All Article articles – Page 818

  • Article

    Local Government Association freezes pay for a third year

    2012-02-24T12:07:28Z

    The Local Government Association has imposed a pay freeze for the third year running.More than 1.6 million council workers will be affected.Sarah Messenger, head of workforce at the Local Government Association, said: “This has been a very difficult decision to make but it is the right one for council tax ...

  • Article

    Linklaters partners with Global Share Plans on international database

    2012-02-24T12:06:24Z

    Linklaters has partnered with Global Share Plans to launch a global share plan database.The database replaces Linklaters’ current Blue Flag employee share plan database. Global Share Plans provides an internet-based database that gives organisations access to up-to-date information on operating share plans in over 140 countries.According to Linklaters, the partnership ...

  • Article

    Aegon and Logica partner to launch auto-enrolment product

    2012-02-24T12:04:51Z

    Aegon and Logica have partnered to launch an auto-enrolment product for the fourth quarter of 2012.The online product is being delivered with SuperChoice, which has been used in the Australian pension market.It will offer employers:Categorisation of employees for auto-enrolment based on payroll information.Automatic calculation and validation of contributions based on ...

  • Article

    Motivated chef batters pancake world record

    2012-02-24T11:15:48Z

    An Australian chef has received the ultimate form of recognition for his hard work and dedication – a place in the Guinness Book of World Records 2012 for a 76cm stack of pancakes.Andy Wrobel’s precarious tower of pancakes eventually fell over, but only after the world record was confirmed.He battered ...

  • Article

    Employee Benefits Connect: Employers are not entirely truthful about pension reforms readiness

    2012-02-23T14:47:58Z

    Employers who claim to know exactly what they are doing when it comes to complying to the pension reforms, including auto-enrolment, are not telling the truth, said Stuart Reid, head of employer duties at Bluefin.Addressing delegates attending his session on preparing for auto-enrolment at Employee Benefits Connect 2012, taking place ...

  • Article

    Employee Benefits Connect: Arup achieves 93% pensions take-up after DB closure

    2012-02-23T14:26:27Z

    Arup has achieved a 93% take-up of its defined contribution (DC) pension scheme since it was launched in July 2010 following the closure of its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The global engineering firm communicated the DB scheme closure and the new DC scheme launch through a segmented and personalised approach ...

  • Article

    Employee Benefits Connect: Benefits are key to motivating staff in tough times

    2012-02-23T13:29:27Z

    Employee benefits are going to be crucial to ensure staff are engaged and motivated in tough economic times, according to research released by Employee Benefits and YouGov.The survey, released exclusively at Employee Benefits Connect, taking place today at the Westminster Park Plaza Hotel, showed that employees with three or more ...

  • Article

    Employers want benefit providers that offer easy-to-use services

    2012-02-23T11:03:00Z

    Employers are looking for benefit providers that can offer a service which is easy for their employees to use, according to research by Cigna UK Healthcare Benefits.The Cigna Client Satisfaction Survey 2011, conducted with Consensus, found that 80% of respondents claimed that ease of using the service by employees was ...

  • Article

    Automobile Association moves to paperless payslip processes

    2012-02-23T10:44:00Z

    The Automobile Association (AA) has moved to paperless payslips in order to make savings and increase security.It is working with Wealden Computing Services to supply online payslips compatible with SAP Payroll to over 8,500 employees.Moving to the system will allow the AA to save paper and postage costs that equate ...

  • Article

    BAE Systems to close its UK defined benefit pension schemes to new joiners

    2012-02-23T10:00:03Z

    BAE Systems has announced it will be closing its UK-based defined benefit pension schemes to new joiners after reporting that its liabilities had increased by £1.1billion.The defence, security and aerospace systems firm is also waiting on approval from The Pensions Regulator to sustain its 15-year recovery plan to plug the ...

  • Article

    CSR awarded Pension Quality Mark

    2012-02-22T11:22:00Z

    High-tech specialists CSR has been awarded a Pensions Quality Mark (PQM) for its group personal pension plan (GPP).The PQM assessment looks at three key areas: contribution structure, governance and communications to members. The CSR scheme, which has 680 members, offers a customised website and regular member presentations, provided by Capita ...

  • Article

    Work-life balance is a deal breaker for UK employees

    2012-02-22T10:36:00Z

    HR professionals in Britain are the mostly likely to cite that work-life balance as a primary motivation for employees leaving their organisation, according to research by Robert Half International.The research which surveyed HR executives across businesses in South America, continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia showed that almost 29% ...

  • Article

    EXCLUSIVE: Lifestyle Services Group launches flexible benefits after talent management review

    2012-02-22T10:29:31Z

    Lifestyle Services Group (LSG) has launched a flexible benefits scheme for its senior employees following a talent management review.Following the review, the firm’s management population was adjusted from 150 to 50 employees. The review also determined what proportion of the £1-million benefits spend to allocate to these senior staff and ...

  • Article

    Guardian News and Media agrees 3% pay rise for journalists

    2012-02-22T10:28:41Z

    Guardian News and Media has agreed a 3% pay rise for journalists for 2012 and 2013.The deal was reached through negotiations between the media group and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).A spokesperson for Guardian News and Media said: “We are pleased to reach an agreement with the NUJ in ...

  • Article

    Leeds Building Society pilots auto-enrolment service

    2012-02-22T10:24:54Z

    Leeds Building Society is piloting an auto-enrolment service for its 900 staff.The service, which is provided by Equiniti ICS, includes administration, employee communications, real-time reporting and regulatory reporting.Auto-enrolment, which begins in October 2012 for organisations with more than 120,000 staff, requires all UK employers to enrol their employees into a ...

  • Article

    Lloyds Banking Group claws back bonuses from senior employees

    2012-02-21T10:42:44Z

    The board of Lloyds Banking Group will claw back a number of bonuses for 2010 from its senior employees, including five executive directors.Eric Daniels, the bank’s former chief executive, must surrender 40% of his £1.45 million deferred share award. Four other executives will yield 25% of their awards, and all ...

  • Article

    One-third of respondents would use ATMs to save into pensions

    2012-02-21T10:26:00Z

    One-third (32%) of employees would be interested in depositing cash or cheques into their pension scheme at an ATM, according to research by Friends Life.The research, Pensions: the solutions, was conducted with think tank Future Foundation into how to address the national pensions crisis.Almost three in five (59%) of respondents ...

  • Article

    67% of respondents say employers do not offer workplace health opportunities

    2012-02-21T10:22:00Z

    Two-thirds (67%) of UK employees claim their employer does not offer any opportunities to get fit and healthy, according to research by the British Health Foundation.Its Health at work research, which surveyed 2,000 UK employees, also found that 35% of respondents said their employers do not care about their happiness ...

  • Article

    Babcock Integrated Technology sees 40% take-up of bikes for work

    2012-02-20T10:53:00Z

    Babcock Integrated Technology has had a 40% take-up of its bikes-for-work scheme.The success of the scheme was celebrated on 3 February with provider Cyclescheme and Dawn Primarolo, MP for Bristol South, joining 500 employees the organisation’s Bristol site.Gary Cooper, director of Cyclescheme, said: “The comments from Babcock with regard to ...

  • Article

    22% of respondents will offer flexible working during Olympics

    2012-02-20T10:44:00Z

    One-fifth (22%) of UK organisations are considering implementing flexible working procedures during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to research by Cisco.The research, which surveyed 200 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), found that nearly half of respondents have yet to make the necessary preparations for London 2012.The research ...