All articles by Kate Donovan – Page 12
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Conservative white paper proposes to link GP pay to patient satisfaction
The Conservative Party has published its white paper on NHS Autonomy and Accountability supporting proposals to link doctor's pay to the success of the treatment they provide and patient satisfaction.The document, unveiled by shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley, proposes that senior doctors should be put in charge of local budgets ...
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Former Nationwide chief exec given £1.6m settlement for retiring early
Philip Williamson, former chief executive of Nationwide, was given a £1.6m settlement when he agreed to retire early.The building society's annual report for the year ending 4 April 2007, showed that Williamson, who retired from the board on 31 March 2007, received £1,607,681 as compensation for agreeing to early retirement. ...
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NFU Mutual launches voluntary benefits in reward revamp
NFU Mutual has launched a voluntary benefits scheme as part of its bid to revamp its reward and benefits structure.As part of its modernisation programme, the a rural insurer has also changed its base pay arrangements, launched a new bonus system and introduced an employee benefit structure linked to a ...
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Confidence low in pensions knowledge and retirement savings
Just one-in-20 people feel that they have a good knowledge of pensions, while less than one-in-four think they know enough about pensions to decide how to save for their future retirement with confidence.According to the Attitudes to pensions survey published by the Department for Work and Pensions, which surveyed a ...
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New rehabilitation standard to help return to work
A new rehabilitation standard for occupational health practitioners has been launched to help them get more people return to work following an illness or injury.The Standards of Occupational Practice, developed by the Vocational Rehabilitation Association (VRA), provides new standards for vocational rehabilitation practitioners and are intended to promote high-quality professional ...
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London is second most expensive city for expatriates
London is now the second most expensive city in the world for expatriates to live in due to steep house prices and a rise in rental costs.The UK's capital rose three places in Mercer Human Resource Consulting's Cost of Living Survey 2007, positioned only behind Moscow, which topped the list ...
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Pensions regulator uses anti-avoidance powers on Sea Containers
The Pensions Regulator has published Determination Notices indicating its intention to issue its first Financial Support Direction (FSD) on Sea Containers (SCL).The Regulator said that the passenger transport and marine container leasing company SLC - as a parent company - must provide financial support for the two pension schemes of ...
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Summit news: GlaxoSmithKline increases staff pension contributions
GlaxoSmithKline motivated 800 employees to increase their pension contributions by carrying out a targeted communications campaign.Speaking at the Employee Benefits Summit on ‘Developing an education programme to drive employee awareness’, Julie Skidmore, communications and training manager, said that the organisation targeted 3,500 employees who paid between 0 and 3% into ...
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Vebnet appoints first HR director
Prudential's senior HR professional Rachel Ferguson has been appointed by Vebnet as its first HR director.The provider of technology solutions and services for flexible benefits introduced the role as an investment in HR and to help develop its employees. Ferguson will manage the HR function and work with employees to ...
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Employers to provide 28 days paid annual leave by April 2009
Employers who do not currently offer 28 days paid annual leave will have to increase employee entitlement by April 2009.The government has promised up to eight extra days annual holiday per employee, with the first extra four day entitlement coming into force from October this year.An estimated six million employees ...
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Green paper proposes age exemptions around insurance
Government proposals could mean there are likely to be exemptions made on age differentiation on the provision of insurance premiums and products, which could keep costs down for employers.The Discrimination Law Review: A framework for fairness, published today, sets out its proposals for a single equality bill. On the issue ...
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Cable & Wireless criticised over proposals to remove cap on executive bonuses
Cable & Wireless' proposal to remove its £20m cap on individual executive bonuses has been criticised by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).The long-term incentive plan (L-tip), which was introduced in April last year, was given a cap to ensure that no individual employee could receive more than £20m through ...
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KPMG appoints Staffcare as benefits technology provider
KPMG has appointed Staffcare as its flexible benefits and reward communication software provider.The professional advisery firm made the switch to Staffcare from Vebnet.Tony Morgan, head of flexible benefits at KPMG, said: "Flexible benefits is one of KPMG's key people services offers, and in order to ensure that we continue to ...
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Thomson Holidays launches electronic scratch card incentives
Thomson Holidays is to launch an electronic scratch card incentive scheme to motivate its sales team.The bespoke scheme for sales staff at the organisation, which is a division of TUI UK, will give successful employees the opportunity to win Thomson holiday discounts with an online scratch-card game each time they ...
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European Union holiday entitlements vary greatly
Holiday entitlement varies by up to 16 days a year among countries in the European Union (EU).Minimum statutory annual leave and public holidays combined range from as many as 44 days in Finland to just 28 in the UK, Romania and the Netherlands, according to research primarily based on information ...
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Mental ill health is key cause of absence
Mental ill health is the second largest cause of time lost due to sickness absence in UK organisations.Stress; depression and anxiety account for more than 50% of the mental health problems which are keeping employees off work. The New directions in managing employee absence report from the Chartered Institute of ...
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Xyratex boosts staff pension contributions with relaunch
Xyratex has achieved its aim of increasing take up to its group personal pension (GPP) after relaunching the scheme last month.The data storage firm previously employed two providers running two separate GPP schemes, but opted to go with a new single provider after receiving lower than expected employee take up.More ...
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Vinci adds income protection scheme
Vinci Plc has launched a voluntary group income protection scheme through salary sacrifice for its 3,000 staff.The arrangement works on the basis of the employer taking out the group policy on behalf of employees, who pay for the service from their gross salaries. Staff are then given income protection benefits ...
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Product in focus - Mobile phones
Mobile phones can be offered to staff tax efficiently via salary sacrifice or flexible benefits arrangements, so Kate Donovan looks at the mechanics of setting up a schemeTax-efficient mobile phones can be offered as a benefit via salary sacrifice arrangements, thanks to a tax break which was introduced in the ...
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Emap revamps holiday
Emap has temporarily reduced the amount of holiday that employees can sell, as a result of a change to the structure of its holiday and benefits year.Taking effect from January 2008, the holiday year will run as a calendar year rather than from July to June. Staff can usually buy ...