed 50 HR, payroll and pensions professionals who attended Xafinity’s conference on auto-enrolment on 22 May.The research also ...
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Oakwood Fuels to offer hearing screening to staff
Oakwood Fuels is to offer a day of hearing screening and ear health awareness to its employees on 31 May.The event will see the charity Deafness Research UK deliver free screenings and provide information about good ear health to the waste management firm’s employees.The day is sponsored by healthcare provider ...