All articles by Jennifer Paterson – Page 83
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Government to tackle long-term absence
The government is to implement a new independent assessment and advisory service aimed at getting people back to work and away from long-term sickness benefits.The scheme, which was announced by the minister for welfare reform Lord Freud, is intended to save employers up to £160 million a year in statutory ...
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Peugeot Citroen to extend bonus scheme
EXCLUSIVE: The PSA Peugeot Citroen Group is to extend its performance-based bonus scheme to include employees in its parts and logistics warehouse.The programme will be introduced to these 200 employees from the end of December 2012.The car manufacturer previously offered the bonus scheme to all other employees within its 3,000-strong ...
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JCB staff to share £2.5 million bonus pot
JCB’s UK employees will share a Christmas bonus pot worth £2.5 million and will receive a 3% pay rise.Around 5,000 staff at factories in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Wrexham will receive a £500 Christmas bonus.From 1 January 2013, all UK employees will also receive a pay increase linked to November’s Retail ...
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JP Morgan to relaunch wellness plan
EXCLUSIVE: JP Morgan is to relaunch its New Year’s resolution-focused wellness programme in 2013.The programme, which was first launched in January 2012, will include a webinar on beating the winter blues, how to set achievable health and wellbeing goals, information on healthy eating, weight-management programmes, and discounted gym membership.Adam Brooke, ...
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Doctors’ pay should be linked to performance
Consultant doctors’ pay should be capped nationally and locally, and linked to performance, according to an independent report by the Doctors and Dentists Review Board, which was commissioned by the government.The Doctors and Dentists Review Board report on consultant contracts and clinical excellence, published on 17 December, made recommendations around ...
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Ladbrokes launches master trust pension
Ladbrokes has launched a master-trust pension scheme to comply with auto-enrolment.The scheme will be available to 14,000 eligible employees, who will be auto-enrolled from 1 March 2013.It will be provided by Legal and General Workplace Savings, and Pitmans Trustees has been appointed as independent trustee.Phil Rixon, pensions and benefits manager ...
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E.On staff strike over pay
E.On employees will stage a one-day strike on 17 December in a dispute over pay.Approximately 250 metering workers will take industrial action because they have had no consolidated pay increase for three years, and this year’s offer averages a 1% rise.Paresh Patel, regional officer at trade union Unite, said: “E.On’s ...
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Xerox launches total reward portal
EXCLUSIVE: Xerox has launched a total reward portal to provide employers with a straightforward way to provide up-to-date pay and benefits information to their employees.The portal integrates all benefits, including the pension schemes and share plans, into a single dashboard.It also includes personalised total reward statements, summary information of the ...
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DWP sets auto-enrolment earnings threshold
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has set the earnings threshold for auto-enrolment at £9,440 for 2013/14.In its response to the consultation, Automatic enrolment earnings thresholds review and revision 2013/14, the government has also proposed setting the lower limit of the qualifying earnings band at £5,668 and the upper ...
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GE Healthcare staff take part in festive run
EXCLUSIVE: GE Healthcare employees have taken part in a festive-themed five-kilometre charity fun run as part of its HealthAhead programme.The programme, which aims to promote healthy living for all employees, focuses on issues such as nutrition, physical activity, smoking cessation and stress management.The 70 fun-run participants, dressed in costumes ranging ...
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Merchant Navy enters into pension buy-in
The Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund (MNOPF) has entered into a bulk annuity insurance policy for around £680 million of members’ benefits in its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The insurance policy covers around 40,000 members of the MNOPF’s old section, which closed in 1978.Rothesay Life is providing the insurance policy, ...
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Sports trusts come together for auto-enrolment
Thirty-six member trusts of national body The Sports and Recreation Trust Association (Sporta) have banded together to establish an auto-enrolment scheme.The move will enable them to benefit from greater economies of scale resulting from the negotiations of a larger group.Sporta has more than 100 member trusts across the UK, made ...
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Hampshire Police implements resilience plans
EXCLUSIVE: Hampshire Constabulary has implemented a series of employee resilience programmes, resulting from a large-scale organisational restructure.The government’s 2010 Spending Review included measures that saw the police force tasked with saving a target of £55 million, delivered over a four-year period. It originally anticipated a large number of police staff ...
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LV= completes longevity insurance contract for DB pension
LV= has completed an £800 million longevity insurance contract for its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The contract, with reinsurer Swiss Re, includes insurance of longevity exposure for 5,000 individuals who were members of the scheme as of 31 December 2011.It covers a broad population, extending beyond in-payment pensioners to also ...
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European pay rises will be subdued in 2013
Average pay rises across Europe will be subdued in 2013, according to research by Hay Group.Its Hay Group paynet, research, which contains data from more than 20,000 organisations, foumd that average pay rises in the region are estimated to be 3.3% in 2013, compared with 5.5% in 2012..In Western Europe, ...
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Aon Hewitt adds to global benefits team
Aon Hewitt has appointed Janine Heijckers-van den Nieuwenhuysen global benefits leader for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).She joins from Mercer where she led the international practice in Europe and was EMEA market development leader.Previously, Heijckers-van den Nieuwenhuysen (pictured) was director of Aon’s international practice, based in London.Francois Choquette, executive ...
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UK Coal restructure impacts pensions
UK Coal’s pension schemes have taken the majority share in the organisation’s property business following a restructure.The restructure, which began in March 2012, split UK Coal into separate mining and property businesses. The mining business will continue as employer sponsor of the pension schemes. In return for giving up any ...
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Benefits platforms help employers stand out
EXCLUSIVE: The most attractive aspect of a corporate or employee benefits platform is its ability to help organisations stand out as a top employer by offering a range of benefits beyond basic salary, according to more than half (56%) of adviser respondents to research by Aviva.The research, which surveyed almost ...
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Round Table launches voluntary benefits scheme
EXCLUSIVE: Men’s membership organisation Round Table has launched an online voluntary benefits scheme for its 5,000 employees, in time to help out with the cost of Christmas shopping.The Wider Wallet scheme is provided by employee benefits provider Wider Plan. It offers access to a range of discounts at supermarkets and ...
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M&S to extend clothes recycling campaign
Marks and Spencer (M&S) is to extend its clothes recycling campaign, Shwopping, into UK workplaces by launching a service for employers across the UK.From 2013, organisations can offer Shwop Drops in their offices to enable employees to recycle clothes.Marks and Spencer will deliver the boxes and provide communications materials, such ...