All articles by Debi O'Donovan – Page 8
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Almost half of employers had auto-enrolment opt-out rates below 10%
Of those employers that have auto-enrolled staff into a workplace pension and have calculated their opt-out rate, more than half (56%) found that less than 10% of their staff opted out of their pension plan.No respondents to the Employee Benefits/Capita Pensions Research 2013 had an opt-out rate higher than 29%.However, ...
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Top ten most read stories this week
HSBC implements new all-employee benefits strategyRoyal Mail privatisation is landmark for employee ownershipEmployers must take care on pay promisesJP Morgan increases mortgage adviceReward’s role in building trustChurch of England to investigate pension fundLeasePlan updates company car tax guideDuncan Brown: Engagement through reward: impossible or essentialSSE receives 3,000 requests for salary ...
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DOD’s blog: how auto-enrolment strategies are shaping up
This week Employee Benefits published a major piece of research into what employers have done with their auto-enrolment strategies to date.The Employee Benefits/Capita Pensions Research 2013 drew responses from 370 employers, 31% of which have gone through auto-enrolment.At a point in time when we are beginning to see pension suppliers ...
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ArticleThree-quarters of employers using certification for contributions
Most respondents that have auto-enrolled their staff used the option to self-certify to simplify the calculation of pension contributions, according to Employee Benefits/Capita Pensions Research 2013.The research, which surveyed 370 HR and benefits managers, found that 73% of respondents are using this option.Certification rules state that instead of having to ...
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Top ten most read stories this week
Recommendations published on benefits tax rules Royal Mail reduces DB pension liabilities In-house support more prevalent in auto-enrolled organisations Birmingham Council staff save £187,000 via discounts plan Employers use pension provider to communicate How to green a flexible benefits scheme Barclays Cycle Hire staff strike over pay Goldman Sachs ...
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DOD’s blog: let’s stop pensions mis-selling now
The PPI misselling headlines that hit the headlines again this week has got me thinking about workplace pensions.Let’s rewind back to the days when we were being pushed to buy payment protection insurance (PPI) at every turn. Because I had read how bad a product it was, I can remember ...
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DOD’s blog: Childcare vouchers under scrutiny
In recent weeks there has been a flurry of press releases about childcare vouchers landing in my inbox.The reason is clear.We are just about two years away from the proposed workplace tax and national insurance savings on these highly popular perks being removed (for new schemes). Although that could still ...
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ArticleEmployee Benefits magazine – August 2013
Editor’s note:We spotted that trust is becoming a hot topic in HR circles. So in this August issue of Employee Benefits we opted to look at it through a benefits prism in our cover story Position of trust (see page 20).We were also pleased to get time with HSBC’s head ...
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Debi O'Donovan: How social networks impact on trust
In the eyes of many commuters, the number of minutes that had to pass before a ‘minor’ or a ‘severe’ delay was declared was too high. Accusations were thrown around that LU was trying to do something underhand to improve its delays record.What this showed up was how quick people ...
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Auto-enrolled employers likely to contribute less
The research, conducted among 370 HR and benefits managers, found 21% of those that have auto-enrolled staff are paying in a 1% pension contribution, but only 7% of those still to auto-enrol pay in at this low level.In turn, 23% of those still to auto-enrol pay in a 5% employer ...
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DOD's blog: HR can affect UK's economic growth
Yesterday the UK’s revised economic growth figures were revealed to be just 0.6%. Better than previously announced, but a long way from where we should be.But running alongside that is the issue that UK employees have had below-inflation-rate pay increases for years. So effectively a pay cut.Read: Pay rises by ...
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Article
Top 10 most read stories this week
1. Seven-year sharesave schemes to be abolished2. Wilkinson to close final salary pension3. William Grant funds pay rises with PMI savings4. Pension engagement linked to communication5. Network Rail incentive plan approved6. 3i Group to reverse bonus plans7. Supreme Court overturns Nortel and Lehman pension ruling8. Edenred to launch mobile discounts ...
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DOD's blog: Fight back if pay decisions will lead to trouble
It is not often you see an HR director on BBC News at Ten talking about pay.So I took special notice when Lucy Adams, HR director at the BBC, popped up on my TV screen on Wednesday night.She was filmed appearing in front of the Commons spending watchdog, the public ...
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Top 10 most read stories this week
Most common sickness absence strategiesWithers raises pensions take upSMEs are not prepared for auto-enrolmentHow employers can promote heart health in the workplacePolice pensions could be cut for misconductAviva launches PMI product for large employersNew group risk website looks to provide added valueRoyal Mail pay proposals rejectedStaff could make equal pay ...
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DOD’s blog: Dreaming in percentages
Having spent the past week buried in data (for both the about-to-be published Employee Benefits/Capita Pensions Research 2013 as well as our fascinating in-depth analysis on how the main corporate advisers are performing in the UK market) I am beginning to dream in percentages.It is also why I have plenty ...
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DOD's blog: Becoming a bond fundi over pasta funghi lunch
Did you know that the announcement by the USA’s Federal Reserve a few weeks ago to withdraw quantitative easing took a healthy slice of money off the retirement savings pots of UK pension scheme members?No?Me neither. Until I was enlightened to the fact by the lovely Laith Khalaf, head of ...
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Top 10 most read stories this week
Tui UK and Ireland targets staff absenceSiemens UK boosts pensions take-up to 98% Tax relief does not encourage pension savingSick days cost UK nearly £29bn a yearISS uses Nest to comply with auto-enrolmentBarclays and Benefex partner for auto-enrolment servicesAbsenteeism at record lowTPR publishes code on trust-based DC pensionsBlackRock extends access ...
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DOD’s blog: Benefits strategies change gear
I have spent this week at the Employee Benefits Summit in Spain, networking with leading reward and benefits managers as well as learning from leading experts and suppliers across a variety of reward disciplines.This annual event allows many of us – employers, sponsors and the Employee Benefits team – to ...
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Debi O'Donovan: How is auto-enrolment doing?
I would encourage as many of you as possible to fill in the online survey. The more employers that complete the survey, the clearer the picture we will all have of what is happening with auto-enrolment.From what we know already, auto-enrolment seems to be rolling out very smoothly. Employee opt-out ...
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ArticleEmployee Benefits Awards 2013: Meet the winners
Click on links below to find out more about the winners:Grand Prix (sponsored by Mercer Marsh Benefits)Employee benefits professional of the yearBenefits team of the year (sponsored by Tusker)Best car and travel benefitsBest healthcare and wellbeing benefits (sponsored Westfield Health)Best stress management schemeBest pensions changeBest pensions communicationsBest DC pension default ...