All articles by David Woods – Page 15
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Analysis
Health and wellbeing perks for PricewaterhouseCoopers
Financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers believes that health and wellbeing initiatives are an integral part of trying to create a great place to work, says David WoodsHealth has been given top priority at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in its bid to attract and retain employees. For years it had offered various health and ...
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Article
Tax implications of the pre-Budget report
The Chancellor's first pre-Budget report is likely to dampen employers' spirits following tax changesEmployers and their staff were hit hard by the government's pre-Budget report, announced by Chancellor Alistair Darling (pictured) last month.Some employers have been left reeling by decisions to axe the national insurance savings made through holiday pay ...
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Article
Loss of NI exemption for holiday pay funds widely mourned
Employers have expressed disappointment with the government's decision to remove the national insurance (NI) exemption from holiday pay fund schemes.Nationwide Building Society, Abbey, Informa and rail company GNER are among the organisations affected by the announcement, that employers would lose the NI exemption on holiday pay funds from 30 October, ...
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Article
Product in focus: car parking benefits
There can be considerable tax advantages in offering car parking benefits for staff, says David WoodsEmployers that offer car parking as a benefit typically provide a season ticket for a car park near their place of work, which is paid for by employees through a salary sacrifice arrangement. Offering the ...
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Analysis
Benefits of peer recognition schemes
Feeling appreciated by colleagues can lead to higher staff productivity and motivation levels, so David Woods looks at the benefits of peer recognition schemesWhether we like to admit it or not, our colleagues’ opinions of us have a bearing on our motivation levels at work. Although this is evident in ...
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Article
Informa uses virtual world to help staff advance careers
Information services firm, Informa has secured a private area within the virtual reality site Second Life for staff to search for career opportunities by visiting departments within the group.Informa also has the ability to use the social networking site to help communicate perks as part of the overall total reward ...
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Article
Ford goes into overdrive on diversity and finance training
Ford has held a series of seminars on financial education, diversity and work-life issues for staff across its seven sites.Financial education presentations, run by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), have been held at a number of the car manufacturer's workplaces including its Dunton plant, which employs 3,000 staff.Brian Bennett, manager ...
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Article
Ministry of Defence to introduce childcare vouchers
The British Ministry of Defence is to introduce a childcare voucher scheme for its 240,000 regular personnel and reservists, whether they are working in the UK or are posted overseas.The announcement comes just days after a leaked report highlighted declining morale among troops and the difficulties the military is facing ...
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Article
Surrey County Council re-tenders PMI scheme
Surrey County Council has re-tendered its private medical insurance (PMI) in order to provide a cheaper option for staff.As of January 2008, the council will change its PMI provider from Bupa to Axa PPP Healthcare. Under the new scheme, staff have the option of purchasing PMI under a full medical ...
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Article
Royal Mail agrees pensions and pay offer
Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have reached an agreement on the future of the former's pension scheme and pay offer.The main points agreed include an increase of 5.4% on basic pay and weekday overtime from 1 October. In addition, it is proposed that the company's final salary ...
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Article
Deliver on reward promises to boost motivation
Employers that deliver on their promises of reward will find that their employees are more committed to their company and are motivated to help it succeed.This is according to 69% of respondents to Watson Wyatt and WorldatWork's 2007/2008 Global strategic rewards study, who say that their employer does just that.†The ...
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Article
Staff feel undervalued by senior management
Only 29% of UK employees think that senior management have a sincere interest in employee satisfaction and wellbeing.The Global Workforce Study, conducted by professional services firm, Towers Perrin, reveals that two-thirds of employees feel that senior management treat them as just another part of the organisation to be managed, or ...
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Article
Staff worry about health implications of poor work-life balance
Almost a quarter (23%) of full-time workers never take a break during the day and 7% do not even take a holidayThe Health uncovered research from Legal and General demonstrates that one-in-five British employees believe that they are working too many extra hours, while 22% feel stressed by their daily ...
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Article
Pre-Budget report: Darling axes holiday pay fund schemes
The government has axed the national insurance (NI) exemption on holiday pay schemes from 30 October for employers outside the construction industryEmployers offering schemes in the construction industry, however, have five years to adjust to the changes, which were announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, in the pre-Budget ...
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Article
More holiday unlikely to prevent unauthorised absence
Offering more holiday to employees is unlikely to prevent staff from taking unauthorised days off.Just 19% of respondents to the Kronos Summer absence survey 2007 said that this would prevent them from taking a 'sickie'. Just under half (43%), meanwhile, said that the introduction of flexi-time would discourage them from ...
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Article
An introduction to the world of benefits events
David Woods, reporter, Employee Benefits magazine:As a newcomer to the benefits industry, I arrived for the first day of the Employee Benefits Exhibition and Conference at the Business Design Centre in London, not really knowing what to expect. However, people who were unable to attend day one of the event ...
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Article
Employers fail to check employees' cars are roadworthy
Many employers do not have procedures in place to check if employees who use their own cars on business regularly maintain their vehicles.Some 83% have no such procedures in place, while almost three-quarters (74%) do not ask employees for a valid MOT for their car, according to the Grey Fleet ...
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Article
Tax break has boosted client numbers for some childcare providers
Just under a quarter (24.3) of childcare providers claim that the number of children in their care has increased since the tax break on childcare vouchers was introduced.Just over half, however, say that the number has not changed in this time, according to the Childcare provider survey by Accor Services ...
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Article
Women are happier at work, but men get better benefits
More women are happier at work than men with almost two thirds (63%) happy in their job role, compared to 56% of their male counterparts.When it comes to benefits, both genders are equally happy with the way they are rewarded, however, there is a clear discrepancy in the benefits each ...
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Article
Pension ranks top of perks
Two-thirds of UK employees (66%) believe that they do not receive any benefits, according to the Benefits research from Canada Life Group Insurance.When respondents were asked to list in order of preference ten specified benefits, the most popular was an employer-contributed company pension scheme, while holiday of more than 20 ...