All Article articles – Page 847

  • Article

    EXCLUSIVE: Kantar Worldpanel gives employees budget tips

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Market research firm Kantar Worldpanel has held financial education sessions as part of its efforts to improve employees' wellbeing.The hour-long sessions showed staff how they could save money on mortgages, power bills, banking, and car and house insurance. They were also given information about Kantar's group personal pension scheme.The firm ...

  • Article

    EXCLUSIVE: Mayer Brown rolls out emergency care plan in National Work-Life Week

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Law firm Mayer Brown has introduced an emergency care scheme as part of a range of benefits events held during National Work-Life Week, from 26-30 September.The scheme includes emergency childcare, holiday care and care for dependent adults. In its first week, 5% of the firm’s nearly 600 employees signed up ...

  • Article

    EXCLUSIVE: BNP Paribas extends childcare service

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    BNP Paribas has extended the emergency childcare and carer service offered in its US banking division to its 3,500 permanent UK staff.The service provides up to 10 days’ emergency care for children in the form of a nanny or nursery place, or in-home care for dependent adults.The bank’s US offices ...

  • Article

    Aspire introduces GPP to prepare for auto-enrolment

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    EXCLUSIVE: Charity Aspire has rolled out a group personal pension (GPP) scheme in preparation for the 2012 pension reforms, and has launched an online flexible benefits scheme.The charity’s staging date, to comply with the reforms, is 2014, because it has 59 employees.Tasha Webster, director of operations at Aspire, said: “I ...

  • Article

    Haulotte Group signs fleet management agreement

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Haulotte Group, the people and material-lifting equipment firm, has signed a new three-year fleet management agreement for its 75 cars in the UK.The agreement, provided by ALD Automotive, will deliver services that include accident management and its PoolFleet product, which provides short-term cars for specific requirements such as for staff ...

  • Article

    Payzone UK increases GPP take-up after communications exercise

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Payzone UK has increased the take-up of its group personal pension scheme from 39% to 55% following an extensive communications exercise.Working in conjunction with Secondsight, the firm gave its 140 UK-based employees the opportunity to attend presentations and one-to-one meetings on its pension scheme, which is provided by Aegon.Employees were ...

  • Article

    EXCLUSIVE: Lookers drives savings after consolidating private medical insurance schemes

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Car dealership Lookers has saved £30,000 on premiums after consolidating 14 private medical insurance (PMI) schemes across its business.The firm had accumulated the schemes through acquisitions. It decided to replace them with one large claims-related scheme and retain one existing plan, which has an older demographic and a high number ...

  • Article

    Run Your Cars adopts online group-buying model for fleet management

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Run Your Cars has introduced an online group-buying model in order to bring discounts to fleets run by small and medium-sized organisations.The fleet management firm has adopted the Groupon model, which will see employers pay a monthly fee in return for access to fleet benefits at discounted rates, including accident ...

  • Article

    Sapient adds pension fund choices

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Technology firm Sapient has halved its pensions annual management charge (AMC) by switching providers for its group personal pension (GPP).The firm has also introduced a self-invested personal pension (Sipp) and 12 core fund ranges.Sapient switched from Friends Life to Scottish Widows to reduce its AMC from 0.8% to 0.4%. In ...

  • Article

    Aviva adds employee assistance programme to group income protection policies

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Aviva has added a free employee assistance programme (EAP) to its group income protection policies.The EAP has been developed to help employers recognise and respond to stress in the workplace and increase the support offered through income protection. It enables employees to access face-to-face counselling if they need it.The programme ...

  • Article

    EXCLUSIVE: Personal Group adds nurse advisory service to voluntary group income protection

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Personal Group has added a nurse advisory service to its voluntary group income protection (VGIP) product.The Support product provides employees with a trained nurse via telephone support, referrals to other supporting organisations, and a home visit.Additional advice is also provided for family members affected by the incapacity.A clause has also ...

  • Article

    Ricardo adds salary sacrifice car scheme to flex

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Engineering firm Ricardo has added a salary sacrifice car scheme to its flexible benefits scheme.†Cars selected through the scheme, which is provided by Tusker, include the Peugeot 107, Citroen DS3 and several Seat models, including the Ibiza and Leon.Staff can access the scheme online and select up to two new ...

  • Article

    EXCLUSIVE: Innovation Group adds salary sacrifice car scheme to flexible benefits

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Innovation Group has added a salary sacrifice cars to its flexible benefits plan for its 705 UK staff.The scheme, provided by Tusker, allows employees at the global provider of software and outsourcing solutions for insurers to sacrifice part of their salary in return for a new car, which means they ...

  • Article

    Alphabet finalises acquisition of ING Car Lease

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    International fleet management firm Alphabet has completed its acquisition of ING Car Lease.The acquisition, which was announced in July, was for a purchase price of €637 million, and was completed on 30 September.The integrated organisation will operate under the name Alphabet.The new organisation now has more than 460,000 financed cars ...

  • Article

    Sodexo adds Smartphone access to childcare vouchers

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Exclusive: Sodexo Motivation Solutions has launched a product that allows its childcare voucher scheme users to access their accounts using a Smartphone.Employees can access a mobile-enabled website which works on all handsets. They can log in, view their statement, make a payment, and check which payments are pending. The site ...

  • Article

    CIPP research: Less than 10% of UK workers have option of flexible working

    2011-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Less than 10% of UK employees have flexible working arrangements as part of their contract, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP).The research also found that over one-third (36%) would like to be able to work from home under flexible working arrangements. Nearly half (43%) were ...

  • Article

    Ernst & Young's maternity coaching webinars see increased take-up

    2011-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Ernst & Young has seen a rise in the take-up of its maternity coaching webinars since they were launched in February 2011. The coaching covers all stages of pre and post-maternity, and help staff manage the transition in and out of the workplace successfully. So far, 500 employees have booked ...

  • Article

    National minimum wage to rise on 1 October

    2011-09-30T11:14:28Z

    The national minimum wage will increase from 1 October.The main rate for employees aged 21 and over will increase 2.5% to £6.08 per hour.The rate for employees aged 18-20 will go up to £4.68 per hour.The rate for employees aged 16-17 will be £3.68 per hour.The national minimum wage rates ...

  • Article

    The Agency Workers Regulations comes in on 1 October

    2011-09-30T11:02:41Z

    The Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) will come in on 1 October.The legislation means that, after 12 weeks of employment, temporary agency workers will have the right to the same basic working and employment conditions as if they had been recruited directly by the hiring organisation.This applies to pay, working hours, ...

  • Article

    Default retirement age to be scrapped on 1 October

    2011-09-30T10:55:59Z

    The default retirement age (DRA) will be scrapped from 1 October, after a phase-out that started on 6 April 2011.The removal of the DRA means employers will no longer be able to issue notifications for compulsory retirement using the DRA procedure.Although the government is removing the DRA, individual employers will ...