All Benefits for carers articles – Page 46
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ArticleJapanese childcare centre reprimands employee for becoming pregnant out of turn
Something for the weekend: A private childcare centre in Japan has reprimanded a female employee for becoming pregnant when it was not her allocated time to start a family.According to a letter sent by the employee’s husband to Japanese daily newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, the Aichi Prefecture-based childcare centre has devised ...
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ArticleGovernment confirms childcare voucher scheme will close in October
The government has confirmed that the closure of the workplace childcare voucher scheme will be delayed until 4 October 2018.The new closure date was announced as part of The Income Tax (Limited Exemptions for Qualifying Childcare Vouchers and other Childcare) (Relevant Day) Regulations 2018 on 29 March 2018. The new ...
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OpinionLucy Lewis: Is shared parental leave as effective as it could be?
According to statistics from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), published in February 2018, around 285,000 couples every year qualify for shared parental leave, but take-up could be as low as 2%.Shared parental leave (SPL) was first introduced in 2015, billed as being part of the government’s ...
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ArticleThe tax and legislation changes impacting reward from April 2018
With the arrival of the new tax year, a number of measures impacting pay and benefits are scheduled to come into effect. Below is a round up of these measures, along with other tax and legislation changes, that employers need to be aware of from April 2018:National minimum wage and ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: 22% blame high employee absence rates on lack of health and wellbeing initiatives
EXCLUSIVE: More than one-fifth (22%) of employer respondents believe that their employee absence rates are higher than other organisations because they do not have health and wellbeing initiatives in place, according to research by Group Risk Development (Grid).Its survey of 500 UK employers, including 100 employers with more than 250 ...
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ArticleGovernment committee proposes giving fathers 12 weeks' paid paternity leave
The Women and Equalities Committee has recommended the introduction of 12 weeks' paid paternity leave and that statutory paternity pay should be set at 90% of fathers’ pay.The recommendation forms part of the Committee’s Fathers and the workplace report, published on Tuesday 20 March 2018, which sets out proposals on ...
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Article70% call EAP for mental health problems
Nearly three-quarters (70%) of employees have called their organisation's employee assistance programme (EAP) for help with mental health problems, according to research by Unum.Unum's analysis of the 12,610 calls made to its EAP service, provided in conjunction with Lifeworks, between 1 December 2016 and 30 November 2017 also found that ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Is government backtracking on tax-free childcare?
On Tuesday (13 March), the government announced that it is to delay the closure of workplace childcare voucher schemes by six months, extending the April deadline for employees to sign up to a scheme.Since it was announced that childcare vouchers would be phased out to make way for the government’s ...
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ArticleGovernment agrees six-month childcare voucher extension
The government has agreed to delay the closure of the workplace childcare voucher system for six months.Damian Hinds (pictured), the Secretary of State for Education and member of Parliament (MP) for East Hampshire, confirmed at the House of Commons yesterday (Tuesday 13 March 2018) that the April deadline for the ...
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AnalysisWhat can the UK learn from European benefits reforms?
Need to know:Some European countries, such as the Czech Republic and Spain, have increased paternity leave to reinforce a focus on gender equal family-friendly policies.Poland and Turkey are among the latest European countries to implement pensions auto-enrolment initiatives to help combat the financial implications of an ageing population.Larger organisations may ...
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ArticleChipotle awards bonuses and extends paid parental leave for 71,000 US staff
Mexican food retailer Chipotle has improved its employee benefits offering to award 71,000 US-based employees cash and stock bonuses, as well as enhancing its paid parental leave policy.The changes, which the organisation is rolling out to employees, have been designed to help support and advance employees' professional and personal lives.Its ...
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Article49% of men feel there is a societal stigma to taking shared parental leave
Under half (49%) of male respondents believe that there is a societal stigma attached to taking shared parental leave, and that it is not considered the normal course of action for men to take, according to research by TSB.Its survey of 2,000 individuals also found that 37% of respondents had ...
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ArticleLowe’s enhances family-friendly benefits for 260,000 US employees
Home improvement retail organisation Lowe’s has enhanced its family-friendly benefits for more than 260,000 US employees and is to award a one-off bonus payment for hourly-paid staff.The organisation has extended its maternity and parental leave arrangements to offer eligible full-time hourly and salaried US employees up to 10 weeks of ...
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ArticleInterContinental Singapore enhances benefits for 360 employees
Hospitality organisation InterContinental Singapore has enhanced its employee benefits package for the organisation’s 360 employees, effective from January 2018.The benefits changes, which includes extended maternity and paternity leave, have been introduced in order to promote better work-life balance and to support employees’ personal and professional development.Under the revised benefits provision, ...
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Article31% of parents who work flexibly have no control over where they work
Under a third (31%) of respondents who are parents and who work flexibly have no control or restricted control over where they work, according to research by Working Families and Bright Horizons.Its 2018 Modern families index report, which surveyed 2,761 UK-based working parents with at least one dependent child aged ...
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ArticleNebraska introduces maternity leave donation programme
The State of Nebraska has introduced a new maternity leave donation programme to enable state employees to donate paid holiday days to colleagues taking family medical leave.The new maternity leave donation programme, effective from 8 January 2018, is applicable for new or expectant mothers, and is designed to help state ...
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ArticleWalmart to increase pay and expand family-friendly benefits in US
US-based retail organisation Walmart is to increase pay for employees paid on an hourly basis, as well as expand its family-friendly benefits offering to introduce a new adoption support benefit.The pay rise, which will be effective from the organisation’s 17 February 2018 pay cycle, will see all employees that are ...
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ArticleGerman metalwork employees strike in dispute over pay and work-life balance
More than 15,000 metalwork and electrical employees based in Germany who are members of the trade union IG Metall have undertaken strike action in a dispute over pay and work-life balance.Affected IG Metall members, who work across 80 different organisations, undertook strike action yesterday (Monday 8 January 2018) after negotiated ...
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ArticleNew York introduces paid family leave for all private sector employees
New York has introduced a new state-wide paid family leave benefit for all New York-based employees who work in the private sector.The new family leave benefit, which is effective from 1 January 2018, will be phased in over a four-year period. It has been designed to enable new parents to ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: 82% would like deadline to join childcare voucher schemes extended
EXCLUSIVE: More than four-fifths (82%) of employer respondents would like to see the joining deadline for childcare voucher schemes extended beyond April 2018, according to research by Jelf Employee Benefits.Its survey of 192 senior HR professionals also found that 63% of respondents will be making their employees aware of the ...