All articles by Kate Donovan – Page 7
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Analysis
How to ensure stressed individuals find benefits to help them
Stress can often be a highly difficult issue for employers to spot, which means that access to discreet and confidential employee programmes can provide a vital lifeline for staff, says Kate DonovanStress can be a slippery fellow. It can't be identified by a hacking cough and it renders bandages superfluous. ...
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Article
Axa helps staff to manage finances
Axa is helping staff to manage their finances with the launch of a new website and pilot scheme giving 425 of its employees one hour off a month to review and manage their money.It is now urging other employers to do the same with a national campaign, which will culminate ...
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Article
Pension deficits improve despite market volatility
Rising bond yields and favourable investments have seen pension deficits improve, despite market volatility during August and continuing underlying volatility.During August, the aggregate deficit of the largest 200 UK pension funds reduced slightly from £13bn to £10bn according to Aon Consulting's August 2007 FRS17/IAS19 Tracker. However, the volatility of the ...
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Article
Gordon Brown warns rejected pay deals could boost inflation
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned public sector unions that staggered pay deals are necessary to control inflation.He told BBC News 24 that uncontrolled rises in wages could damage the stability of the economy and result in high interest rates. Brown is reported to have said: "We have succeeded in ...
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Article
Prison officer strike over pay ends
The prison officers strike over the rejection of a staged 2.5% pay deal has come to an end after the Ministry of Justice won a court injunction.The strike, which was led by the Prison Officers' Association (POA), affected 130 state-run jails in England and Wales, although the prisons continued to ...
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Article
First criminal prosecution over national minimum wage
A children's nursery owner has been fined £2,500 and £500 costs in the first national minimum wage criminal prosecution case.Teresa Aguda, owner of Rascals Day Nursery in Walthamstow made a guilty plea to the charge of obstruction which is an offence under the National Minimum Wage Act. Aguda prevented access ...
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Article
Victor Chandler introduces new payroll and HR software
Victor Chandler has appointed ICS Computing to provide its payroll software, services and e-HR systems.ICS will process the payroll and manages all outputs of the Gibraltar-based independent sports betting and gaming group, which has operations in more than 70 countries, including BACS payments, employee payslips and year-end returns. The e-HR ...
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Article
BHS moves managers' flex scheme online
BHS has moved its paper-based flexible benefits package online in a bid to reduce administration and save time.The scheme, which is available for 500 of the retail chain's head office managers and retail store managers, will now be automated which, BHS hopes, will make staff enrolment easier and less time ...
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Article
Are bonus plans reflecting the broader boardroom picture?
Duncan Brown Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers: Practicing what you preach? Reflecting a broader stakeholder agenda in executive bonus plans.Have you put your coffee cups and waste paper in the recycling bins at the office today? Corporate social responsibility is affecting all of us in today’s workplace, and recent reforms to the Companies ...
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Article
BI gives staff time off to volunteer
BI has permitted its employees to spend a day out of the office to volunteer at a local school.This was in response to the results of an employee survey, which showed that staff at the communication and motivation company wanted the opportunity to give something back to the local community.BI ...
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Article
Employers still need to push environmental agenda
Employers are still failing to adopt a green approach to transport, despite encouraging recycling and energy reduction in their organisation.While 91% of employers questioned for the latest quarterly CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook survey are encouraging recycling and 83% encourage reduction in energy consumption, only 45% encourage car-sharing and 30% consider ...
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Article
Pensions trustee boards need greater diversity
Pension trustee boards are still lacking in diversity, despite efforts to encourage younger employees and women to have a greater involvement in their pension provision.The Issues Facing Trustees 2007 report by Hymans Robertson and Engaged Investor found that 82% of pension trustees in the UK are male, while and 60% ...
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Article
Private Health Partnership launches employee support product
The Private Health Partnership has launched an employee support scheme that provides advice and healthcare counselling.The product, which can be used alongside group medical insurance or as a standalone service, provides support for employees and their families.The benefit includes a serious illness service to provide support when a family member ...
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Article
Do benefits drive employee engagement?
Debi O'Donovan, editorial director at Employee Benefits: Employee engagement is one of those buzz phrases that has been doing the rounds on the HR circuit for sometime now - even though I suspect only a few HRDs actually understand its true implications and business benefits. Most seem to think it ...
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Article
Employers provide discounted-dining cards to staff
Time Out, Frukt Music, Natural Magic, GCI and Mitsui Sumitomo are offering employees discounted dining at a range of London restaurants via a diner's card.Staff can use the card to get various discounts at restaurants such as Malmaison, Bam Bou, Slug and Lettuce and La Lasca.Employers typically pay for the ...
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Article
Further clarity given on health screening tax exemptions
Organisations may have to offer all employees employer-funded health screening in order to qualify for the available tax exemption, following amendments to legislation.HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has said that the amendment to the Income Tax (Exemption of Minor Benefits) Regulations 2002, which came into force on 14 August 2007, ...
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Article
JBC appoints Michael C Fina to run global long service scheme
JCB has appointed Michael C Fina to develop and run its global employee long service scheme for its 6,300 employees across 150 countries.Kerry Jones, HR manager at the construction equipment manufacturer, said that flexibility was important to the scheme. "We value and appreciate our staff greatly and wanted to give ...
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Article
Bradford & Bingley launches online recognition scheme
Bradford & Bingley has introduced a new online reward and recognition programme to reward individual employees and teams for six specific types of behaviours.The online programme, Your Recognitions, is targeted at 2,000 employees working in group sales, and was developed following a series of focus groups and surveys. Employees can ...
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Article
Atisreal launches GBP20,000 bonus for recruiting directors
Atisreal has launched an employee incentive scheme which rewards staff with £20,000 net for each fee-earning director level hire they initiate.The European property consultancy owned by French Bank BNP Paribas, launched The Priority Club scheme in response to high levels of competition within the UK property market where other agencies ...
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Article
Staff satisfaction with benefits falls
Employees' satisfaction with benefits has fallen over the past year, despite rising satisfaction with salary levels.Satisfaction among employees with their salaries has increased from 53% to 54.4% since last year, according to the annual Job Satisfaction Survey by Unum, however, levels of job fulfilment have not increasedSatisfaction with reward packages ...