All articles by Jessica Bird – Page 2
-
ArticleBuyer's guide to flexible benefits technology
What is flexible benefits technology? Earlier in the evolution of employee benefits, organisations would provide a static set of rewards. Although these might change somewhat according to seniority or length of service, there was little in the way of flexibility or tailoring. These benefits would likely be communicated via letters ...
-
ArticleThe top 10 most-read articles between 6 - 13 April 2023
The top 10 most-read articles on www.employeebenefits.co.uk between 6 - 13 April 2023 were: Sainsbury’s loses appeal to throw out equal pay bidIveco Group introduces global reward platformSuperdrug and Savers enhance wellbeing packagesSodexo UK and Ireland enhances parental leave and benefitsNetwork Homes gives staff £2,400 cost-of-living pay increaseThomson Reuters introduces ...
-
ArticleNew recruit hops into role as Yuba City Police Department's wellness officer
Image credit: YCPD Facebook PageSomething for the weekend: Yuba City Police Department (YCPD) in Sacramento, US, has taken a unique approach to promoting employee wellness, giving the responsibility to an emotional support bunny.Officer Percy (pictured) was named after Percy Street, where he was discovered in October 2022 by soon-to-be coworker ...
-
ArticleEXCLUSIVE: Kids Planet introduces enhanced parental benefits
EXCLUSIVE: Day nursery provider Kids Planet has introduced an enhanced package of benefits, including new parental leave policies, for 4,595 members staff caring for more than 15,000 children across its 156 UK nurseries.From 1 April 2023, the organisation introduced fertility leave and birthday leave, as well as implementing additional days ...
-
ArticleSavills UK reduces mean gender pay gap by 8%
London-based real estate services business Savills UK has reported its mean gender pay gap for 2022, which shows a reduction of 8% compared with the year prior. Savills’ mean gender pay gap reduced from 26.03% in 2021 to 23.94% in 2022, while its median gap reduced from ...
-
ArticleThe Pensions Regulator authorises UK's first CDC pension scheme
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has assessed and authorised the UK's first collective defined contribution (CDC) pension scheme.The Royal Mail Collective Pension Plan (RMCPP) was the first to be added to the newly published list of authorised CDC pensions on TPR's website.The regulator authorised the scheme in order to continue with ...
-
ArticleAria Care Home gives staff 30% pay rise
South Wales-based Aria Care Home, the trading name of Arcadia Care Homes, has increased pay for all employees by 30%, implementing a minimum hourly rate of £13.The Newport business has 24 employees, about to rise to 26, and was accredited as a real living wage employer in 2021. At the ...
-
ArticleSuperdrug and Savers enhance wellbeing packages
Credit: William Barton / Shutterstock.comRetail businesses Superdrug and Savers, owned by AS Watson Group, have updated their benefits packages, including introducing financial wellbeing app Wagestream to educate, support and provide flexible pay for employees across both brands.AS Watson employs more than 140,000 people worldwide, more than 10,000 and 5,000 of ...
-
ArticleGovernment launches review to boost employment prospects for autistic people
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a government review designed to investigate boosting employment prospects for autistic people.Mel Stride MP, secretary of state for work and pensions, has appointed Sir Robert Buckland MP to lead the review, which aims to consider how the government can work with ...
-
ArticleNetwork Homes gives staff £2,400 cost-of-living pay increase
Affordable housing association Network Homes has implemented a consolidated cost-of-living pay increase of £2,400 for each employee.The organisation decided on an overall pot of money, and then considered three different options for how to distribute the amount across its employee base.According to Network Homes, the chosen pay increase, which applies ...
-
Article36% with long-term health issues find it affects their ability to work
Six in 10 (60%) of those facing a long-term health issue said it reduced their ability to carry out daily tasks, while 36% said it impacted the amount or type of work they were able to do within their current job role, according to research by the Department for Work ...
-
ArticleAmazon expands programme of paid language classes for staff
Global online retail organisation Amazon has expanded its programme of employer-paid language classes for employees.The employer added to its Career Choice programme in order to offer English language classes for free to those working in the 13 non-US countries the programme operates in.The change was made in order to reflect ...
-
ArticleAldi increases pay for store assistants
Grocery retailer Aldi has raised pay for store assistants to £11.40 per hour nationally, and £12.85 per hour within the M25.The change in pay will take effect from 1 July 2023, and will benefit more than 28,000 employees, out of a total of 40,000 in the UK.Aldi has made an ...
-
ArticleSpring Budget 2023: Pensions lifetime allowance scrapped
Spring Budget 2023: Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced in his Budget statement today (15 March 2023) that government will abolish the lifetime allowance for pensions.The lifetime allowance previously had a £1 million limit, which Hunt said he had been called upon to increase as part of his economic ...
-
ArticleSpring Budget 2023: Tax-free pensions allowance up by 50%
Spring Budget 2023: In his Budget address to the House of Commons today (15 March 2023), Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt addressed the issue of unpredictable pension tax charges causing employees to leave work, particularly within the NHS.The government has therefore increased the pensions annual tax free allowance by ...
-
ArticleSpring Budget 2023: Government to focus on mental health and musculoskeletal issues at work
Spring Budget 2023: In addition to introducing support for disabled people and those unable to work due to long-term sickness absence, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has pledged government support for those forced to leave work due to mental health and musculoskeletal issues.In his Budget statement today (15 March ...
-
ArticleSpring Budget 2023: Scheme launches to help disabled people to access work and support
Spring Budget 2023: Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has introduced a government white paper on disability workplace reform, as part of an aim to address the two million people who are economically inactive due to disability or long-term sickness.In his Spring Budget statement today (15 March 2023), Hunt noted ...
-
ArticleSpring Budget 2023: Government to raise corporation tax to 25% as planned
Spring Budget 2023: Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has announced in his address to the House of Commons today (15 March 2023), that government will raise corporation tax for business from 19% to 25%.Organisations which make a profit of more than £250,000 will pay 25% tax on their profits ...
-
AnalysisHow to implement flexible pension policies
Flexible pension policies can help employees shore up short-term financial wellbeing, while still saving for the future.In difficult periods, the ability to flexibly drop or pause pension contributions could be invaluable.Flexible policies should be combined with effective communication and education to ensure staff understand the impact of their choices.The word ...
-
Case StudiesDeloitte gives staff control with flexible pension policy
In October 2022, professional services firm Deloitte introduced a flexible pension policy that gave its 22,000 UK employees more control over their finances, while still centring the importance of retirement savings.The policy allows staff to receive a cash payment in place of their pension contributions, in order to help people ...