All articles by Jennifer Paterson – Page 117
-
Article
EXCLUSIVE: Cisco extends flexible benefits to Spain and targets full European roll-out
Cisco has extended its flexible benefits scheme to its 350 employees in Spain, which included the introduction of a new pension plan and the country’s equivalent childcare voucher scheme.The company now intends to roll out the scheme, provided by Thomsons Online Benefits, to its other European sites in Norway, Italy, ...
-
Article
Childcare costs take up a third of annual salaries
Childcare costs now take up a third (35%) of average annual salaries, according to research by Hay Group.The PayNet UK salary tracker, which analyses salary movements across five different employee levels in more than 700 organisations, found that clerical-level workers in England will spend on average £103.19 per week on ...
-
Analysis
News analysis: Who pays for childcare?
Proposals for a new government-funded childcare scheme have fuelled a debate about the future of childcare vouchers.The National Childcare Contribution Scheme (NCCS), suggested in February by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) in its report A better beginning: Easing the cost of childcare, would allow working parents to borrow money from ...
-
Article
Alphabet launches corporate car-sharing scheme
Alphabet has launched a corporate car-sharing scheme called AlphaCity.The scheme allows employers to set up an internal car club under their own parameters for staff, using cars leased from Alphabet.Employees who sign up to the scheme and receive a membership card and welcome pack. They can then self-book for cars ...
-
Article
HSBC guarantees part-time roles to all new parents
HSBC is to offer all employees a part-time role on a pro-rata salary at the same level as their original position following maternity or paternity leave.The bank will offer the option to returning parents in a bid to help employees balance the demands of family life with their career development.HSBC ...
-
Opinion
Financial Education: Interview with Stuart Bailey of the Money Advice Service
The Money Advice Service at a glanceThe Money Advice Service (MAS) began life as part of the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA’s) financial capability division. In April 2010, it was rebranded as the Consumer Financial Education Body, before becoming the MAS in April 2011. It is independent and gives free, unbiased ...
-
Article
ICAP cuts costs with review of sickness absence strategy
EXCLUSIVE: Interdealer money broker ICAP has cut its total cost of absence by one-third and reduced its group income protection premiums over the past three years after a major review of its sickness absence strategy.Since the review, which began in 2009, the firm has reduced the number of days’ absence ...
-
Article
EXCLUSIVE: Ward Hadaway launches flexible benefits scheme
Law firm Ward Hadaway has introduced a flexible benefits scheme to boost employee engagement, provide new benefits, improve communication and get a better return on investment from its staff.The scheme, provided by Portus Online, went live on 1 January 2012. It is available to all of the firm’s 400 employees.New ...
-
Article
Cost of police pensions rises nearly 80% in 15 years
The cost of police pensions has risen from less than £1 billion a year in 1995/6 to almost £2.5 billion a year in 2009/10, according to research by think tank Policy Exchange.According to the report, Police officer pensions: Affordability of current schemes, the figure represents a 79% increase in real ...
-
Article
Pay freezes higher among EMEA-based organisations
The research, Clear direction in a complex world, surveyed 604 international organisations.It also found that only a third of organisations in EMEA create an integrated communication and change-management strategy, compared to half globally.Globally, two-thirds of organisations provide clear direction to employees when managing change, compared to only half in EMEA.Nicola ...
-
Article
Now: Pensions launches pensions films to stimulate debate
Now: Pensions has launched a series of films aimed at tackling key areas of debate within the UK pensions industry.The films address a host of issues in the run-up to auto-enrolment, including lack of transparency, excessive charging, and the importance of clarity and simplicity.Morten Nilsson, chief executive of Now: Pensions, ...
-
Article
Axa PPP International introduces global health insurance service
Axa PPP International has introduced a health insurance service to support employees in 247 countries.MyGlobe provides employees access to information on Axa PPP International’s global network of 10,000 healthcare providers.It also identifies facilities where English is spoken and features practical information on local culture, travel and transport, details of embassies, ...
-
Article
Local Government Association freezes pay for a third year
The Local Government Association has imposed a pay freeze for the third year running.More than 1.6 million council workers will be affected.Sarah Messenger, head of workforce at the Local Government Association, said: “This has been a very difficult decision to make but it is the right one for council tax ...
-
Article
Linklaters partners with Global Share Plans on international database
Linklaters has partnered with Global Share Plans to launch a global share plan database.The database replaces Linklaters’ current Blue Flag employee share plan database. Global Share Plans provides an internet-based database that gives organisations access to up-to-date information on operating share plans in over 140 countries.According to Linklaters, the partnership ...
-
Article
Aegon and Logica partner to launch auto-enrolment product
Aegon and Logica have partnered to launch an auto-enrolment product for the fourth quarter of 2012.The online product is being delivered with SuperChoice, which has been used in the Australian pension market.It will offer employers:Categorisation of employees for auto-enrolment based on payroll information.Automatic calculation and validation of contributions based on ...
-
Article
Employee Benefits Connect: Arup achieves 93% pensions take-up after DB closure
Arup has achieved a 93% take-up of its defined contribution (DC) pension scheme since it was launched in July 2010 following the closure of its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The global engineering firm communicated the DB scheme closure and the new DC scheme launch through a segmented and personalised approach ...
-
Article
EXCLUSIVE: Lifestyle Services Group launches flexible benefits after talent management review
Lifestyle Services Group (LSG) has launched a flexible benefits scheme for its senior employees following a talent management review.Following the review, the firm’s management population was adjusted from 150 to 50 employees. The review also determined what proportion of the £1-million benefits spend to allocate to these senior staff and ...
-
Article
Guardian News and Media agrees 3% pay rise for journalists
Guardian News and Media has agreed a 3% pay rise for journalists for 2012 and 2013.The deal was reached through negotiations between the media group and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).A spokesperson for Guardian News and Media said: “We are pleased to reach an agreement with the NUJ in ...
-
Article
Leeds Building Society pilots auto-enrolment service
Leeds Building Society is piloting an auto-enrolment service for its 900 staff.The service, which is provided by Equiniti ICS, includes administration, employee communications, real-time reporting and regulatory reporting.Auto-enrolment, which begins in October 2012 for organisations with more than 120,000 staff, requires all UK employers to enrol their employees into a ...
-
Article
One-third of respondents would use ATMs to save into pensions
One-third (32%) of employees would be interested in depositing cash or cheques into their pension scheme at an ATM, according to research by Friends Life.The research, Pensions: the solutions, was conducted with think tank Future Foundation into how to address the national pensions crisis.Almost three in five (59%) of respondents ...