All articles by Nicola Sullivan – Page 6
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Article
Engine employees enjoy lickable lift
It would seem that Willy Wonka has kidnapped the reward and benefits manager at communications firm Engine, where employees are enjoying a lickable lift.The lift in the firm’s office on Great Portland Street, London is covered in 1,325 McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes.Phillipa Tilley, senior brand manager from McVities’s Jaffa Cakes, told ...
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Article
BMI pension scheme members face changes to benefits
Some members of British Midland Airways’, commonly known as BMI, defined benefit (DB) pension scheme could see cuts to their benefits after parent airline Lufthansa sells it to the International Airlines Group this week.The trustees of the British Midland Airways' pensions and life assurance scheme and Lufthansa have reached an ...
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Article
Nest Corporation appoints Royal London to provide fund management
The Nest Corporation has appointed Royal London Asset Management to provide an actively-managed sterling corporate bond fund mandate.The mandate will be one of the underlying building blocks for the National employment savings trust's (Nest) retirement date funds and pre-retirement fund. It is not a standalone fund choice.Mark Fawcett, chief investment ...
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Article
Average funding level of university pension schemes improves
The average funding level of university pension schemes on the UK standard accounting basis, FRS17, has improved significantly over the year to 31 July 2011, according to research by Barnett Waddingham.The actuarial firm’s third annual University self-administered trusts (SATs) survey, which focuses on the impact of final salary pension schemes ...
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Article
Interxion introduces sleeping pods to ease burden of Olympic commute
While many employers will offer flexible or remote working to ease the stress of commuting during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, date centre services firm Interxion has installed ten pods for workers to sleep in its offices in Brick Lane.The pods are kitted out with laptop holders, earphones ...
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Article
BMW workers reject pay deal
BMW employees at its Mini plant in Oxford have rejected a pay offer, which included a 2.21% basic pay increase, an additional increase of 1.79% for working an extra 30.1 hours a year, and a team bonus of 2%.In a consultative ballot of almost 2,000 Unite members, 97% rejected the ...
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Article
London councils propose pooled pension fund
Councils in London are looking into plans to create a pooled pension fund to reduce administration costs and divert up to £2.25 billion to infrastructure projects in the capital.The pensions arrangement would hold up to £30 billion of assets, and is modelled on the infrastructure of Canada's Ontario Municipal Employees ...
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Article
More than a third of respondents yet to take action on removal of earnings cap
More than a third (36%) of respondents have not yet taken action to remove the earnings cap on group risk benefits paid out to employees in occupational pension schemes, according to research by industry body Group Risk Development (Grid).The research, which found that a further 30% of respondents are still ...
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Article
EXCLUSIVE: Three adds discounted mobile phones to flexible benefits scheme
Three has added discounted mobile phones to its flexible benefits scheme.The new perk, which was trialled in 2011, was introduced in March, during the telecommunications firm’s annual flexible benefits enrolment window. Brands on offer include HTC, Blackberry, Samsung and Sony.Three will also introduce an additional flexible benefits enrolment window in ...
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Article
FTSE 350 pension scheme deficits increase by £17bn
Defined benefit (DB) pension scheme deficits in the FTSE 350 have increased by £17 billion, according to research by Mercer.The consultancy’s Pensions risk survey highlighted the difficulties that employers have in managing their DB schemes in the face of market volatility.The research estimated that the aggregate pension deficit of FTSE ...
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Article
Agrovista implements online payroll system
Crop management firm Agrovista UK has introduced an online payroll system.Prior to introducing the Saas payroll and online reporting system, provided by Ceridian, the firm was reliant on manual payroll processes for its 275 employees, using spreadsheets to capture information.Tracey Winson, head of HR at Agrovista UK, said: “The payroll ...
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Article
Majority of respondents believe fit notes are not effective
The majority (90%) of respondents do not believe the fit note is effective, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP).Fit notes, which were introduced in April 2010, were the result of Dame Carol Black’s 2008 review of the health of Britain’s working age population.Diana Bruce, senior ...
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Article
EXCLUSIVE: London Overground to cut staff DB pension contributions
London Overground Rail Operations is set to reduce the level of employee contributions into its defined benefit (DB) final salary pension scheme.This is possible because the DB scheme is in surplus, so it has more assets in its fund than it needs to meet its liabilities to pay current and ...
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Article
Lifting Nest restrictions may help small pension pots
The removal of restrictions on the national employment savings trust (Nest) could help to reduce the number of small pension pots.Last month, the House of Commons' Work and Pensions Select Committee recommended lifting the contribution cap and the pension transfer ban on the operation of Nest.Darren Philp, director of policy ...
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Article
EXCLUSIVE: Equity Insurance brings in job grading and performance pay
Equity Insurance Group is to introduce a job grading structure aligned with pay and benefits, as well as a pay-for-performance scheme, for its 1,200 UK staff.It has categorised job roles into bands, to which benefits and salary will be aligned, in a bid to achieve greater consistency. It hopes to ...
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Article
News analysis: Osborne stirs pension pot
Pensions are one of the most significant employee benefits affected by the Chancellor's Budget Report last month, says Nicola SullivanChancellor George Osborne's Budget Report contained a number of measures affecting benefits, notably pensions.One of the most significant changes was the introduction of a flat-rate, single-tier state pension.Martyn Cross, a director ...
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Article
EXCLUSIVE: EB Summit: Staff need 'reality check' on need to save
Key communications to staff about retirement should relate to the expectations employees have about current savings and the most tax-efficient way to invest, according to Frances Corbett, educational development manager at the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).Addressing delegates at the Employee Benefits Pensions and Workplace Savings Summit, Corbett said ...
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Case Studies
People management leaders deliver KPMG policies
In 2005, professional services firm KPMG appointed between 350 and 400 employees working in internal and client-facing parts of the business as people management leaders, who could deliver the employer’s reward policies.The leaders, who typically manage teams of between 10 and 50 employees, have the autonomy to award pay rises ...
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Analysis
Are HR professionals cut out of key reward decisions?
If you read nothing else,read this… Compensation and benefits professionals may be bypassed on key reward decisions. HR issues that are often devolved to line managers include staff motivation, talent management and sickness absence, while executive compensation decisions may be made by remuneration committees. If responsibility is to be devolved, ...
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Article
Workplace Savings News: BT share price rise poses CGT problem for savers
BT faces a challenge in communicating to some staff their potential capital gains tax liability because the firm's share price has risen dramatically since its sharesave scheme launched.The scheme, due to mature in August, had an option price three years ago of 68p, compared with the current share price of ...