All articles by Jennifer Paterson – Page 68

  • Article

    New stress management consultancy launches

    2013-04-17T10:41:00Z

    A new workplace stress management and employee wellbeing consultancy has launched.Workplace Stress Solutions aims to help prevent and manage stress in the workplace.It offers a tailored approach to organisations through a range of stress management, resilience training, and leadership development programmes. Natasha Shearer, founder of Workplace Stress Solutions (pictured), said: ...

  • Article

    Trinity Mirror reduces exec bonuses

    2013-04-16T11:27:00Z

    Trinity Mirror reduced the cash bonuses payable to its executive directors by 50% in 2012.The newspaper publisher’s annual report also showed that the executive directors did not wish to be considered for base salary reviews in 2013.The average salary increase for all staff across the group was 2%.The report outlined ...

  • Article

    Induction pack most common way to communicate benefits

    2013-04-16T11:20:00Z

    More than two-thirds (67%) of respondents use their induction pack to communicate employee benefits to staff, according to research carried out by eMedia on behalf of Specsavers Corporate Eyecare.The research, which surveyed more than 200 HR directors from the UK and Ireland, found that 65% of respondents use an intranet ...

  • Article

    Employers offer skills-based volunteering options to staff

    2013-04-16T11:19:00Z

    Employers have moved from primarily offering team and physical volunteering programmes to staff to providing access to skills-based volunteering opportunities, according to a report by Community Service Volunteers (CSV).Employee volunteering – who is benefiting now?, interviewed 40 organisations to explore the relationship between employers, employees and community groups engaged in ...

  • Article

    Minimum wage to increase from 1 October

    2013-04-15T11:43:00Z

    The government has accepted the independent Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendations for this year’s adult and youth national minimum wage (NMW).It also opted to increase the apprentice rate rather than freeze it, as recommended by the LPC.From 1 October 2013:The adult rate will increase by 12p to £6.31 an hour.The ...

  • Article

    Employers ranked by CSR criteria

    2013-04-15T11:32:00Z

    Diversity and inclusion were scored as the highest corporate social responsibility (CSR) indicators in the FTSE 100, according to research by Towers Watson and Business in the Community (BITC).The first Workwell FTSE 100 benchmark scored FTSE 100 companies against BITC’s Workwell criteria, which includes a total of 25 indicators across ...

  • Article

    PWC to roll out resilience programme

    2013-04-12T11:08:00Z

    EXCLUSIVE: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) is rolling out an employee resilience programme in the UK.The programme, which is aimed at encouraging its 16,500 UK employees to be aware of their psychological and emotional wellbeing, follows a successful pilot for employees in specific business areas.Sally Evans, senior manager of the diversity, inclusion and ...

  • Article

    British Gas staff sign up for healthy-eating plan

    2013-04-12T10:15:00Z

    British Gas has seen more than 700 employees download a new healthy-eating plan in the first week since its launch.The plan, which was developed by wellness organisation The Tonic in conjunction with the utilities firm’s wellbeing team, contains a selection of meals, snacks, recipes and shopping lists.It also includes healthy-living ...

  • Article

    Awareness of pensions tax relief is low

    2013-04-12T10:15:00Z

    Almost half (44%) of respondents are unaware that they are entitled to tax relief on their workplace pension contributions, according to research by B&CE.The research, which surveyed 1,002 UK adults, found that a further 38% did not know how their money would be invested by their pension provider.It also found:70% ...

  • Article

    BrokersLink launches global employee benefits group

    2013-04-12T10:09:00Z

    Insurance broker network BrokersLink has launched a global employee benefits practice group.The group aims to drive business development in the area of international employee benefits for its 70 members.It has appointed Gerard Baltazar (pictured) as its first chairman. Baltazar is the chairman and chief executive officer at In2Matrix Group, an ...

  • Article

    Shire Pharmaceuticals changes perks in flexible benefits plan

    2013-04-11T11:03:00Z

    EXCLUSIVE: Shire Pharmaceuticals has launched a holiday purchase scheme, removed its corporate individual savings account (Isa) and made changes to when employees can change their pension contributions.The changes were effective from 1 April 2013. They formed part of a full streamlining of the pharmaceutical firm’s online flexible benefits scheme during ...

  • Article

    Quarter of savers lose track of pension schemes

    2013-04-11T10:52:00Z

    A quarter (23%) of respondents have lost track of at least one pension scheme, according to research by Age UK.The research, which polled 2,312 UK adults, found that nearly a third (30%) would try to trace a pension if they realised they had lost track of it.According to Age UK, ...

  • Article

    Employers use out-of-date HR and payroll technology

    2013-04-11T10:51:00Z

    Two-thirds (62%) of respondents are relying on out-of-date technology systems to manage HR and payroll functions, according to research by MidlandHR.Its HR technology 2013: how mid to large-sized UK organisations are using HR technology, which surveyed more than 200 senior HR and payroll professionals, found that only 18% of respondents ...

  • Article

    Shire Pharmaceuticals streamlines flexible benefits scheme

    2013-04-10T11:57:00Z

    EXCLUSIVE: Shire Pharmaceuticals has streamlined the structure and communications for its online flexible benefits scheme.The organisation has streamlined its flexible benefits website, removing around 50% of the content because it was either duplicate information or considered to be too technical. Instead of its annual hard-copy brochure, it now provides staff ...

  • Article

    Network Rail pays out portion of execs' L-tip

    2013-04-10T11:31:00Z

    Network Rail has paid out £630,000 to four of its executive directors as a portion of their long-term incentive plan (L-tip) to reflect the organisation’s performance in the period 2009-12.Under the terms of the 2009 L-tip, the four directors qualified for a 100% payout as a result of the extensive ...

  • Article

    EU-wide pension rules could add £150bn to UK pension funding targets

    2013-04-10T11:20:00Z

    Proposals for new Europe-wide rules for calculating pension deficits could add £150 billion to funding targets for UK defined benefit pension schemes, according to analysis by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).Its Quantitative impact study on institutions for occupational retirement provision (Iorps): preliminary results for the European Commission, ...

  • Article

    Metroline appoints fiduciary manager to defined benefit pensions

    2013-04-10T11:13:00Z

    Metroline has appointed SEI as fiduciary manager to its defined benefit (DB) pension schemes.The fiduciary management and investment services provider will manage the Metroline London Northern Pension Scheme and the Metroline Pension Scheme, which have a total of £51.6 million in assets.Metroline made the appointment so that its trustees could ...

  • Article

    CIPP launches payroll application

    2013-04-10T10:55:00Z

    The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) has launched a payroll application (app).Its Payroll Factapp, which is available on Apple and Android smartphones, contains payroll information, including tax facts and figures relevant to every pay period.The CIPP Factapp also includes:Tax rates, including the new rates in relation to auto-enrolment.Company cars.National ...

  • Article

    Emerging technology aids health strategies

    2013-04-09T12:01:00Z

    Most organisations have a health engagement strategy in place, however, many do not take advantage of emerging technology to communicate this to employees, according to research by Buck Consultants and WorldatWork.The Emerging technology in health engagement research, which polled 400 multinational organisations, looked at the use and effectiveness of emerging ...

  • Article

    Adams Morey switches payroll providers

    2013-04-09T11:07:00Z

    Adams Morey has switched payroll software providers following a review prompted by the introduction of real-time information (RTI) reporting.The legislation, which came in to effect on 6 April 2013, requires all employers to report pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) information to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in real time.The truck supply firm, which ...