All articles by Nicola Sullivan – Page 13

  • Article

    High Pay Commission report: Tackling high pay is in the public interest

    2011-11-22T11:00:57Z

    Executive pay should be radically simplified to halt spiralling high pay creating inequalities last seen in the Victorian era, according a report from the High Pay Commission.The report, Cheques and balances: Why tackling high pay is in the national interest, was released on 22 November after a year-long inquiry. It ...

  • Article

    Essex County Council appoints adviser for DB pension scheme

    2011-11-21T11:03:04Z

    Essex County Council has appointed Barnett Waddingham to advise on its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The local authority administers a pension scheme for staff employed by all the councils in Essex. The DB scheme has 43,728 active members and a fund valued at £3.1 billion as of March 2010.Graeme Muir, ...

  • Article

    London's best dressed banker wins posh clobber

    2011-11-18T10:30:00Z

    Best-dressed employee competitions might be a good way for employers to show their workforce they are on trend and know how to have a bit of fun.In some instances, however, such competitions may reinforce perceptions of cultural stereotypes associated with some industries and highlight employees’ assets in ways they might ...

  • Article

    TUC research: Public sector pension reforms will hit the lower paid

    2011-11-17T10:51:19Z

    Government assurances that changes to public sector pensions will not hit low-paid public sector workers earning less than £15,000 a year are misleading, according to research from the Trades Union Congress (TUC).More than 750,000 public sector employees are earning less than this, the overwhelming majority of whom are women, will ...

  • Article

    Servisair employees get bonus for identifying excess baggage

    2011-11-16T10:50:00Z

    Servisair employees working at John Lennon airport in Liverpool are being offered a bonus for every Ryanair passenger they catch with excess baggage. Staff working for baggage handler Servisair are reportedly given a bonus for every bag they flag as too heavy, but are only eligible for the payment once ...

  • Article

    CIPD research: Reward professionals are concerned about reward risks

    2011-11-16T10:38:39Z

    The majority (78%) of reward professionals continue to be concerned about their organisation's ability to manage reward risks, according to research conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).In particular, employers are concerned about achieving the balance between affordability and the need to offer competitive reward packages, as ...

  • Article

    Hays research: Employees concerned about pay and benefits offered by SMEs

    2011-11-15T10:47:13Z

    Small organisations may be losing out on the most talented employees due to concerns among jobseekers around pay and benefits, according to research by Hays.Almost half (49%) of those surveyed believe salaries are not as competitive as at larger organisations, and over half (55%) believe smaller businesses are not able ...

  • Article

    Hymans Robertson research: 2011 set to be record year for pension scheme risk transfer deals

    2011-11-14T10:58:34Z

    This year looks set to be a record year for pension scheme buy-ins, buy-outs and longevity swaps, according to research conducted by Hymans Robertson.The Managing Pension Scheme Risk Report Q3 2011 found that the third quarter of 2011 saw over £2 billion of risk transfer deals completed, comprising buy-ins, buy-outs ...

  • Article

    York Dungeon hands out free deodorant to help staff deal with smelly visitors

    2011-11-11T10:35:00Z

    Deodorant has become an important health and wellbeing benefit for staff at York Dungeon.Employees were given the antiperspirants to hand out to visitors after actors, performing horror shows at the venue, complained that the smell of fear coming from their audiences was overwhelming.Free deodorant would have been a good perk ...

  • Article

    Lorica launches online portal for auto-enrolment

    2011-11-11T09:34:41Z

    Lorica Employee Benefits has partnered with Staffcare to launch an online portal to assist employers to auto-enrol staff into workplace pensions from 2012.The portal, called Simplicity3, can be linked to any pension scheme provider. It will manage administration of the entire process, ensuring that each employee is opted in or ...

  • Article

    Headteachers' union backs strike over public sector pensions

    2011-11-10T11:03:40Z

    Headteachers have voted for industrial action in response to the government’s plans for public sector pensions.More than three-quarters (76%) of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) that took part in a ballot on 9 November voted in favour of strike action.It is the first time in the union’s 114-year ...

  • Article

    Aegon UK set to close final salary scheme to future accrual

    2011-11-08T11:16:00Z

    Aegon UK is planning to close its own employee defined benefit (DB) pension scheme to future accrual on 31 March 2013 and remove the link to final salary for calculating pension entitlement from that date.The changes, which are due to be consulted on with employees and unions, are part of ...

  • Article

    ComRes research: City workers believe their colleagues are overpaid

    2011-11-08T10:43:35Z

    Employees in the financial services sector believe that City bond traders, FTSE 100 chief executives and stock brokers are paid too much, according to a survey conducted to mark the 25th anniversary of the ‘Big Bang’ of financial deregulation.The report Value and values: Perceptions of ethics in the City today, ...

  • Article

    Oracle is awarded Pensions Quality Mark

    2011-11-07T11:28:37Z

    Oracle has been awarded the National Association of Pension Fund's (NAPF) Pensions Quality Mark (PQM) for its new group personal pension.The mypension@oracle scheme, which was installed and communicated by Secondsight in November 2010 through to March 2011 to Oracle's 4,700 UK employees, has been identified as one of the leading ...

  • Article

    Alexander Forbes research: Annuity rates fall across the board

    2011-11-07T11:06:00Z

    Annuity rates are falling across the board, according to the latest figures from Alexander Forbes Annuity Bureau.This month saw across-the-board falls in male single life annuities as providers again cut their rates. Table topper Aviva reduced its rate by £90 to £5,720 per annum, while second placed Canada Life cut ...

  • Article

    Christmas party organised for one-man bands

    2011-11-04T10:07:52Z

    Raucous and fun Christmas parties certainly subscribe to the theory the ‘more the merrier’.After all, it can't be much fun for a one-man start-up sitting alone in a pub with no one to pull a cracker with except the bartender.However, help is at hand for small firms and one-man bands ...

  • Article

    Polestar Group to wind up pension scheme

    2011-11-03T11:08:08Z

    Polestar Group will wind up its pension scheme following approval from The Pensions Regulator (TPR).TPR concluded that full funding of the scheme over any reasonable period was unlikely and that the scheme should be wound up in the interests of its members and the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).After receiving professional ...

  • Article

    Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts rewards staff with trip to Switzerland

    2011-11-03T10:33:54Z

    Mˆvenpick Hotels and Resorts has flown a group of employees to Switzerland for an all-expenses-paid four-day trip.The international firm rewards high-performing employees from Asia, Africa and the Middle East with a trip every year to recognise their contribution to the business.During the trip, the group of 45 employees visited the ...

  • Article

    NHS organisations to offer total reward statements

    2011-11-01T00:00:01Z

    A number of NHS organisations will begin providing total reward statements in 2012, as part of efforts to get staff to understand the full value of their benefits package during a time of pay restraints, pensions reforms and a diversifying labour market.The reward statements will outline pensions, pay and the ...

  • Article

    DHL to overhaul default fund for DC pension scheme

    2011-11-01T00:00:01Z

    EXCLUSIVE: ?DHL is overhauling the default fund for members of its trust-based defined contribution (DC) pension schemes as part of efforts to reduce risk and achieve better returns for medium earners.But its changes to the default fund, which would limit its exposure to equities, have stalled because of the latest ...