All articles by Kate Donovan
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Case Studies
Employer profile: Zurich
Swiss-based financial services firm Zurich looks to its roots for benefits leadership, but has the flexibility to tailor perks on a local level, says Kate DonovanZurich Financial Services’ 8,868 employees based in the UK, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands may not have the sunshine or exotic scenery of ...
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Analysis
Effective instant employee recognition rewards
Kate Donovan explores the merits of using immediate rewards for exemplary staff conductRewarding employees on the spot for positive behaviour can be a cost-effective way of demonstrating the kind of values and actions that an organisation wishes to encourage among its workforce. In turn, employees who feel that they have ...
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Analysis
Cancer hopes in PMI
With medical advancements, cancer has moved from being a completely bleak diagnosis to one that has been newly defined by insurers, as HR adopts new sensitivities to these 'disabilities', says Kate DonovanSome 90,000 people of working age in the UK are being diagnosed with cancer each year, according to the ...
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Article
New Pensions Bill may force employers to close schemes
Employers could be forced to close their existing pension schemes because they do not comply with the exemption criteria set out in the new Pensions Bill, which paves the way for personal accounts.Schemes will be classed as exempt if contributions amount to 8% of qualifying earnings, which include overtime payments, ...
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Article
Rate of final salary pension scheme closures slows
The closure of final salary pension schemes has slowed, according to the National Association of Pensions Funds' (NAPF) Annual Survey.In 2007, around a third of private sector defined benefit schemes remained open to new members (31% in 2007, 33% in 2006). In addition, 95% of schemes still allow members to ...
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Article
Pension schemes in suplus despite volatile year
Almost one half of UK pension schemes are now in surplus despite a volatile year.Overall, there was a significant improvement in pension scheme funding in 2007, according to Aon Consulting's Monthly FRS17/IAS19 Tracker: December 2007. Accounting deficits gained £38bn over the year, which brings the last two years of gains ...
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Article
HBOS sharesave plans pay out around GBP12m
HBOS has paid out approximately £12m to almost 14,000 employees after its sharesave (save-as-you-earn) plans matured this week.Staff could gain up to £4,000 if they invested the maximum amount of £250 per month, however, average payouts were around £1,000 per participating employee.Through sharesave plans employees can invest between £5 and ...
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Article
No-win no-fee lawyers hampering councils' equal pay reviews
The use of no-win no-fee lawyers is hampering equal pay reviews being carried out by local authorities.Half of all councils have now carried out equal pay reviews, but the local authorities are being hampered by the involvement of no-win no-fee lawyers in such cases. The new survey of 79 local ...
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Article
European court ruling on minimum wage criticised
Trade unions and politicians have expressed disappointment over a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on minimum pay which 'undermines workers rights'.The ECJ ruled that a Swedish trade union had no right to force a Latvian company (Laval) operating in Sweden to pay its workers a locally-determined minimum wage.The court ...
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Article
Pensions Bill reforms need a rethink
The government's proposed reforms in the Pensions Bill, due to have its second reading on 7 January, do not go far enough, according to the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA)'s findings in its 2007 Review and Pension Trends Survey Report.The ACA welcomed the government's attempts to extend pension provision to ...
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Article
Cardif Pinnacle beefs up benefits communication
Cardif Pinnacle has beefed up the communication of its UK benefits by launching a new benefits website and running roadshows.The employer also plans to review its benefits package with the aim of increasing employee choice, and further aligning its benefits with group parent company, BNP Paribas.Employees at insurance company Cardif ...
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Article
P11D to be axed?
The government has published a consultation paper around the potential abolition of the P11D reporting process in order to reduce the administrative burden for employers.The consultation, published by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), follows the announcement in the Pre-Budget report that HMRC would consult on how best to collect tax ...
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Article
Government package to help victims of pension collapse
Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has announced a new package to help up to 140,000 people who lost savings when their employer-sponsored pension schemes collapsed.The announcement was made alongside the publication of the Young Review, which has been commissioned by the government to look at ways ...
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Article
Chancellor delays decision on capital gains tax
Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has delayed his decision on capital gains tax (CGT) until the new year.He has announced that he is still considering consultations with various parties on the government's plans for a new CGT regime and therefore, will not publish his revised plans until the new ...
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Article
ABI issues guidance on measurement criteria for L-tips
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said lengthy averaging periods for total shareholder return (TSR) performance measurements used in long-term incentive schemes should be avoided.It has issued a set of remuneration guidelines which also state that where companies offer cash supplements in lieu of pension arrangements these should be ...
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Article
Executives rewarded for hitting non-financial targets
Executives are increasingly being rewarded for factors other than financial performance to encourage them to engage in overall business strategy.The use of non-financial measures to determine reward has risen from 35% of bonus schemes last year to 57% this year. According to the Executive Compensation, Review of the Year 2007 ...
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Article
Pensions Bill 2007 introduced
The Pensions Bill 2007 has been introduced to parliament.The Bill, which will reduce legislation for employers providing pension schemes, proposes automatic enrolment for staff into a qualifying workplace pension scheme from 2012 and the introduction of personal accounts for employers who do not currently run a pension scheme. Under the ...
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Article
Standard Life uses DVD and website to communicate pension
More than 98% of Standard Life employees have made an active choice about their preference between two pension alternatives following DVD and website communications.These methods were used to communicate a choice Standard Life's pension scheme members were required to make between two pension alternatives, which will impact on how their ...
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Article
HML issues staff with total reward statements
HML has launched paper-based total reward statements so that employees can see the full value of their benefits.The provider of outsourced third-party mortgage administration services is providing its workforce of more than 1,900 employees with the statements following an annual employee survey that revealed that many staff did not recognise ...
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Article
The Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust offers e-learning
The Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has introduced online training courses for staff to give them the opportunity to boost their skills.The Home Training Initiative gives staff the chance to take out a free loan of home computing equipment from the scheme’s provider RedPC, then pay for access to ...