All articles by David Woods
-
Analysis
Career development for benefits professionals
Part of the benefits industry's appeal is its diverse and challenging nature, spanning topics from payroll and pensions, to motivation schemes. It is perhaps no surprise, therefore, that newcomers to this profession and even those who have worked in reward for years want to continue learning in order to improve ...
-
Article
Malmaison puts perks online
Malmaison is to launch a website in September to communicate benefits to staff and prospective employees as a means of aiding recruitment and retention.The hotel group hopes the site will better communicate perks that include pensions, healthcare and voluntary benefits, having previously relied on a handbook.The firm will give potential ...
-
Article
Nationwide launches paper and online total reward statements
Nationwide Building Society has issued 35,000 staff with both online and paper total reward statements for the first time, and also refreshed the branding on its online benefits system to make it more contemporary and consistent with other benefits communications.Nationwide introduced pay and benefits statement brochures in 2001 and switched ...
-
Article
Worker dismissed to save extra pension falls foul of law
Employers should ensure they follow the proper redundancy procedure after a council employee successfully won a case against the authority that had dismissed him with the aim of preventing him claiming an enhanced pension benefit.John Wooster was an employee of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on secondment to East ...
-
Analysis
Justifying the cost of private medical insurance
Private medical insurance helps cut sickness absence, but its cost may prompt employers to ask if they can always justify the expense of offering the perk to all staff, says David WoodsWith sickness absence costing UK businesses more than £103 billion last year, according to Dame Carol Black's report, Review ...
-
Article
Employers should not expect Equitable Life compensation
Employers have been warned not to raise their hopes of claiming compensation from the government after the publication of a damning report by the Parliamentary Ombudsman into the handling by regulators of the near-collapse of Equitable Life.The report, published last month, said government regulatory bodies were guilty of maladministration before ...
-
Analysis
Buyer’s guide to payroll systems
Whether in-house or outsourced, a payroll system must be tailored to meet an employer's needs, says David WoodsEmployees are an expensive resource, so ensuring they are paid correctly and on time is a constant challenge for HR and reward staff.A payroll system automates this process for organisations, calculating employees' monthly ...
-
Article
Crawley Borough Council holds host of health and wellbeing events
Crawley Borough Council will hold health and wellbeing events for employees during September and plans to allow them to take time off work to volunteer in the local community.The events include a "fat club" to help staff lose weight; a five-a-side football tournament; nutritional information sessions; tai chi, dance, yoga ...
-
Article
Nutricia boosts GPP take-up
Nutricia has seen an increase in the take-up of pension benefits by staff after switching from a trust-based defined contribution scheme to a group personal pension plan (GPP).Employee take-up of the new GPP, launched in February, is now 80 percent, compared with 60 percent for the previous scheme.Before implementation and ...
-
Article
IAG launches voluntary benefits and reward statements to harmonise perks
Insurance Australia Group (IAG) UK has launched a voluntary benefits scheme and total reward statements as the first step in harmonising its benefits after making several corporate acquisitions.It also plans to implement a salary sacrifice arrangement around employee pension contributions and a flexible benefits scheme following its acquisition of Hastings ...
-
Article
Coast & Country launches voluntary benefits to motivate staff
Coast & Country has launched a voluntary benefits scheme that it will use to provide non-cash incentives to staff.The housing association's scheme offers its employees discounts with various retail, leisure and travel suppliers, and on experience days.Staff who carry out a part of their job to an exceptional standard will ...
-
Article
JD Williams launches voluntary benefits scheme
JD Williams Group has launched a voluntary benefits scheme for its 3,000 employees that includes discounted private medical insurance (PMI).The direct shopping clothing company has also rebranded its benefits and plans to take steps to provide online total reward statements within the next year.Staff wanting to purchase discounted PMI will ...
-
Article
Interview with Jane Richards, reward manager at BDO Stoy Hayward
Jane Richards, reward manager at BDO Stoy Hayward, has had a varied career, but reward has sparked her enthusiasm more than any other roleMany benefits professionals have entered the industry through unlikely means, but Jane Richards, reward manager at BDO Stoy Hayward, has had a more varied career than most, ...
-
Article
Ifs Proshare appeals to government to increase sharesave limit
Ifs ProShare has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, urging him to increase the maximum amount employees can save through a sharesave (save-as-you-earn (SAYE)) scheme. The industry body said that if the maximum amount of money employees can save through this kind of scheme, currently £250 per ...
-
Article
Alcatel Lucent Telecom uses flexible benefits to harmonise perks
Alcatel Lucent Telecom has used a flexible benefits scheme to harmonise its perks post-merger and introduced online total reward statements to help staff understand the changes.Alcatel Telecom and Lucent Technologies merged last December to form Alcatel Lucent Telecom. Alcatel's flex scheme has since been rolled out to all 1,400 employees ...
-
Analysis
The devil is in the detail with personal accounts
Apparently off-the-cuff government decisions about personal accounts are only adding to the confusion, says David Woods.The pensions industry has won its fight for employers to use existing contribution calculations, even if they are based on employees' base pay, to determine if their current pension scheme will be exempt from the ...
-
Article
Fuel rise postponed by Chancellor
Employers have gained a brief respite from rising fleet costs after the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, postponed the planned 2p increase on fuel duty. The rise was due to come into effect on 1 October this year, but has now been put back to spring 2009. Main fuel duty rates will ...
-
Article
Court rules carers must not be treated less favourably than other staff
The European Court of Justice has ruled that carers must not be treated less favourably than other employees whose circumstances are not materially different, for example those with childcare responsibilities. The case of Attridge Law v Coleman, in which Mrs Coleman alleged she suffered direct discrimination and harassment by association ...
-
Article
Fitzpatrick offers cash bonus to encourage low-emission car choice
Fitzpatrick Contractors has re-vamped its employee car ownership (Eco) scheme to encourage staff to select vehicles with low CO2 emissions by offering a cash bonus.The construction and civil engineering company has increased the range of vehicles with low CO2 emissions in its list of cars from which staff can choose. ...
-
Article
Thanet District Council launches voluntary benefits
Thanet District Council has launched a voluntary benefits scheme to its 600 staff in order to provide more non-monetary perks.The online scheme launched in July, incorporates a number of local discounts within Thanet and around Kent as well as with national retailers. Staff can shop online at 1,500 retailers and ...