All articles by Clare Bettelley – Page 18
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Analysis
Denmark well served with pensions
IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE, READ THIS…More than 75% of Denmark’s working-age population aged between 15 and 64 have a paid job.A number of employers offer private medical insurance and company cars.Danish employers now face hefty fines for the incorrect or untimely reporting of wages, salaries and employee benefits to ...
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Case Studies
Sykes ensures staff connect with right incentives
The call centre services firm’s programme, SykesPride, was designed to improve recognition among its 650 Edinburgh-based staff through a range of award schemes. These include key performance indicator (KPI) awards for staff who hit their assigned KPIs, ad-hoc awards for those who go the extra mile in their role, and ...
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AnalysisWorkforce segmentation helps target motivation benefits
IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE, READ THIS …Avoid trying to shoehorn benefits to fit employee segments.Do not assume that people of the same demographic segment will want the same things.Employers should be creative in the way they communicate key messages about benefits to staffSupermarket giants know every aspect of their ...
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Analysis
BT Group educates staff about retirement options
The desire to educate employees about their retirement options was one of the key drivers behind BT Group’s decision to launch a pre-retirement programme for its older workers three years ago.Dennis Gissing, head of diversity practice at BT, says: “We perceived this to be a gap in what we were ...
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Article
John Lewis says auto-enrolment is ‘wrong for us’
NAPF: John Lewis Partnership’s head of pensions, Dinesh Visavadia, has slammed the inflexibility of auto-enrolment legislation because of its disconnect with the organisation’s business strategy. Speaking at the National Association of Pension Funds’ (NAPF) annual conference in Liverpool on 19 October, he said: “It is the wrong kind of legislation ...
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Article
HR needs commercial outlook
HR and benefits professionals require a commercial approach to their role to win support from their finance team for their initiatives.Speaking in a panel debate, entitled ‘How do you get the FD on side? Tricks and tips for HR and benefits managers’, at Employee Benefits Live, Catherine Ward, group director, ...
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Article
Staff unenthused by corporate platforms
The majority of employees are unenthusiastic about workplace savings platforms, according to research by The Platforum.For example, between just 5% and 10% of respondents have signed up for an Individual savings account (Isa) through their employer, preferring to source financial products from banks and building societies.The research, the Workplace savings ...
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AnalysisDisclosure of staff health information
If you read nothing else, read this …Most FTSE companies disclose information about the health and wellbeing of their employees.But disclosures tend to be inconsistent across organisations in terms of volume, content and format.Greater disclosures about workplace health can help investors understand any potential risks to organisations in which they ...
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Case Studies
AstraZeneca shows off health strategy
The disclosures also help the organisation maximise its score on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a benchmark for investors that integrate sustainability considerations into their portfolios.Sue Connelly, global health and wellbeing lead at AstraZeneca, says: “We took the proactive elements of health and wellbeing away from occupational health in 2008/9 ...
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Case Studies
Anglo-American mines staff safety data
But Frank Fox, head of occupational health at the organisation, concedes that investors are currently more interested in employee health in the context of safety than of wellbeing, particularly the Global Reporting Index (GRI), which is a global sustainability reporting framework run by the Global Reporting Initiative. “[GRI] asks for ...
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Analysis
Workplace Savings: Joint effort required on savings
If you read nothing else, read this… Auto-enrolment is raising employee awareness about savings benefits. Staff expect employers to keep them informed about workplace savings. Financial education should be based on guidance, not advice. Communications should focus on risk. The new generation of savers require online and mobile communication. Providers ...
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Article
Fund choices must be more flexible
Employers should consider how to build flexibility into the fund choices available through their pension schemes, to help employees optimise their retirement income, said Tim Taylor, head of group reward at Tui Travel.Speaking at Employee Benefits Live, Taylor, said the removal of the default retirement age (DRA) meant that a ...
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Article
Tui Travel reviews pension ahead of auto-enrolment
Tui Travel is consulting about moving its primary trust-based defined contribution (DC) pension scheme to a contract-based arrangement.The project, on which KPMG is advising, is part of its preparation involved ahead of Tui’s March 2013 auto-enrolment staging date.Speaking at Employee Benefits Live, Tim Taylor, head of group reward at TUI, ...
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Analysis
How to use Christmas incentives to engage staff
If you read nothing else, read this… Christmas is not a fun time for everyone. It can be a stressful period for employees who have health or money worries. Employers must be sensitive to employees’ individual circumstances around Christmas time, particularly those who have suffered some form of loss during ...
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Case Studies
Case study: Svitzer steers staff to investments
International towage and salvage company Svitzer implemented a corporate platform from Hargreaves Lansdown in July 2011 after closing its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.Its primary aim was to replace the myriad trust and contract-based pension schemes it had inherited after a number of acquisitions with one defined contribution (DC) scheme ...
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Case Studies
Flex focuses BNP Paribas employees' minds at Christmas
BNP Paribas uses its annual flexible benefits enrolment window in early December to keep employees engaged over the Christmas period, rather than creating a specific incentives package.Sarah Oxford, head of compensation, benefits and international mobility at the French-headquartered bank, says taking a more general approach to the festive season and ...
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Analysis
Using corporate platforms makes savings benefits easier to handle
If you read nothing else, read this… Corporate platforms can help employers show the breadth and value of their savings offer. Purists believe corporate platforms should feature a pension scheme, an individual savings account and a form of savings account. Employers must ensure their corporate platform products are relevant to ...
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Case Studies
City and Guilds in talks on corporate platform
City and Guilds is in the throes of deciding whether to implement a corporate platform to help it optimise the attractiveness of its benefits package, which includes private medical insurance (PMI), group income protection (GIP), childcare vouchers and a bikes-for-work scheme.Sangeeta Mistry, group reward manager, says: “We offer a really ...
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Case Studies
Group income protection bridged the gap for The Wilson Organisation
Financial services provider The Wilson Organisation has had a group income protection (GIP) scheme, provided by Unum, in place for about 25 years.Group financial director John Steele says it is a legacy policy that was first introduced with the organisation’s defined benefit (DB) pension scheme. “The DB scheme needed to ...
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Analysis
How SMEs can offer group risk benefits
If you read nothing else, read this…The group risk market has historically not been suited to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) because of the relatively high cost of products.Lack of product choice has resulted in many SMEs emulating medium and large firms’ plan designs, resulting in them offering over-generous employee ...