All articles by Jennifer Paterson – Page 73
-
Article
Pension deficits down by £70bn
Pension deficits fell by £70 billion to £551 billion in February, according to research by Xafinity Corporate Solutions.Its Corporate pension deficits tracker attributed the deficits to the slowing outlook for price inflation during the month and the strength of equity markets in 2013.Hugh Creasy, director at Xafinity Corporate Solutions (pictured), ...
-
Analysis
Use employee data to target health strategy
IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE, READ THIS…Employee health data can be collected through sickness absence records, private medical insurance and group risk claims, health screening and employee assistance programmes.Collected data can be mined to create a storyboard that shows the health profi le of the entire workforce.Targeted and effective health ...
-
Case Studies
Ladbrokes healthy living programme works
The programme, which is currently available only to senior management in Ladbrokes’ private medical insurance scheme, involves filling out an online health risk assessment, split into sections on medical history, lifestyle, diet and stress.Once completed, the employee is given a ‘Q score’, which helps them monitor their progress in improving ...
-
Article
Shell increases executive directors’ pay
Royal Dutch Shell paid its executive directors a total of €13.043 million (£11.23 million) in 2012, up from €10.89 million (£9.37 million) in 2011.In the Directors’ remuneration report 2012 section of its annual report, the global oil and gas company reported that chief executive officer Peter Voser received total earnings, ...
-
Article
Cookson Group appoints DB pension administrator
Cookson Group has appointed a third-party administrator to its £500-million defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The scheme, which has 5,500 members, will transfer to Premier in June 2013.In January 2013, the group signed its second bulk-annuity policy with provider Pension Insurance Corporation.Allan Course, chair of trustees for the Cookson Group pension ...
-
Article
Punter Southall joins PensionChair
Punter Southall has joined PensionChair as its actuarial and administration technical partner.PensionChair, a network made up of chairs of some of the largest workplace pension schemes in the UK, stages 20 meetings a year to give its members the opportunity to explore concerns and challenges facing schemes.Its membership is drawn ...
-
Article
Half of employers believe they should look after staff
More than half (52%) of employer respondents believe they have an obligation to look after their employees and aim to reflect this in the benefits package, according to research by Unum.The research, which was carried out by Populus and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), surveyed 245 organisations across a range ...
-
Article
Salaries not keeping up with household costs
Average salaries only rose 6% between 2008 and 2012, according to research by price comparison and switching service Uswitch.com.Its research found that, while the average cost of running a household has risen by 25% and bills have risen by 67%, average annual wages rose from £24,900 in 2008 to £26,500 ...
-
Article
Aviva scraps plans to add workplace savings options to benefits platform
Aviva has scrapped plans to add new workplace savings options to its benefits platform Work:Life.The platform, which went live in December 2012, is a single online benefits hub giving employees access to benefits, including the provider’s group personal pension (GPP), pension tracker and flexible benefits package.It had planned to add ...
-
Article
UK Chamber of Shipping extends pension buy-in
The trustees of the UK Chamber of Shipping’s defined benefit (DB) pension plan have agreed an extension to its buy-in arrangement for the scheme.The arrangement, which was initially agreed with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) in January 2013, includes the deferred members of the plan, representing about 20% of the scheme ...
-
Article
FTSE 100 pension deficit improves
The total deficit of FTSE 100 defined benefit (DB) pension schemes improved by £8 billion in 2012, according to research by JLT Pension Capital Strategies.This found that the total deficit of FTSE 100 pension schemes at 30 December 2012 was estimated to be £50 billion.It also found that the total ...
-
Article
New adviser for local government pension
The Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee (NILGOSC) has appointed an actuarial adviser to its local government pension scheme for Northern Ireland.Aon Hewitt will be working closely with the committee and its officers to help manage the £4 billion fund, which has 90,000 members.David Murphy, chief executive and secretary ...
-
Article
Barclays C&ES launches global shares and reward services
Barclays Corporate and Employer Solutions (C&ES) has launched its global shares and reward services.The formal launch follows the announcement at the end of 2012 that Barclays C&ES had signed an agreement with Solium Capital to create a version of its Solium Shareworks platform and administration services.At the same time, Barclays ...
-
Article
Vinci UK offers mentor scheme to staff
EXCLUSIVE: Vinci UK has offered employees the opportunity to mentor members of the armed forces who are resettling into civilian life.The opportunity is through its partnership with charity Help for Heroes, part of the construction company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, which also includes partnerships with three other charities: The ...
-
Article
Employees want government to incentivise flexible working policies
The majority (82%) of employee respondents said the government must do more to incentivise organisations to implement flexible working policies, according to research commissioned by Plantronics and conducted by OnePoll.The research, The state of the flexible working nation, surveyed 2,000 UK employees to gain understanding of the UK’s changing working ...
-
Article
SMEs unprepared for pensions auto-enrolment
Fewer than half (42%) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) surveyed have taken concrete steps towards auto-enrolment implementation, according to research by Jelf Employee Benefits.The Jelf Employee Benefits Auto-enrolment tracker, which surveyed 124 SMEs, found that just 29% of respondents are aware of their staging date.This compares to 38% in ...
-
Article
Employer support essential on musculoskeletal issues
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) account for 50% of all workplace absences lasting more than three days in Europe, according to research by The Work Foundation for Fit for Work Europe.The Fit for work patient survey, found that two-thirds of people living with MSDs are primary earners in their families, yet many ...
-
Article
Balfour Beatty to close DB pension scheme
Balfour Beatty is consulting with staff about closing its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme to future accrual.Its proposals would affect around 2,500 active pension scheme members, which represents about 10% of its workforce.The consultation will end in May and the scheme closure will take effect from September.In its Full year ...
-
Article
Pay for low-skilled workers highest in western Europe
Pay for low-skilled business functions in western Europe is more than 50% higher than their counterparts in the UK, according to research by Towers Watson.The Towers Watson General industry compensation report focused on four core business functions that are commonly moved across borders in order for organisations to take advantage ...
-
Article
Serco boosts take-up ahead of auto-enrolment
EXCLUSIVE: Serco Group has increased take-up of its stakeholder pension scheme by communicating auto-enrolment four months ahead of its staging date.The international services organisation sent letters to its 30,000 UK employees in January 2013. It has since seen a 2% rise in take-up of the scheme, in advance of the ...