All articles by Kate Donovan – Page 19
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Article
Buckinghamshire County Council introduces healthcare perks
Buckinghamshire County Council has introduced its first voluntary healthcare benefits in response to staff feedback.The council, which is in the process of introducing a total reward strategy, has introduced private medical insurance and access to a plan offered by not-for-profit provider Benenden Healthcare.Gillian Hibberd, corporate director organisational development and HR, ...
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Article
Cadbury Schweppes adds wine club to flexible benefits scheme
Cadbury Schweppes has added a wine club to its flexible benefits scheme, after employee survey feedback showed staff would value more lifestyle benefits.Through the scheme, which is offered via salary sacrifice, staff can order up to 12 cases of wine a year at a 25% discount.The scheme was communicated to ...
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Article
Butlins and Haven Holidays owner to pay out for underpaid staff
Leisure Employment Services, which owns Butlins and and Haven Holidays, has been ordered to award up to £1m in back pay to former employees†by the Court of Appeal.HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) took action against the company†over fortnightly†deductions of £6†from employees’ wages to cover utility bills for heat and light, ...
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Article
Pay offer imposed on court staff is met with anger
The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has imposed a pay offer on 24,000 court staff provoking an angry reaction.The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) says the deal is below inflation, averaging at 1.75% for most, and will effectively result in a pay cut in real terms for some of ...
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Clerical Medical closes to new group pensions business
Clerical Medical has closed its group pensions business to new schemes due to a cluttered market and poor profit†margins.The company will not open any new†group pension schemes from 16 April 2007, but will continue to provide its existing group schemes. It has employed a team of 10 group pensions†specialists to ...
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Article
Increaing numbers work beyond pensionable age
More than one million people are working beyond the official retirement age, according to government figures.Labour market statistics, February 2007 published by the Office for National Statistics show that, in the three months to December 2006, 11% of those over the official retirement ages of 60 years for women and ...
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Article
Pension Regulator urges employers to tackle DC risks
The chief executive of the Pensions Regulator, Tony Hobman, has outlined its approach to improving the governance of defined contribution (DC) schemes.In a speech to trustees and employers at the first South West and Wales pensions conference, he discussed the regulator's plans to improve scheme governance and urged the industry ...
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Employers keep pay options open as inflation levels fall
More than half (58%) of employers are expecting to award pay rises of less than 3.5% this quarter, with a further one in five appearing to keep their pay options open.According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and KPMG's quarterly Labour market outlook survey, which was carried ...
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Tories back tax break where stay-at-home dads look after kids
The Tories are backing a tax-break that will encourage fathers to stay at home to look after children while their lower-earning partners go out to work.In the majority of UK households the father earns more than the mother.Tory leader David Cameron has gone to Sweden to examine an initiative where ...
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Article
Union rejects BA pension proposals
British Airways has been forced to re-open pension talks after its proposals were rejected by unions.GMB members covered by the BA pension scheme have rejected the airline's offer in its consultative ballot because they believe that the proposals favour the company's highest paid workers. Leaders of pilots' unions Balpa and ...
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Law firms set to review bonus structures
Employers in the legal sector are currently reviewing their bonus arrangements amid concerns that these are not delivering value for money.According to research carried out by Deloitte among 43 of the UK's top law firms, approximately one-third of respondents are currently reviewing such a scheme.According to Deloitte's Law Firm Incentives ...
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Article
New director of benefits at ICI
Ralph Turner has joined paints, adhesives and speciality products company ICI as director of benefits.Turner joins ICI from his role as group pensions director at Brambles Industries.
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CIC launches lifestyle management package
CIC has launched a lifestyle management product to help employees manage their home lives and avoid being distracted by such issues at work.The Everyday Matters service, which is being offered by the employee assistance programme (EAP) provider in association with lifestyle management firm Time & Knowledge, can be offered as ...
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Article
Tesco sharesave schemes pay out GBP148m to staff
Two of Tesco's sharesave schemes are set to pay out £148m to be shared between nearly 50,000 staff.Under the terms of the schemes, staff set aside a monthly fixed sum from their salary of between £5 and £50 for a three or five year period. When the scheme matures, employees ...
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Article
Royal Mail plans to close DB scheme to new recruits
Royal Mail has announced plans to close its final salary pension scheme to new recruits, subject to a six-month long consultation.The proposal, which is contained in its five-year investment plan to strengthen its finances and improve its competitive stance, is part of a series of measures aimed at tackling its ...
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Church of England debates options to keep DB pension scheme
The Church of England has proposed a series of changes to the terms of its defined benefit pension scheme in a bid to keep the plan open for all employees.The proposals, which will be debated the national assembly of the Church of England later this month, include: increasing the accrual ...
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FirstGroup staff in £4m shares windfall
FirstGroup has paid out shares worth £4 million to 1,500 employees belonging to its sharesave (save as you earn) scheme.The bus and rail operator’s increase in share price means employees who invested an average of £50 a month stand to gain in excess of £2,500.Moir Lockhead, chief executive of FirstGroup, ...
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Analysis
Is it always more beneficial to implement a tailormade flex sheme?
Lower prices mean bespoke and off-the-shelf flex schemes are no longer worlds apart, says Kate DonovanArticle in fullFor Keira Knightley gliding down the red carpet swathed in a silk dress, created by a top designer, has become a regular occurrence. For others, that is not an option. However, investing in ...
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Article
Work is the second biggest cause of stress
Employers should ensure they have a stress management strategy in place, after work was identified as the UK's second highest cause of stress.According to the Samaritan's Stressed out survey: A study of public experience of stress, which was sponsored by health insurer Medicash, money worries are the biggest cause of ...
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Two-thirds of employers track benefits costs in M&A deals
Some 70% of companies track the costs of consolidating and harmonising employee benefits during a merger and acquisition (M&A), which can have a significant impact on post-deal costs.While some employers do review key HR issues such as benefits, remuneration and leadership, others fail to quantify these for negotiation purposes. More ...