All articles by Kate Donovan – Page 15

  • Analysis

    Wellbeing and leisure accounts are new additions to flex

    29 April 2007

    Learning, wellbeing and leisure accounts are one of the newer additions to flexible benefits plans, but the concept is still developing, says Kate DonovanFlower arranging, driving lessons, language skills and acupuncture may not be activities that immediately spring to the top of the list of those that employers are willing ...

  • Article

    BP extends online access to pensions information

    29 April 2007

    BP is to extend its online pensions communication to include members of its six subsidiary schemes and Burmah Castrol's final salary scheme, which it acquired, along with the company, in 2000.Active members of these schemes could previously access generic information online, through BP's Pension Line website, but the company will ...

  • Analysis

    PMI president-elect talks about challenges of pensions flux

    29 April 2007

    President-elect of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI), Steve Delo, will be soon be leading the way in educating and guiding an industry that must contend with, what he calls a "mish-mash" of pension arrangements.Having worked in the pensions field since graduating from university in 1989, Delo is aware of the ...

  • Article

    Royal Mail could face strike over pay

    26 April 2007

    The Communication Workers Union (CWU) Union has urged Royal Mail employees to take industrial action over pay.The union has distributed letters to its members saying that the Royal Mail has offered nothing on basic consolidated pay for the 2007 pay review. In the letter, Dave Ward, deputy general secretary (Postal) ...

  • Article

    WPA launches insurance for cancer drugs

    25 April 2007

    WPA has launched an insurance product that provides access to cancer-treating drugs.Mycancerdrugs provides up to £50,000 lifetime benefit for advanced cancer drugs that have been licensed by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). Where the NHS declines to administer the drug, Mycancerdrugs will fund all the costs directly associated with administering ...

  • Article

    Steep rise in pension liabilities due to longer life expectancy

    25 April 2007

    Pension liabilities have risen in the UK by approximately £30bn in two years due to the increased life expectancy of scheme members.Analysis from KPMG showed that the assumed life expectancy of the average UK pension scheme member at the end of 2006 was approximately one year higher than at the ...

  • Article

    Employers urged to give staff paid time off to help quit smoking

    25 April 2007

    The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has urged employers to allow staff paid time off to allow them to attend sessions on stopping smoking during working hours.This was just one of the recommendations for employers published in its Workplace health promotion: how to help employees stop smoking ...

  • Case Studies

    BBC offers pre-school visits to editorial staff

    24 April 2007

    The BBC has extended its training programme to include school visits for editorial staff on its pre-school and education publications.Previously, employees in its education and pre-school learning departments, who work on titles such as CBeebies magazine, could access advice from experts in pre-school education. The BBC has now extended this ...

  • Article

    Pensions risk must be reduced by improved investment strategies

    24 April 2007

    Employers must improve investment strategies for defined contribution (DC) pension schemes' default funds to protect members' retirement prospects.According to the National Association of Pension Funds' Annual Survey 2006, over 90% of DC scheme members choose the default invstment option because they do not feel they have sufficient knowledge to make ...

  • Article

    Inchcape Pension Trustee outsources scheme adminintration

    24 April 2007

    Inchcape Pension Trustee has outsourced the administration of its group UK pension scheme to HSBC Actuaries and Consultants.The scheme, which is currently administered by the in-house team, has over 1,600 members and assets of nearly £200m.An Inchcape spokesperson, said: “[HSBC] demonstrated very high standards of quality assurance, internal auditing and ...

  • Article

    Nurses vote for industrial action over pay

    18 April 2007

    The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has voted by a 95% majority to take industrial action over pay.In an emergency debate on pay held at the union's annual conference in Harrogate the overwhelming majority voted to take industrial action over the staged pay arrangement offered by the government. Chancellor Gordon ...

  • Article

    BA cabin crew vote to accept pay and pension deal

    17 April 2007

    British Airways (BA) cabin crew have voted in favour of a deal on pay and pensions.The terms, which a 76% majority voted to accept, include an 18.75% rise in their pensionable pay figure; an above inflation 4.6% pay increase from 1 February in the first year of a two-year pay ...

  • Article

    Employers still use same pensions advisers as their trustees

    17 April 2007

    Many employers are continuing to seek advice from the same source as their pension scheme trustees.According to PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) Pensions survey, up to 44% of employers still use the same firm of actuarial advisers. Of these employers, 35% use the same individual actuary, while a further 17% are unaware of ...

  • Article

    DWP seeks chair to lead delivery of personal accounts

    16 April 2007

    The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has begun its search for someone to chair the authority which will deliver the government's new personal account scheme.The job was advertised in the latest issue of The Sunday Times. The Authority will deliver the new personal account pension scheme which the government ...

  • Article

    HSBC awards bonuses despite failure to meet targets

    16 April 2007

    HSBC has paid out bonuses to employees reportedly worth nearly £30m, despite failing to meet performance targets.The bonuses, which were reportedly paid to approximately 12,000 staff, are linked to the performance of the company's shares. Despite failing to meet targets, however, notes in its latest annual report, published last month, ...

  • Article

    NHS recruits to receive training and benefits guidance

    13 April 2007

    New recruits to the NHS will receive guidance on training and benefits within a new welcome pack.The pack will be issued to thousands of new allied health professionals, healthcare scientists, clinical support workers, ambulance staff, employees from the wider healthcare team, health informatics staff, managers, nurses and midwives. There are ...

  • Article

    CIPD director general to stand down

    12 April 2007

    Geoff Armstrong is to†stand down as director general of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in June 2008.When he retires, at the end of the CIPD's 2007-08 financial year,†Armstrong will have held the post for 16 years."We have a strong management team in place, and an effective board ...

  • Article

    Employers feel staff have too much power

    12 April 2007

    Employers believe age and sex discrimination legislation, along with other employee rights have given staff too much power.Some 70% of 600 UK SMEs questioned by think tank The Tenon Forum believe the balance of power shifted too far in favour of employees. As well as age and sex discrimination legislation, ...

  • Article

    Employers offer staff incentives to reduce absence

    12 April 2007

    More than a quarter of employers offer staff incentives to encourage them to take few sick days.The Pan european employer health benefit issues survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting of more than 380 organisations across Europe, also showed that almost half (49%) of the respondents promote health initiatives and benefits ...

  • Article

    Employers risk failing to cater for new talent

    11 April 2007

    Companies risk failing to recruit top talent because of the gap between what employers believe potential staff want and what employees are actually looking for.Research commissioned by Croner found that while 65.1% of employers think company reputation is the most attractive attribute for potential staff, only 22% of employees feel ...