All articles by Kate Donovan – Page 21
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Skipton Building Society appoints JLT for pensions consulting
Skipton Building Society has appointed Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) to act as consultant on its four defined benefit pension schemes.The building society will use JLT for actuarial and investment consulting on the company's four defined pension benefit schemes. It has also appointed JLT to provide actuarial services on three of ...
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Scottish retailers offer highest reward in sector
Retailers in Scotland are more generous in terms of pay reviews and benefit provision than those in England and Wales.Three-quarters of retail employees in Scotland were offered a pay rise in the last year, with 38% receiving a raise of 5% or more. In England, 57% were offered a rise, ...
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Identity checks for pensions loosened
Employers will not have to ask employees for proof of identity before letting them join a pension scheme, according to draft money laundering regulations published today by economic secretary Ed Balls.The proposed regulations, which are designed to ensure the UK response to money laundering at home and abroad is effective, ...
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UCAS launches voluntary benefits
UCAS has launched a voluntary benefits scheme for its 370 employees.The plan, which is aimed at boosting the university application processing organisation's image as an employer, includes perks such as childcare vouchers and bikes for work. It also includes an employee assistance programme (EAP), which was†tailormade to suit UCAS's requirements, ...
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BA staff plan strikes as talks break down
British Airways cabin crew are set to stage a series of strikes over pay, sickness absence and staffing following the breakdown of talks.The proposed series of three 72-hour strikes by members of the Transport and General Worker's Union (T&G) will start on Monday 29 January, with two further walkouts planned ...
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Spanish bank benefits from UK input on flex
Banesto, a commercial bank in Spain and part of the Banco Santander Group, is giving 650†of its senior managers flexible benefits options with the help of†Vebnet and Towers Perrin.Senior managers will now be provided with a range of tax advantageous benefit choices that include, training, personal computers and PDAs, life ...
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DWP reduces pension transfer values
The Department for Work and Pensions has said that employers will not have to pay out large cash sums to allow members to buy the equivalent level of benefits with a private insurer. Instead, the method of calculation will be based on the expected cost to the scheme of providing ...
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Origen launches a partnership pension scheme
Origen has launched†a partnership pension scheme (PPS) which will enable employers to offer staff the opportunity to †transfer shares from an employee share scheme†into a†pension scheme.After five years, any growth in shares' value is free from capital gains tax, and the dividends free from income tax. If these shares are ...
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London Underground staff balloted on strike action
Almost 6,500 London Underground staff are to be balloted†on strike action in an ongoing pay dispute.Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) says will vote over the†failure to pay a 4% rise that they were expecting to have been settled by 1 April 2006.The union executive is calling ...
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ONS data shows average earnings growth is unchanged
Labour market figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the growth in average earnings, both excluding and including bonuses, is unchanged and that the recent growth in the unemployment rate is levelling off.For November 2006, growth in average earnings, excluding bonuses, increased by 3.7%, unchanged from the previous ...
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Rise in inflation set to fuel pay claims
Union leaders are warning employers that staff will expect higher wages in order to keep pace with inflation, following increases in the retail price index (RPI) to a 15-year high of 4.4% and the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) to 3%.Higher furniture and petrol prices are behind the RPI increase while ...
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Tesco plans homes for staff
Tesco plans to provide affordable housing for its staff across London.The supermarket chain is to trial the scheme in Streatham by building approximately 250 flats alongside its Tesco store, 13 of which will be allocated to Tesco staff. As well as the housing, planned Tesco developments for the Streatham site ...
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BA cabin crew vote to strike
More than 96% of British Airways cabin crew have voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over pay grading, sick leave and onboard staffing levels.In a ballot by union leaders 96.1% voted to strike. The postal ballot received a turnout of 80% and 8,132 of staff voted in ...
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Pension scheme trustee disqualified for life
The Pensions Regulator has disqualified the former chairman of a pension scheme, prohibiting him from ever acting as a trustee of any trust-based pension scheme again.David John Foster, previously chairman of the trustees of the Ericsson Employee Benefits Scheme and human resources manager, made false claims that executive members' benefits ...
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Less stress for employees aged over 56 years
Workers aged over 56 years experience significantly less stress than their younger colleagues,and different age groups are subject to different sources of stress in the workplace, according to new research.The research was conducted by Lucy Watt from business psychologists Robertson Cooper, Sheena Johnson of the University of Manchester and their ...
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Cosalt appoints JLT for pension services
Cosalt, the industrial services and leisure group, has appointed Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) to provide services for its defined contribution (DC) scheme which has nearly 600 members.The DC scheme, which replaced a defined benefit (DB) scheme, will be serviced by JLT teams based in Leeds and Exeter. Bill Wood, spokesperson ...
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City bonuses soar
Bonuses in the City of London have grown to 30% of salary, equivalent to six times the national averageAcross the financial services sector, bonus pay-outs are likely to rise 12.3% year on year, according to a report by Joslin Rowe, a financial services recruiter. Across the UK, bonuses are expected ...
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Duncan Brown to leave CIPD
Duncan Brown is to leave his post as assistant director general at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) to become director in the HR practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).Brown, who specialises in benefits, high performance working, human rights, pay, senior executives and strategic management, will leave for his new ...
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Social housing pension scheme reviewed
New arrangements for the Social Housing Pension Scheme (SHPS) are due to come into effect in April this year.Following a two-year review and consultation with both employers and employees, employers offering staff access to the industry scheme, could select which of three benefits structures they wished to apply to their ...
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WH Smith consults on closing defined benefit scheme
WH Smith has proposed to close its final salary pension scheme which will affect 1,800 employees.The move is intended to bring pension agreements for the 11% of employees who belong to the defined benefit scheme in line with those offered to the rest of WH Smith's workforce.The company said that ...