All Article articles – Page 804
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Tube Lines' staff vote to strike in dispute over pensions and travel perks
Tube Lines staff have voted to strike for 72 hours in a dispute over their pension scheme and travel concessions.Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) will strike from 4pm on Tuesday 24 April and return to work from 4pm on Friday 27 April.Tube Lines, ...
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Two-thirds of respondents think RTI phase-in for payroll should be delayed
Two-thirds (64%) of respondents believe that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) should phase in the real-time information (RTI) programme over a longer period of time, instead of seeking 100% compliance by April 2013, according to research by NorthgateArinso.RTI will require payrolls to run reports for HMRC weekly or monthly instead ...
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Less than half of employees are given workstation risk assessments
Less than half (45%) of employees are given a workstation risk assessment by their employers, according to research commissioned by office specialists Fellowes.The research, which interviewed 1,000 employees across the UK, found that one in five respondents had no help or support from their employer in relation to creating a ...
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Nest Corporation appoints Royal London to provide fund management
The Nest Corporation has appointed Royal London Asset Management to provide an actively-managed sterling corporate bond fund mandate.The mandate will be one of the underlying building blocks for the National employment savings trust's (Nest) retirement date funds and pre-retirement fund. It is not a standalone fund choice.Mark Fawcett, chief investment ...
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Starting salaries for graduates to decline in real terms this year
Starting salaries for graduates are projected to decline in real terms this year, falling to the lowest levels since 2003, according to research by Incomes Data Services (IDS).Its report, Pay and progression for graduates 2012, found that the median starting salary for graduates will be £25,000 this year, which is ...
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MGM Advantage offers staff the chance to attempt world record for charity
MGM Advantage is offering staff the chance to break a Guinness World Record by attempting the most sky dive tandem jumps in one day, in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society.The current world record is 130 tandem jumps. The retirement income specialist is looking to beat that by getting 180 people ...
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Average funding level of university pension schemes improves
The average funding level of university pension schemes on the UK standard accounting basis, FRS17, has improved significantly over the year to 31 July 2011, according to research by Barnett Waddingham.The actuarial firm’s third annual University self-administered trusts (SATs) survey, which focuses on the impact of final salary pension schemes ...
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Unum launches Facebook app
Unum has launched a Facebook application, which enables employees to calculate how much their benefits package is worth.The Perkulator app, which is hosted on Unum’s Facebook page, asks the user to input their salary and bonuses, and choose ‘yes’ or ‘no’ against a variety of benefits.Using average values for each ...
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CSC adds second enrolment window to flexible benefits plan
CSC has added a second enrolment window to its flexible benefits scheme to encourage its 7,500 UK employees to take advantage of its financial benefits.The scheme, which has been in place for 10 years, has take-up levels at nearly 80%, but the IT firm wanted to highlight benefits such as ...
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One-third of FTSE 100 companies offer only DC schemes to all staff
One-third of FTSE 100 companies now offer only defined contribution (DC) pension schemes to all employees, according to research by Towers Watson.The annual Towers Watson FTSE 100 Defined contribution pension scheme 2012 survey, which is based on 97 companies in the FTSE 100 index, found that, since the 2010 survey, ...
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Federation of European Employers launches pay benchmarking app
The Federation of European Employers has introduced a pay benchmarking app called Jobsworth.The app, which can be downloaded to any iPhone, covers pay markets in 47 different countries across Europe. Its Lite version just covers the UK and Ireland.The application measures gross hourly pay so that it can be converted ...
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UK councils' pension deficits reached £54bn in 2010-11
Councils across the UK had a combined pension deficit of £54 billion in 2010-11, according to research by The Taxpayers’ Alliance.This figure is down from £91 billion in 2009-10, but still an increase from £51 billion in 2008-09.The research also found:Birmingham City Council had a deficit of £1.3 billion, the ...
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Interxion introduces sleeping pods to ease burden of Olympic commute
While many employers will offer flexible or remote working to ease the stress of commuting during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, date centre services firm Interxion has installed ten pods for workers to sleep in its offices in Brick Lane.The pods are kitted out with laptop holders, earphones ...
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BMW workers reject pay deal
BMW employees at its Mini plant in Oxford have rejected a pay offer, which included a 2.21% basic pay increase, an additional increase of 1.79% for working an extra 30.1 hours a year, and a team bonus of 2%.In a consultative ballot of almost 2,000 Unite members, 97% rejected the ...
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HMRC among employers piloting real-time information programme
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is among 10 volunteer employers that is piloting the real-time information (RTI) programme from 11 April.Most employers will join RTI from April 2013 and all employers will be using the programme by October 2013.RTI is intended to make it easier for employers, pension providers and ...
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Finance directors do not always liase with HR on benefits
A fifth (20%) of finance directors do not liaise with the HR department on employee benefits, according to research by Unum.The Employee benefits survey, which polled 850 finance directors and chief financial officers, found that a further 27% have limited interaction with the HR team.When asked about income protection, 10% ...
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London councils propose pooled pension fund
Councils in London are looking into plans to create a pooled pension fund to reduce administration costs and divert up to £2.25 billion to infrastructure projects in the capital.The pensions arrangement would hold up to £30 billion of assets, and is modelled on the infrastructure of Canada's Ontario Municipal Employees ...
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EXCLUSIVE: Konecta UK harmonises benefits and creates grading structure
Konecta UK has harmonised benefits for its 380 employees, created a grading structure for its roles, and added in a variety of new benefits.The organisation took over an outsourcing contract from Santander in 2008 (when it was still known as Abbey National but was a subsidiary of Grupo Santander), and ...
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The Pension Trust launches auto-enrolment website
The Pension Trust has launched an auto-enrolment website, which aims to guide employers through every step of the process and outline what will be required of them over the coming months.The site will host The Pensions Trust’s cost calculator, which can be used to determine the additional pension costs employers ...
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Employers see rise in costs since Agency Workers Regulations took effect
Employers have faced a rise in costs since the Agency Workers Regulations took effect, with the majority citing increases of more than 10%, according to research by law firm Eversheds.The research found that some respondents have seen a rise of between 25% and 50%. Nearly two-thirds are relying on at ...