News – Page 61
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Marks and Spencer expands financial benefits package
Retailer Marks and Spencer has expanded its existing financial benefits package to help its 65,000 employees become more financially resilient.Its new arrangement, provided by workplace savings firm Cushon, will give all employees access to a range of savings vehicles including an individual savings account (Isa), a lifetime Isa (Lisa), a ...
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Hachette UK reduces ethnicity and gender pay gaps
Book publisher Hachette UK has reduced its mean gender pay gap by 28% since 2018 and its mean ethnicity pay gap by 20% since 2019.The business reported its gender pay gap data in line with the government’s gender pay gap regulations.The UK organisation's mean hourly gender pay gap narrowed from ...
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US government takes steps to close gender and ethnicity pay gaps
US president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris have announced plans to close gender and racial wage gaps, as well as advancing pay equity for federal workers and federal contractor employees.The initiatives were announced to mark Equal Pay Day (15 March) in the US, which highlights gender-based pay disparities. ...
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Highgate IT Solutions to trial four-day week
IT solutions provider Highgate IT Solutions has announced that it will trial a four-day working week for one business quarter from 1 April.The business, which currently employees 16 workers, will adopt the 100:80:100 model, which means it will commit to pay 100% of employees’ salaries for 80% of the usual ...
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Verifile becomes living wage employer
Background screening services provider Verifile has been accredited as a living wage employer through its commitment to paying its staff the real living wage.This accreditation follows the business giving its 156 UK staff a new minimum hourly wage of £10.00 back in January. This wage is higher than the government-set ...
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Pension Protection Fund reports 16% ethnicity pay gap
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has announced that its ethnicity pay gap has decreased from 23% in 2020 to 16% in 2021.The organisation revealed in its Diversity pay gap report 2021, which is its second ever report on the subject, that efforts to increase ethnic minority representation across the business ...
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Average earnings growth for regular pay rises by 4%
The average earnings growth for regular pay that does not include bonuses was 4% from November 2021 to January 2022, behind the current inflation level of 6% according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).Meanwhile, the increase in average total pay including bonuses was 5%, which is a 0.1% real ...
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Currys gives staff 5% pay rise
Omnichannel technology retailer Currys has awarded its 10,000 UK hourly-paid employees a 5% increase to the minimum pay rate as of 1 August this year.The rise, which is the employers’ second in the last 12 months, will see the pay rate soar to £10 per hour, or £11.05 per hour ...
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Bolton Health and Care Partnership to pay staff real living wage
Bolton Health and Care Partnership, which is comprised of Bolton Council and key NHS organisations, has announced that it will allow its providers to pay their frontline staff the real living wage from next month (April).This is due to the council allocating £5.4 million from its budget, alongside a two-year ...
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Royal Mail Group reports 1.4% gender pay gap
Royal Mail Group has revealed that men are paid 1.4% more than women in its latest gender pay gap report of average salaries paid to its male and female staff.The group, which employs around 137,000 members of staff, reported that women represented 19% of the UK operational workforce and 32% ...
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Final Boohoo Group pay and conditions report shows progress
Image credit: AL Robinson / Shutterstock.comThe final report into fast-fashion retailer Boohoo Group has indicated that the group has made progress in addressing the criticism it received over its workers’ pay and conditions.Two years ago, former High Court judge Sir Brian Leveson was appointed to oversee the firm's reforms after ...
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The top 10 most-read articles between 4 March – 10 March 2022
The top 10 most-read stories on employeebenefits.co.uk between 4 March and 10 March 2022 were: Unum UK launches reproductive health policy for employeesPrinces rolls out mental health first aider initiativeOrganon gives staff day off on International Women’s DaySafetyCulture introduces global paid miscarriage leaveBright Horizons UK invests in staff pay and ...
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The Bottle Club to pay espresso martini tasters
Something for the weekend: Alcoholic beverage wholesaler The Bottle Club is searching for a candidate to help them find the best espresso martini in the UK. Yes, you read that right, you could be paid to drink espresso martinis.According to The Bottle Club, Google search data shows that the Espresso ...
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John Lewis Partnership to pay 3% bonus and increase staff pay
The John Lewis Partnership is to pay employees a 3% bonus, as well as committing to pay the voluntary living wage and implementing a wider pay riseThe employee-owned business, which is comprised of the department store chain and Waitrose supermarkets and employs around 80,000 workers, axed its bonus payment last ...
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Government launches pilot to boost pay transparency
The UK government is piloting an initiative whereby participating employers will be asked to include salaries in job adverts in an attempt to reduce the gender pay gap.The pilot is aimed at improving pay transparency and enable women to negotiate pay on a fairer basis.Organisations which take part will be ...
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Gender pensions gap increases for older staff
New research has found the gender pension gap between men and women’s contributions is 35% for employees aged between 50 and 54, almost double the gap for 35 to 39 year-olds (18%).Pension and insurance provider Aviva’s findings were based on employer and employee contributions of more than two million savers ...
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Wiltshire Hills Municipal Collections staff strike over pay
Workers employed by waste services organisation Hills Municipal Collections in Wiltshire have begun a two week-long strike as part of a campaign to achieve a pay rise.The organisation initially offered staff a 2% increase which was then amended to 7% over two years. However, affected employees believe that in practice ...
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Dowty Propellers staff strike over pay row
More than 90 workers employed by Dowty Propellers, a subsidiary of GE Aviation Systems, began strike action last Friday (4 March) in a dispute over pay, with further strikes scheduled for every Friday until 20 May.The organisation manufactures propeller systems and products used in both civilian and military aircraft as ...
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Bright Horizons UK invests in staff pay and benefits
Back-up care and nursery provider Bright Horizons UK has announced that it will invest more than £10 million in its early years practitioners’ salaries and benefits next month in order to recognise differences in the cost of living across the UK.The organisation, which employs more than 7,500 members of staff, ...
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Organon gives staff day off on International Women’s Day
Global women’s health business Organon has announced that it will give all of its almost 9,500 employees the day off on International Women’s Day (IWD) (Tuesday 8 March) to recognise the growing health disparities that women face.According to the employer, this additional annual leave day is part of its acknowledgement ...