All articles by Louise Fordham – Page 11
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ArticleDoncaster Council switches voluntary benefits provider
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council has switched voluntary benefits providers. It launched a new platform, provided by Xexec, for its 4,800 employees on 6 July.The portal provides access to benefits such as retail discounts, a concierge service, tickets and travel, as well as a number of salary sacrifice arrangements including bikes ...
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Article9% gender pay gap in digital industry
Women working in the digital industry earn 9% less than their male counterparts on average, according to research by digital recruitment agency The Candidate.Its Women in digital report, which surveyed 200 men and women in low to mid-level digital roles, also found that 80% of the top salaries in the ...
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ArticleGovernment to introduce national living wage
Summer Budget 2015: A compulsory national living wage will come into effect from April 2016.In his summer Budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced that workers aged 25 years old and over will receive £7.20 an hour. This is a 70p increase on the current national minimum wage and 50p higher than ...
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ArticleCook serves up living wage to staff
Frozen food retailer Cook has become an accredited living wage employer.Cook will ensure that all staff in its kitchens and across its 43 company-owned shops will be paid at least the hourly living wage rate of £7.85, and £9.15 in London locations.This will result in a pay rise for 322 ...
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Article49% offer performance-related reward
Less than half (49%) of respondents offered a performance-related reward, incentive or recognition scheme in 2014, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Its annual Reward management survey, which surveyed 525 senior reward and HR practitioners across the public, private and voluntary sectors, found that ...
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ArticleNest appoints new chief executive officer
Nest Corporation has appointed Helen Dean chief executive officer.Dean (pictured) is currently executive director, product and marketing at Nest.She will take up her new position this autumn, succeeding existing Nest chief executive, Tim Jones.Otto Thoresen, chair of the National Emp[loyment Savings Trust (Nest), said: “It’s fantastic news that we have ...
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Article
HFM Columbus acquires Christchurch Benefits
Wealth management firm HFM Columbus has acquired Christchurch Benefits, a London-based employee benefits specialist.Under the terms of the acquisition, the existing team at Christchurch will remain in place.Jeremy Hoyland (pictured), chief executive officer of HFM Columbus, said: “For us, this has been a great opportunity not only to add £750,000 ...
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ArticleIntentions around pension freedoms have not resulted in action
The intentions of pension-aged savers around the pension freedoms have not resulted in them taking these actions after the reforms came into effect, according to research by pensions firm Avacade Future Solutions. Its research, which surveyed 2,003 pension holders aged 55 and over in April 2015, followed by a subsequent ...
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ArticleConfessions of a Benefits Manager: Candid is put at risk
The Higher Beings have been having extra meetings, and not even Big Bad Boss seems to know what it is about. A data room has been set up in the large conference room, but only managers from the top floor have been seen to go in, not even anyone from ...
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ArticleThe Co-Operative Bank receives living wage accreditation
The Co-Operative Bank has received living wage accreditation.All of the bank’s employees are paid at least £7.85 an hour, rising to £9.15 in London. The living wage, which is significantly higher than the national minimum wage of £6.50 an hour, takes into account the real cost of living in the ...
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Article65% would adapt lifestyle for healthy later life
Just over a third (35%) of office workers do an hour or less of physical exercise a week, according to research by charity Age UK and healthcare provider Bupa.The research, which surveyed more than 2,000 UK adults, also found that 9% do not engage in any form of physical exercise.In ...
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ArticleVehicle excise duty to be reformed
Summer Budget 2015: Chancellor George Osborne has announced that vehicle excise duty (VED) will be reformed in his Summer Budget 2015.The changes will affect new cars registered from 1 April 2017. There will be no changes to VED for existing cars.First-year rates will depend on the car’s carbon dioxide emissions, ...
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ArticlePrice Bailey awards staff free shares
Accountancy firm Price Bailey is to award its 300 employees with 2,500 shares each in the organisation. All employees that have worked at Price Bailey for more than a year will be eligible for the scheme, irrespective of their grade. They will receive shares valued at around £250.The value of ...
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ArticleCentrica awarded for carer support
Centrica and Unilever were among the winners of Business in the Community’s 2015 Responsible Business Gala Awards.Unilever picked up the Bupa Employee Wellbeing Award in recognition of its approach to mental health and the support it provides to its staff. The organisation has established a comprehensive mental wellbeing programme, which ...
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OpinionMaking the most of tax-free mileage allowances
Whenever the subject of tax-efficient car benefits comes up these days, people naturally think of salary sacrifice.However, there are other travel-related areas where employers and business drivers can maximise the value of tax reliefs and allowances. For instance, anyone who receives a cash allowance in lieu of a company car ...
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ArticleGovernment to actively monitor salary sacrifice
Summer Budget 2015: No immediate changes to salary sacrifice schemes were announced by Chancellor George Osborne during his Budget speech yesterday (8 July).However, in the Budget documents it is noted that the government will actively monitor salary sacrifice schemes and their impact on tax receipts.The documents state: ‘Salary sacrifice arrangements ...
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ArticleAxa gains approval for Simplyhealth acquisition
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has granted approval for Axa UK’s acquisition of Simplyhealth’s private medical insurance (PMI) business.The transaction, which was first announced in May 2015, is aimed at strengthening Axa’s presence in the UK healthcare market.Following the sale of its PMI business, Simplyhealth will continue to ...
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ArticlePearson makes £90m pension pledge
Pearson will make a £90 million contribution to its group pension plan following the sale of the Financial Times Group to Asian media organisation Nikkei Inc.Pearson has also committed to funding its group pension plan to self-sufficiency in the near-term.The agreement with Nikkei was announced on 23 July. The assets ...
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Article83% opt to take entire pension pot in cash
Since the introduction of the new pension freedoms in April, 83% of those that have taken up the new options have chosen to take all of their pension savings as cash, according to data from BlackRock’s workplace pensions business. Data based on 1,152 people aged 55 and over who have ...
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ArticleInsurance premium tax to rise to 9.5%
Summer Budget 2015: The insurance premium tax rate will rise from 6% to 9.5%. The increase, which was revealed by Chancellor George Osborne in his Budget announcement yesterday (8 July), will come into force in November 2015.Osborne said: “Britain’s insurance premium tax is well below tax rates in many other ...