All articles by Jennifer Paterson – Page 32
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BA takes legal action against pension trustees
British Airways has launched legal action against its pension trustees to try to prevent it from increasing the amount the airline has to pay into its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The British Airways Pension Scheme (APS) had its annual increases to payments changed in 2011 from being linked to the ...
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How the Autumn Statement will impact employee benefits
Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) presented the Autumn Statement on 5 December.Here is how it will impact employee benefits:Share scheme limits to increaseRise in state pension age brought forwardOTS to implement nine quick wins on employee benefitsGovernment to extend tax exemption on employer-paid healthcareFuel duty increase cancelledTax exemption on bonuses under ...
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HMRC wins income tax avoidance case
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has won a tax tribunal ruling in an income tax avoidance scheme, which is expected to protect up to £400 million in tax that would otherwise not have been paid.The scheme was marketed by Consulting Overseas Limited to independent contractors as a remuneration package that ...
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Royal Mail reaches pay settlement
Royal Mail Group has reached a pay agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which covers nearly 140,000 employees.The pay agreement includes:Pay increases over three years: 3% in the financial year 2013/14 backdated to April 2013, 3% in the financial year 2014/15 and 2.8% (subject to review if inflation is ...
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Department of Health consults on pensions
The Department of Health has launched a consultation on proposed changes to the NHS Pension Scheme.These proposals include:Increases to employee pension contributions. The NHS is moving in to the final year of the three-year increases to employee contributions. The consultation outlines the proposed increases for 2014/15, which will come in ...
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Annuity market does not work for retirees
The annuity market does not work well for the majority of retirees according to the findings of research into the consumer experience of purchasing an annuity, published by the Financial Services Consumer Panel.In its report, the panel recommends urgent regulatory and government-led structural reform in order to prevent millions of ...
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Auto-enrolment opt outs are less than 10%
Auto-enrolment opt-out levels are less than 10%, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).Its Pensions automatic-enrolment: the lessons for small and medium-sized employers research, which surveyed 399 private sector organisations, also found that the average contributions from employees and employers stand at 4% and 6% ...
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Goodman Masson hosts winter wellbeing week
EXCLUSIVE: Goodman Masson has hosted its third annual Winter Wellbeing Week for staff.The event, which was held the week of 11 November, supports the financial recruitment firm’s internal brand, ‘There’s more to life than work’.Guy Hayward, chief executive at Goodman Masson, said: “It is communicated in the build-up to the ...
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Qantas to freeze pay and bonuses for executives
Qantas Group is to implement a pay freeze and remove bonuses for its executives in 2014 in a bid to accelerate cost reductions across all areas of the business.Its chief executive officer (CEO) and board will also experience a pay cut.The Australian airline group expects to report an underlying loss ...
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56% have more than one pension pot
More than half (56%) of respondents have more than one pension pot, according to research by Now: Pensions.Its research, which surveyed 2,000 UK adults who have a workplace pension, found that 8% of respondents have four or more pension pots, a figure that rose to 25% for respondents aged over ...
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Scottish DB pension deficits double to £6bn
Defined benefit (DB) pension scheme deficits across Scotland have almost doubled over the past 12 months, from £3.2 billion to £6 billion, according to research by pensions and risk consultancy Hymans Robertson.The Hymans Robertson Scottish pension index, which analysed 27 schemes, found that 18 of these schemes were worse off ...
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Gain recognition for your travel policy or global benefits
These could include environmentally-friendly travel practices, tax- or cost-cutting initiatives, new technology that communicates with drivers more effectively, the introduction of a driver training programme or staff travel policies that reduce the need for employees to drive.Meanwhile, the category ‘Best international or expatriate benefits’, which has also been renamed for ...
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JLT Group appoints Eleanor Smith
JLT Group has appointed Eleanor Smith UK compensation and benefits manager.Her previous roles in the industry include reward manager at Laing O’Rourke, global reward and mobility manager at Linklaters, associate director, global rewards at Covance, head of reward and people systems at Sainsbury’s, head of reward at Boots, reward and ...
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Telefonica UK promotes Ian Grimshaw
He had been European benefits manager for Telefonica Europe since 2011.Before that, he was reward manager – benefits at Telefonica O2.His previous roles in the industry include benefits manager at Bank of America and employee benefits manager at MBNA Europe Bank.
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Royal Mail reaches agreement on pay and pensions
Royal Mail Group has reached an agreement on pay and pensions, averting the threat of strike action over the Christmas period.Details of the agreement, which is subject to approval by the Royal Mail board, will be made available following the conclusion of the meeting of the Communication Workers Union’s (CWU) ...
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85% making changes to benefits provision
The majority (85%) of respondents have either recently made changes to their organisation’s benefits provision or are due to do so over the next year, according to research by Quintige Consulting Group (QCG).Its Employee benefits survey, which questioned 54 employers, found that these changes are being driven by organisations looking ...
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ArticleEmployees prefer cash instead of a Christmas party
More than two-thirds (71%) of respondents would rather receive the cash their employer spends per head than a Christmas party, according to research by MetLife UK.Its research, which surveyed more than 2,000 UK adults, found that 59% of respondents are going to a Christmas party hosted by their employer this ...
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Rise in state pension age brought forward
Autumn Statement 2013: The government has brought forward the increase in the state pension age, to 68 by the mid-2030s and to 69 by the late-2040s.The government had already taken action to control pension expenditure over the medium term by bringing forward the rise in the state pension age to ...
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Government to extend tax exemption on employer-paid healthcare
Autumn Statement 2013: The Autumn Statement 2013 has confirmed the government is to introduce a tax exemption on amounts of up to £500 paid by employers for medical treatment for employees. This was first announced in the Budget 2013,In response to a consultation into how to implement the tax relief, ...
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Basic state pension to increase by £2.95 a week
Autumn Statement 2013: The basic state pension will increase by £2.95 per week from April 2014, as announced by Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) in the Autumn Statement 2013.The increase is in line with the triple lock, which means that the full basic state pension in 2014/15 will be around £8.50 ...