All articles by Debbie Lovewell-Tuck – Page 21
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Resolving to overcome gender pay inequality
Happy New Year!No doubt this week, you’ll have seen countless emails and press articles about the key things you need to be aware of and/or focusing on during 2017. One item that has been on every such list I’ve seen has been the need to begin preparing for the introduction ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: 37% offer a contract-based defined contribution scheme as their primary pension plan
EXCLUSIVE: More than a third (37%) of employer respondents offer a contract-based defined contribution (DC) pension as their organisation’s primary scheme, according to research by Employee Benefits and Close Brothers.The Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2016, which surveyed 250 employer respondents, also found that 85% of respondents which offer a ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: 47% feel more staff want and need at-retirement guidance post-pension freedoms
EXCLUSIVE: Almost half (47%) of employer respondents say the pension freedoms have led to more employees wanting or needing guidance around pension decisions at retirement, according to research by Employee Benefits and Close Brothers.The Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2016, which surveyed 250 employer respondents, also found that 36% of ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
2016 - where has the year gone? It may be a reflection of my age but this year, more than any other, seems to have flown by at lightening speed.But, however quickly time seems to have past, this has also been a year of immense and wide-reaching change. From the ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: 45% see the reduced annual and lifetime allowance limits impact 1-5% of staff
EXCLUSIVE: April 2016’s reductions to the annual and lifetime pensions allowances impacted between 1% and 5% of staff in just under half (45%) of employer respondents’ organisations, according to research by Employee Benefits and Close Brothers.The Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2016, which surveyed 250 employer respondents, also found that ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: 68% offer at-retirement support to help staff make informed decisions
EXCLUSIVE: More than two-thirds (68%) of employer respondents that offer at-retirement support to staff do so because they want to support staff in making informed decisions, according to research by Employee Benefits and Close Brothers.The Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2016, which surveyed 250 employer respondents, also found that a ...
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ArticleConfessions of a benefits manager: Candid experiences mindfulness
This isn’t something I ever thought I’d say: Big Bad Boss is going soft. He went to a benefits conference recently, and came back talking about mindfulness. Really? Personally, I am all for that; if we could just get the Higher Beings, our executive management team, to mellow out a ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: 28% provide financial education for all staff
EXCLUSIVE: More than a quarter (28%) of employer respondents provide financial education for all staff, compared to 32% in 2015, according to research by Employee Benefits and Close Brothers.The Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2016, which surveyed 250 employer respondents, found that a further 31% of respondents are considering introducing ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Should employers support staff in lifestyle choices?
Last night I attended an event to promote the launch of Joe Wicks’ – the Body Coach’s – latest book. As you might expect, the majority of the people there were health and fitness converts, following his exercise and training plans, recipes and nutrition plans or both.Throughout the course of ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: 46% offer at-retirement support to staff
EXCLUSIVE: Less than half (46%) of employer respondents offer at-retirement support to employees, compared to 45% in 2014, according to research by Employee Benefits and Close Brothers.The Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2016, which surveyed 250 employer respondents, also found that 49% of respondents run retirement seminars for staff in ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Is the abolition of salary sacrifice actually an opportunity?
This week’s Autumn Statement brought months of speculation to an end when Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the tax and NI advantages on benefits offered via salary sacrifice will be abolished from April next year.Contrary to many reports in the national press over the last week or so, this was ...
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ArticleGovernment to review how benefits in kind are valued
Autumn Statement 2016: The government has announced it is to consider how benefits in kind are valued for tax purposes.According to the supporting documentation to the Autumn Statement, which was announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond today (23 November), this will include a call for evidence on the valuation of benefits ...
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ArticleGovernment to introduce new company car tax bands for low-emission vehicles
Autumn Statement 2016: The government is to introduce new, lower bands of company car tax for the lowest-emitting cars.The announcement was made as part of today's (23 November 2016) Autumn Statement, with details of the new bands and rates set to be announced in the Finance Bill in December 2016.The ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Are we witnessing the death of email?
Is email dead? This was the subject of a press release I received earlier this week from workplace design firm Crown Workplace Relocation. It suggested that employees’ growing interest in flexible and remote working was driving the growth of alternative forms of communication such as web chats, screen share and ...
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ArticleJeanette Makings: The continuing importance of pensions
Pensions are not the whole story of the UK’s workplace benefits offering, but they are still a major player. Half of respondents have more than 90% of their workforce as active members of their primary pension scheme. And with 68% of organisations contributing 3% or more and 26% contributing between ...
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ArticleOffering pensions education and guidance provides benefits for employers and staff
Investing in pensions education and guidance provides benefits for employers and employeesOver the past few years, the pace of change in the pensions industry has posed a number of challenges for employers. Not only has it required organisations to review and adapt their pensions provision, they have often had to ...
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ArticleEXCLUSIVE: 36% are using auto-re-enrolment to introduce wider pensions communications
EXCLUSIVE: More than a third (36%) of employer respondents are using pensions auto-re-enrolment as an opportunity to introduce wider communications around pensions and pension savings, according to research by Employee Benefits and Close Brothers.The Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2016, which surveyed 250 employer respondents, also found that a fifth ...
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ArticleConfessions of a benefits manager: Candid gets creative with budgets
Last year I escaped the job of putting together the department budgets. Inexplicably, Big Bad Boss had given this task to my colleague Lazy Susan, which is rather like asking a toddler to make a wedding cake. Now she is away, it has fallen back to me. I look at ...
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ArticleBenefits and long-term business strategy go hand in hand
In today’s business world, there is often a mismatch between employees’ expectations and focus, and organisations’ overarching business strategies and goals. The demise of the appeal of a job for life and the fast pace of roles in many workplaces, means it can be all too easy for employees to ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Redrawing boundaries in employer/employee relationships
How comfortable would you be offering relationship advice via the workplace? Would this be seen as a valuable source of support by employees or as crossing the boundaries of the employee/employer relationship?According to research published by Relate and Relationships Scotland, The way we are now: labour of love or labour ...