News – Page 41
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81% offer some form of flexible benefits
The popularity of flexible benefits plans has risen in the past ten years with 35% of respondents offering full flex compared to 11% in 2004, according to research by Staffcare.Its See the benefits: A whitepaper on the latest trends in flexible benefits and technology report, which surveyed 108 HR professionals, ...
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Wolseley UK adds new perks to flex
EXCLUSIVE: Wolseley UK has added several new benefits to its flexible benefits scheme following a change to its the plan’s enrolment window.The heating and plumbing organisation, which launched the scheme, provided by Benefex, in January, decided to move its enrolment window to August to align with its financial year.This enabled ...
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HMRC delays RTI penalties for small employers
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has further delayed the date penalties will be given to small employers with automated pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) real-time information (RTI). Organisations with less than 50 employees will be exempt from RTI late filing penalties until March 2015.The date was initially set for April 2014, but was ...
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Monarch Airlines plans to cut pay and pension benefits
Monarch Airlines has begun talks with trade unions and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) about cutting employees’ pay, benefits and defined benefit (DB) pension payouts.Its 3,300 employees are being asked to take pay cuts and productivity improvements of between 25% and 35%, on top of 900 job losses.The airline’s DB scheme, ...
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Arco redesigns voluntary benefits scheme
EXCLUSIVE: Arco has redesigned and re-launched its voluntary benefits scheme for its 1,500 employees.The safety organisation decided to redesign its plan after its previous scheme failed to engage employees and its online portal was not widely used.It has introduced a salary sacrifice computing scheme, provided by Salary Exhange, and retail ...
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6% plan to take entire pension pot as cash
Just 6% of respondents are planning to take their entire pension pot as a cash lump sum at retirement once the new pension reforms come into force next year, according to research by Fidelity Worldwide Investment.Its Class of 2015 report, which surveyed 500 employees planning to retire between April 2015 ...
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Auto-enrolment has positive impact on benefits packages
Just over two-thirds (67%) of advisers say pensions auto-enrolment has prompted employers to think about their wider benefits offering to employees, according to research by insurer Ellipse.Its survey of 120 financial advisers also found that 66% agree that, in the long term, auto-enrolment will lead to more interst in employee ...
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Willis Ireland acquires pension businesses from IFG Group
Willis Ireland, part of Willis Group Holdings, is to acquire the Irish pension and financial advisory arm of IFG Group.The acquisition will enable Willis Ireland to develop its existing pensions business, as well as its financial and wealth planning services.Willis is set to acquire pension business IFG Pensco, financial advisory ...
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53% offer a savings scheme through payroll
More than half (53%) of respondents offer a savings scheme to staff where deductions are made via payroll, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP).Its Policy research paper – saving through payroll, which surveyed employers as well as representatives from the payroll industry, found that 41% ...
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Universities in London to launch pensions portal
London universities, such as King’s College London, London School of Economics and University College London, are to launch an interactive pensions website.The Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London (SAUL) will make the website available to its 54 participating employers, more than 36,000 pension scheme members and other stakeholders.SAUL provides ...
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Guinness World Records launches global HR system
Guinness World Records is to launch an online, self-service HR system for its 150 employees in London, New York, Beijing, Tokyo and Dubai.The HR system will change the way its HR and payroll department runs, providing managers with access to real-time workforce information and enabling employees to manage their own ...
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DHL Express launches online benefits portal
EXCLUSIVE: DHL Express has launched an online benefits portal to pool its benefits in one place.The portal, which was launched in May, is available to the logistic organisation’s 3,200 employees in its Express division.The portal, called DHL Box Clever, includes access to retail discounts and tax-efficient benefits, such as childcare ...
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BBC improves flex take up with health benefits
EXCLUSIVE: BBC has increased take up of its flexible benefits scheme to 38% since it introduced a range of new healthcare benefits in April.The media organisation’s flexible benefits scheme, which is provided by Vebnet, has been in place since 2011.In April, the BBC added personal accident insurance, heart scans and ...
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60% incurred no extra costs from RTI
Almost two-thirds (60%) of respondents have not incurred any additional costs as a result of complying with the real-time information (RTI) programme, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP).The CIPP Payslip statistics comparison report found that 33% of respondents had incurred additional costs, while 7% did ...
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Dunelm underpaid auto-enrolment pension contributions by £143,000
Dunelm Soft Furnishings underpaid pension contributions due under auto-enrolment by £143,000, according to The Pension Regulator’s (TPR) first automatic-enrolment section 89 report, which highlights key lessons to help employers avoid non-compliance.Dunelm reached its auto-enrolment staging date on 1 April 2013 and was due to complete registration, indicating that it had ...
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Kcom Group relaunches flexible benefits platform
EXCLUSIVE: Kcom Group has launched a new flexible benefits platform as part of its strategy to allow employees to select benefits all year round.Nearly 2,000 employees at the telecommunications organisation have access to the scheme, branded Pick Your Own, which launched on 1 April.Benefits such as childcare vouchers, bikes for ...
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Expedia aligns flex and auto-enrolment
EXCLUSIVE: Expedia postponed its auto-enrolment staging date by three months to align it with the launch of a new flexible benefits scheme.The organisation had planned to introduce a flexible benefits scheme for some time, but saw the impending auto-enrolment requirements as an ideal opportunity to roll both out at the ...
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HMRC to stagger real-time information penalties
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced it will stagger the introduction of real-time information (RTI) penalties.Its new automatic in-year Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) penalties for late filing and late payment and in-year interest, which is charged on tax and national insurance contributions that are paid late during the year, were due ...
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HMRC changes policy on recovery of VAT on DB pensions
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has changed its policy on the recovery of input tax paid on the management of pension funds, following a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).In the case Fiscale Eenheid PPG Holdings BC cs te Hoogezand (PPG), a Dutch employer, PPG, ...
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Buyer's guide to flexible benefits technology 2014
THE FACTSWhat is flexible benefits technology?It is a technology system, operating in-house or from cloud-based servers, that provides a platform to deliver a flexible benefits scheme. Increasingly, systems are designed to interface with other elements of benefits and reward, including pensions, and often have interactive and data-modelling tools that can ...