All Benefits for carers articles – Page 65
-
Article
Buyer's guide to childcare vouchers 2014
Vouchers have helped about 700,000 families to afford high-quality childcare since 2005, providing savings worth around £1,800 a year for the average family. This goes towards the average childcare cost of £5,028 a year for 25 hours’ care a week, according to figures from the Childcare Voucher Providers Association (CVPA).Most ...
-
ArticleExtended right to request flexible working comes into effect
The right to request flexible working has been extended to every employee on 30 June.The legislation was due to take effect on 6 April, but was postponed because of a delay in the Children and Families Bill’s progress through Parliament.Previously, the right was only available for carers or people who ...
-
ArticleNew tax-free childcare scheme confirmed
The Queen has confirmed that the government’s new tax-free childcare scheme, first announced in the 2013 Budget, will take effect from autumn 2015.The Childcare Payments Bill will introduce the new tax-free childcare scheme to support working parents by giving support equivalent to basic-rate tax relief on money spent on childcare, ...
-
Article
Barclays and Centrica are top employers for working families
Barclays, Centrica and Islington Council are among the winners of the 2014 Top Employers for Working Families Special Awards.The awards, which were founded by Working Families in partnership with the Institute for Employment Studies and are sponsored by Computershare Voucher Services, recognise employers that support parents, carers and flexible workers ...
-
ArticleGovernment sets out support for ageing workforces
The government has set out a framework for action to support employers in keeping an ageing workforce in employment.Its action plan, Fuller working lives – A framework for action, found that the UK economy could have been boosted by £18 billion in 2013 if the employment gap between people in ...
-
Article43% of new fathers take half paternity leave entitlement
Nearly half (43%) of new fathers take five days or less paternity leave, which is only half of their two-week entitlement, according to research by HR software provider Octopus HR.Its research, Dads at work: a report into the paternity leave trends and working habits of the modern working father, analysed ...
-
ArticleShared parental leave is opportunity to enhance family-friendly policies
Almost two-thirds (59%) of respondents see the government’s shared parental leave policy as an opportunity to enhance the family-friendly policies they offer to staff, according to research by law firm Hogan Lovells.Under the new plans, which take effect from April 2015, parents will be able to share 12 months of ...
-
ArticleEHRC urges employers to support carers
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) told the Court of Appeal on 13 May that employers should, as far as is reasonable, make adjustments to support employees who are caring for disabled family members.The case, in which the commission intervened as a third party to assist the court, involves ...
-
Article48% interested in emergency eldercare benefit
EXCLUSIVE: Nearly half (48%) of respondents would be interested in an emergency eldercare policy as an employee benefit, according to research by Allianz Global Assistance.Its research, which surveyed 200 UK employees, found that just 4% would turn to an employer or HR manager for assistance if they found themselves faced ...
-
Article
Fujitsu launches leave policy for carers
EXCLUSIVE: Fujitsu UK and Ireland has introduced a policy that enables employees to take up to four weeks unpaid leave to manage their caring responsibilities.David Brackwell, head of wellbeing and inclusion, UK and Ireland at Fujitsu, said: “One thing that is becoming an increasing challenge for people is caring responsibilities. ...
-
ArticlePension contributions and childcare vouchers most popular tax-efficient benefits
Pension contributions via salary sacrifice and childcare vouchers are the most commonly offered tax-efficient benefits via a salary sacrifice arrangement, according to the Benefits Research 2014, which surveyed 256 respondents in March 2014.Salary sacrifice pension contributions remain popular. This year, 87% of employers that offer benefits via salary sacrifice enable ...
-
ArticleBarclays partners The Positive Ageing Company to support ageing workforce
EXCLUSIVE: Barclays Corporate and Employer Solutions has partnered The Positive Ageing Company to launch an online tool to help employers support the challenges of an ageing workforce and their differing financial needs.The tool will sit within Barclays’ Money Works website.It offers employers information and advice to help staff assess monthly ...
-
Article67% concerned about complexities of shared parental leave
More than two-thirds (67%) of respondents are concerned about the potential complexities and increased administrative burden of the government’s incoming shared parental leave system, according to research by Norton Rose Fulbright.The law firm’s research, which surveyed 222 HR professionals, found that 76% of respondents have not taken any practical steps ...
-
ArticleMothers who use surrogates not entitled to maternity rights
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that working mothers who have children by way of a surrogate are not entitled to maternity rights.The judgement resolves two earlier conflicting opinions from the Advocate General on the matter in the cases of Z v A Government Department ...
-
ArticleGovernment publishes draft regulations on shared parental leave pay
The government has published draft regulations on shared parental leave pay.The draft regulations, which are part of the Children and Families Bill, will be laid before Parliament as part of a set of secondary legislation that will bring the new shared parental leave and pay system into effect.The regulations introduce ...
-
ArticleTribunal rules post-natal depression dismissal not discriminatory
The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that a dismissal for absence caused by post-natal depression after maternity leave is not discriminatory.The judgement relates to the case, Lyons v Jobcentre Plus, in which the former employee was dismissed after her maternity leave had ended because of long-term absence. She claimed ...
-
ArticleEmployer-supported childcare vouchers to be phased out
The employer-supported childcare voucher scheme will be closed to new entrants from autumn 2015, when the government’s new tax-free childcare scheme, previosuly announced in the 2013 Budget, takes effect.On 18 March, the government announced it will raise the costs cap to £2,000, up from the £1,200 that was previously proposed.It ...
-
ArticleEmployer-supported childcare vouchers to go
In the Budget today, Chancellor George Osbourne has confirmed it will raise the costs cap on its tax-free childcare scheme to £2,000 as announced on 18 March.The childcare voucher scheme will continue to stay open, as long as an employee does not change employers, but it will be closed to ...
-
ArticleGovernment increases cap on tax-free childcare
The government has increased the cap of its tax-free childcare scheme so that working parents will be able to receive up to £2,000 per child, instead of the £1,200 that was previously proposed.In its Delivering tax-free childcare: the government’s response to the consultation on design and operation, the government also ...
-
Case StudiesKaren Harrison, head cashier, values Withers’ employee benefits package
She used the cover for an operation to remove a cyst from her brain which was detected four years ago. “If I’d gone down the NHS route, it would have taken quite a while to get the surgery done, especially having just had a newborn baby, so it was really ...