All articles by Jennifer Paterson – Page 129
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Article
Pensions Bill receives Royal Assent
The Pensions Bill has received Royal Assent.Starting from October 2012, employers will begin to automatically enrol eligible employees into a qualifying pension scheme and contribute to that pension. Measures in the Pensions Bill include:Organisations will be allowed to defer auto-enrolment for up to three months.The scheme certification process will be ...
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Article
Aon Hewitt research: Almost half of employers have closed DB schemes to accrual
Over 40% of organisations have closed their defined benefit (DB) pension schemes to future accrual or are currently in the process of doing so, according to research by Aon Hewitt.The Pension benefit design survey polled 300 organisations with DB arrangements, predominantly in the private sector.Where organisations are closing to future ...
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Article
Grid research: Mental health one of most common causes of sickness absence
Stress-related mental health is one of the most common causes of long-term sickness absence, according to research by Group Risk Development (Grid).The research, conducted among 500 employers, found that stress-related mental health was the second most common cause, cited by 15% of respondents, behind home and family issues, cited by ...
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Article
Secondsight delivers 350 textbooks to Kenyan school
As a direct result of its fundraising campaign at Employee Benefits Live, Secondsight has arranged for the delivery of 350 textbooks to the Showers of Blessings school in Watamu, Kenya.The employee benefits provider agreed to fund one textbook for every enquiry form completed at its stand during Employee Benefits Live ...
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Article
Government sets out offer on public sector pensions
Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has set out details of the government’s offer on public sector pensions. The offer includes:An 8% increase in accrual rate, from the 1/65ths offered in October to 1/60ths.Anyone within ten years of their pension age on 1 April 2012 will be protected, meaning ...
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Article
The Orchid Group named best pub employer at hospitality awards
The Orchid Group has been named the best group bar/pub employer at the Best Employers in Hospitality Awards 2011 for Scotland.The pub group was also named in the overall list of the 25 best hospitality employers in Scotland, coming 22nd.The Orchid Group operates a range of schemes and initiatives to ...
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Article
Scottish Widows research: Gender pay gap affecting women's pension pots
The number of women saving for retirement has risen to 50% in 2011, compared to 43% in 2010, according to research by Scottish Widows.The Scottish Widows women and pensions report 2011, which surveyed 5,200 UK adults, found that, despite this rise in the number of women saving, men are still ...
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Analysis
How to run a Europe-wide fleet
If you read nothing else, read this...In the European alignment of a fleet policy, employers should embrace differences, as well as similarities.Fleet standards, tax issues and manufacturer preference differ from country to country across the European Union, so take this into consideration.If possible, a single person should be made responsible ...
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Article
EXCLUSIVE: Marks & Spencer offers financial education for sharesave maturity
Marks and Spencer (M&S) will offer financial education ahead of two of its sharesave schemes maturing on 1 January 2012, with markedly different results.Its three-year sharesave scheme will see 12,000 staff share a pot of £60 million. Ann Govier, manager of senior remuneration and employee share schemes at M&S, said: ...
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Article
Institute of Financial Planning research: One third of employees not contributing into a pension scheme
A third (31%) of UK employees are not currently contributing to a pension scheme, while 14% have never made any pension contributions, according to research by the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) in association with National Savings and Investments (NS&I).The Financial planning survey, which coincides with UK Financial Planning Week ...
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Article
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust renews fleet contract
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has renewed its fleet contract with Leasedrive Group.The fleet management organisation will continue to deliver the trust’s salary sacrifice car scheme, which only allows its 13,000 employees to choose cars emitting 140g/km of CO2 or less.The Mycar scheme has been in place since 2009.Alison ...
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Article
Experian renews fleet contract with Leasedrive
Experian has renewed its fleet contract with Leasedrive, which merged with Masterlease UK.The global information services firm was one of Masterlease UK’s largest employers, with a fleet of 650 cars.Brian Hill, head of peer-to-peer and billing at Experian’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) shared service centre, said: “Under our ...
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Article
Spencer signs fleet contract with Zenith
Engineering firm Spencer has signed a contract with Zenith for the management of a 133-fleet company car scheme.Spencer’s employees will use Zenith’s online motoring expenses system, MyMiles, for their monthly expenses claims.Caroline Johnson, fleet manager at Spencer, said: “Zenith’s product and service offering was key to our decision to award ...
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Article
Wider Plan enhances offers to its childcare voucher users
Benefits provider Wider Plan will enhance the offering available to users of its Kiddivoucher childcare voucher service in time for the Christmas season.The full Wider Wallet discounts scheme will be on offer to the childcare voucher users among the provider’s 5,000 employers as of 1 December.The discounts scheme, which includes ...
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Analysis
Emergency childcare is worth the investment
If you read nothing else, read this... Emergency childcare gives employees access to nannies, childminders, nurseries and school holiday clubs when their regular childcare arrangements break down. Employers should determine which type of back-up care is best suited to their employee population. The service is effective in protecting productivity, attracting ...
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Article
Simmons & Simmons launches emergency carer service
Simmons and Simmons has rolled out a back-up carer service to help its 700 employees balance their work and family commitments.The law firm had received anecdotal feedback from its employee discussion groups about the increasing difficulties in attaining a work-life balance.Dan Flint, HR director at Simmons and Simmons, said: “We ...
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Article
GlaxoSmithKline introduces company car scheme
EXCLUSIVE: ?GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has introduced a company car scheme for its 1,500 sales staff after a car allowance proved too expensive.GSK found that, as manufacturers raised prices, the cost to employees of buying cars through the scheme also rose. The increase in VAT caused employer’s national insurance to also go ...
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Case Studies
Case strudy: Barclays Wealth banks on working parents
Barclays Wealth introduced an emergency childcare and carer service in June 2011, to add to a suite of benefits supporting its working parent population.Since its launch, the scheme has been taken up by 7% (260) of staff across the UK. Sarah Boddey, head of diversity and inclusion at Barclays Wealth, ...
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Case Studies
Case study: Nomura invests in back-up childcare service
When investment bank Nomura International rolled out a back-up care service in January 2011, it was the result of two years' focus on the firm's diversity and inclusion benefits for its 3,500 London-based staff.At the end of 2010, a proposal was sent to the diversity and inclusion steering group around ...
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Article
Tesco adds QR code to total reward statements
?Tesco has added a quick response (QR) code to its total reward statements (TRS) to give its diverse employee population easy access to their benefits package.The retailer has provided paper-based TRS for 15 years, sending them to employees’ homes every October. This year, statements were sent out to almost 270,000 ...