All articles by David Woods – Page 2
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Pension funding levels fall due to economic uncertainty
Pension funding levels have fallen due to current economic uncertainty, meaning that the aggregate position of pension schemes has moved from a surplus of £15bn at the start of 2008, to a deficit of £23bn.According to the Pension Risk Study by Deloitte, the the average FTSE 100 employer is estimated ...
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Axa adds automatic contribution increases to pension products
Pensions provider Axa has launched a service which will automatically increase members' pension contributions by an agreed percentage at set time periods.This is aimed to address issues of employee participation and engagement in pension schemes.The service, Save More Tomorrow, which has been added to its group stakeholder and group personal ...
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Employers win battle over 2012 pension contributions
Employers have won their battle to keep their current methods of calculating employees' qualifying pay for pension contributions to existing schemes when the government's planned system of personal accounts comes into effect in 2012.After being lobbied by a number of industry bodies, such as the National Association for Pension Finds ...
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Identity and Passport Service staff strike over pay offer
Approximately 2,900 Identity and Passport Service staff have begun a three-day strike over the government's plans to cap public sector pay and close offices.Employees at offices in London, Liverpool, Belfast, Glasgow, Peterborough, Durham and Newport as well as at 68 interview offices, who are members of the Public and Communication ...
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Asperity adds concierge service to benefits package range
Asperity Employee Benefits has added a concierge service to its product rangeAsperity has integrated parts of the concierge service, provided by Ten Lifestyle, into its online voluntary benefits programme, Reward Gateway. The benefit can also be tailored to suit individual business needs and can be paid for by the employer ...
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Hammonds launches home training initiative
Furniture manufacturer Hammonds has launched a home training initiative (HTi), which allows staff to purchase a computer through salary sacrifice to use at home to improve computer literacy.The firm has just closed the window for staff to sign up for the scheme.The tax-efficient scheme means that employees to purchase the ...
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Trinity Mirror dismisses pension funding fears
Trinity Mirror has announced that it will not have to make any changes to its pensions contributions despite fears of liquidity.Responding to national press headlines that Trinity Mirror has a shortfall in its pension scheme due to economic hardship, the newspaper group issued a statement saying:†"There are no liquidity issues ...
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BBC Resources staff vote to accept new pay and pensions package
BBC Resources staff have voted in favour of a new pay and pensions package that will bring them into line with the rest of the BBC.The Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU), which supports the entertainment and leisure industries, has reported that 77% of BBC Resource union members have ...
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Vodafone withdraws mobile phone product, Flexphone
Vodafone, which provides mobile phones to employers for staff as a tax-efficient benefit, is to withdraw its mobile phone product Flexphone from the market by the end of the current tax year.The scheme allowed employees to buy a mobile phone from their gross salary, in doing so saving on national ...
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Employers lobby for simple charging structure for personal accounts
The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) has been urged by employers, pension providers and industry bodies to keep the charging structure for the personal accounts scheme simple, flexible and well communicated.However, the industry has failed to reach a consensus on the charging structure that the authority should apply to personal ...
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Employers' healthcare costs could rise by 60% in five years
Employers have been warned that medical benefits could cost up to 60% more in five years due to compound inflation.According to Rising costs, rising concerns: Medical Inflation published by Mercer, medical benefits that currently cost an employer £1million could rise in price by 60% in just five years. The cost ...
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Boris Johnson to raise minimum wage for Greater London Authority staff
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has pledged to increase the minimum living wage for Greater London Authority (GLA) staff to £7.45 per hour which is 35% higher that the national minimum wage of £5.52 per hour.In addition, 27 organisations including the Metropolitan Police Service and Barclays Bank and Ealing Council ...
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Bupa gives staff time to volunteer
Bupa is to give employees time during working hours to volunteer at charities close to its main call centres in Staines and Manchester.Employees will be able to choose from more than 100 projects including refurbishing a respite centre, repairing broken fences and gardens at a school and revamping a Mencap ...
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Argos staff to strike over pay
Argos distribution workers have voted to take strike action over pay.According to trade union Unite, Argos employees voted 67% in favour of a strike, in a dispute over the firm's proposed 4% pay deal, despite profits being up 16% from last year.Argos also intends to reduce the benefits under its ...
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HR professionals do not want children to choose same career
More than a quarter of HR professionals are so dissatisfied with their current role they would not want their children to do the same job.According to Like father like son no longer:Would you want your children to follow in your career footsteps? by recruitment and talent management consultancy Hudson, almost ...
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Bombardier moves its relaunched flex plan online
Bombardier has relaunched its flexible benefits scheme and moved it completely online in a bid to increase staff take-up.The train manufacturer has also added carbon offsetting as a benefits option, as well as moving its share purchase plan and share incentive scheme on to the flexible benefits platform.Bombardier’s 3,600 employees ...
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University of Surrey launches salary sacrifice for defined benefit pension
The University of Surrey has launched a salary-sacrifice arrangement for members of its defined benefit University Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension. So far, 93% of members have opted to make their pension contributions via salary sacrifice.The university operates a local government defined benefit pension scheme as well as the USS. All ...
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Interview with Louise Hadland, HR and facilities management director at Shoosmiths
Ensuring people have fun at work is one of the ambitions of Louise Hadland, HR and facilities management director at law firm Shoosmiths.In a career that has spanned more than 25 years, Hadland has gained a wide variety of business experience, working in a range of disciplines across the public ...
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Case Studies
Employer profile: Kent County Council
Affectionately known as the garden of England, Kent connects London to the south coast of the country. The landscape of this sprawling home county varies from meadows, orchards and valleys to the White Cliffs of Dover and long, sandy beaches.Its local authority, Kent County Council, has a workforce as varied ...
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BAA staff to accept pension changes
British Airport Authority (BAA) workers have voted to accept a new pensions package secured by Unite and their employer.The agreement means that the organisation's final salary pension scheme will be protected for 12 years for existing members. The scheme will be closed to new members but a new defined contribution ...