All articles by Jennifer Paterson – Page 94

  • Opinion

    Andrew Kinder: What are employers doing around stress in the workplace?

    2012-09-23T13:51:00Z

    Employers could be forgiven for reacting to National Stress Awareness Day on 2 November by saying it is not a business priority and they are too busy responding to difficult trading conditions. However, given findings from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s October 2011 Absence management survey that stress ...

  • Article

    Speaker slides from Employee Benefits Live 2012 available

    2012-09-23T10:40:00Z

    Where we have agreement, the speaker slides from Employee Benefits Live are now available online. You will find the slides within the conference programme when you go through to the Employee Benefits Live website.If no presentations are available, they will not appear in the programme.The event, which took place at ...

  • Article

    Legal and General highlights workplace stress

    2012-09-21T10:38:00Z

    Legal and General has launched a campaign to highlight how stress in the workplace is affecting employees in financial services and what employers can do to help.The campaign, Stress in the City, will include posters in London’s main commuter train stations.Glen Laming, employment services director at Legal and General, said: ...

  • Article

    Decline in FTSE 100 directors’ pay rises

    2012-09-21T10:33:00Z

    Salary increases and bonus payouts for executive directors in 2012 are lower than the previous period, according to research by Deloitte.The 2012 FTSE 100 Executive directors’ remuneration report found that the median salary increase for company directors is around 2.5%. It also found that one-third will not receive any increase ...

  • Article

    JetBlue rolls out recognition scheme

    2012-09-20T10:56:00Z

    JetBlue Airways has launched a peer-to-peer recognition programme for its 14,500 employees based across the Americas.The Lift programme, which is provided by Globoforce, allows the airline to engage and motivate employees to best exemplify its five core values: safety, caring, integrity, fun and passion.It is available to employees in Aruba, ...

  • Article

    Towers Watson launches in to Portugal

    2012-09-20T10:49:00Z

    Towers Watson has partnered broker MDS to establish a benefits brokerage consultancy in Portugal.The partnership combines Towers Watson’s consulting experience in pensions, healthcare and risk management with MDS’s experience as an employee benefits broker.Frederico Jorge, managing consultant in Portugal at Towers Watson, said: “We are delighted to be able to ...

  • Article

    Mazars acquires benefits consultancies

    2012-09-19T09:15:00Z

    Mazars Financial Planning has acquired employee benefits consultancy Citrus4Benefits, and pension and risk provider Surf and Consult.Citrus4Benefits was established in 2009 by Tim Gillingham and Howard Finch, while Surf and Consult was established in 2006 by Tim Gillingham. Both businesses will be integrated into Mazars’ financial planning and advisory business.Ian ...

  • Article

    Total pension membership in UK is 27.2m

    2012-09-19T09:00:00Z

    In 2011, the estimated total membership of occupational pension schemes in the UK was 27.2 million, the same as 2010, according to research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The 2011 Occupational pension scheme survey, which includes a range of information on membership, contribution rates and changes to pension schemes, ...

  • Article

    Ashmore Group raises pensions take-up with wrap

    2012-09-18T11:27:00Z

    Ashmore Group has seen a 43% increase in the number of staff making voluntary contributions to their pension schemes since the launch of a corporate wrap.The Corporate Vantage scheme, provided by Hargreaves Lansdown, was introduced to replace the investment management firm’s existing group self-invested personal pension (Sipp) arrangement.Employees are able ...

  • Article

    MOD staff share £30m bonus pot

    2012-09-18T10:00:00Z

    Ministry of Defence (MOD) employees will receive bonuses worth a total of £30 million for the year 2011-12, down from £43 million for the previous year.The performance-related bonus, which was introduced by the former Labour government, will be paid out to 96% of employees.The average bonus for junior staff stands ...

  • Article

    Ageing workforce will impact health benefits

    2012-09-18T09:55:00Z

    More than a third (38%) of respondents said that ageing workforce health issues will impact their organisation, according to research by Aviva.Its annual Health of the workplace report, which surveyed 1,000 UK employers and 1,000 employees, also found that 29% of respondents said they are already seeing a rise in ...

  • Article

    Barclays to link bonuses to new business strategy

    2012-09-17T10:15:00Z

    Barclays Group is to adapt its bonus and compensation structure to link it to its new business strategy.In a memo to the bank’s 140,000 staff, Barclay Group’s new chief executive Anthony Jenkins, said: “How we do business, our impact as a company, and adherence to our values, will be considered ...

  • Article

    Opinions on offering DC pensions differ

    2012-09-17T10:00:00Z

    Employers and employees hold differing opinions on why organisations offer defined contribution (DC) pension schemes, according to research by consultants and actuaries Hymans Robertson.The state of DC in 2012 report found that more than half (54%) of HR and finance directors who responded to the survey said they run DC ...

  • Article

    Public sector pensions bill published

    2012-09-14T11:00:00Z

    The government has published the Public Service Pensions Bill 2013, which is forecast to save £65 billion over the next fifty years and aims to reduce public sector pension scheme costs by around half.The Independent Public Service Pensions Commission published its final report in March 2011. The government accepted its ...

  • Article

    The Pensions Trust to launch multi-employer pension

    2012-09-14T10:07:00Z

    The Pensions Trust will launch a defined contribution (DC) multi-employer pension scheme for the voluntary sector.SmarterPensions, which will be rolled out in early 2013, will provide a platform for employers’ qualifying workplace pension schemes.Stephen Nichols, chief executive at The Pensions Trust, said: “Over the last year, we have listened to ...

  • Article

    Employee Benefits unveils new website

    2012-09-13T10:20:00Z

    Employee Benefits has unveiled phase one of its new-look website.In response to research, the site, www.employeebenefits.co.uk, now includes a compliance section covering the tax and legislation issues benefits professionals need to be aware of.It will still offer resources on benefits best practice, research benchmarking and case studies from employers.Besides offering ...

  • Article

    Formal stress management policies needed

    2012-09-13T07:42:00Z

    More than one in four (28%) respondents said they have no formal process in place to deal with the stress and anxiety of employees, according to research by recruitment agency OfficeTeam.The research, which surveyed 200 HR directors across the UK, found that, of those employers that did offer a formal ...

  • Article

    DWP launches consultation on auto-enrolment thresholds

    2012-09-12T09:55:00Z

    The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation on the auto-enrolment thresholds for 2013/2014.The consultation comes as the UK’s largest employers prepare to auto-enrol their staff into workplace pension schemes.It sets out the revision factors that the secretary of state may take into account in the annual ...

  • Article

    Bluefin and Capita Hartshead to become Capita Employee Benefits

    2012-09-12T08:51:00Z

    Bluefin Corporate Consulting and Capita Hartshead will operate as a combined organisation under the new name Capita Employee Benefits from November 2012.This follows the acquisition of Bluefin Corporate Consulting by Capita in April 2012.The combined organisation will offer a range of services, including pension administration and consulting, investment and actuarial ...

  • Article

    Mears Group prepares for auto-enrolment

    2012-09-11T09:52:00Z

    Social housing repairs and maintenance provider Mears Group is to launch a super trust pension scheme in preparation for its auto-enrolment staging date of 1 March 2013.The People’s Pension, provided by B&CE, will be available to the organisation’s 10,000 employees.Andrew Smith, finance director at Mears Group, said: “We have chosen ...