All articles by Nicola Sullivan – Page 63
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Article
Santander unveils sharesave scheme for Abbey staff
Abbey is introducing its first employee sharesave scheme since being taken over by the Spanish bank Banco Santander in 2004.This is the first time a scheme of this nature has been introduced in the Santander group and will be linked to the Spanish bank's share price. Santander previously awarded Abbey ...
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Herbert Smith offer workshops for staff to help them improve their kids’ writing skills
Herbert Smith has run an in-house parent support workshop for staff, focusing on helping employees to encourage their children to develop their writing skills.The sessions were run by Ready To Learn, and involved an ex-teacher visiting the office and explaining to parents how children are taught to write at school ...
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Article
EAP use rises in downturn
As the credit crunch bites, employees are increasingly turning to workplace employee assistance programmes (EAPs) to discuss concerns about job insecurity, financial problems and tenancy issues.Employee Advisory Resource, (EAR), which provides 341 UK firms with EAPs that cover more than 500,000 employees, reports that, in July, calls relating to redundancy ...
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Article
Hitachi Capital to hold car safety day for staff
Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions will carry out safety checks on their employees' company cars and private vehicles.The main purpose of the safety checking day, due to take place on 17 September, is to teach employees how to conduct simple checks and maintain the safety of their own vehicle. Staff will ...
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United Biscuits gives employees the chance to trial green vehicles
United Biscuits has given its drivers the chance to try out green vehicles in a bid to raise their awareness of fuel-efficient vehicles.The manufacturer of biscuits, including McVitie's, has loaned vehicles with low CO2 emissions to staff over a two-week period through Lloyds TSB Autolease's Green Trial Fleet service.The aim ...
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Case Studies
Case study: Triodos Bank
As befits a self-styled 'ethical bank', Triodos Bank's employees drive environmentally-friendly hybrid cars.Trey Sanders, an HR adviser for the Dutch-owned company, says: "Our small fleet is made up of hybrid cars and we promote alternative ways to get to work. Only eight people [out of 84 UK staff] have company ...
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Article
NAPF launches free pensions service for employers
The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has launched an information service to support HR professionals directly involved with their organisation's pension scheme.The service, which is free for the first year, will provide information on a range of issues, including the impact of personal accounts and auto-enrolment, remuneration policy and ...
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Government consults to make flexible working easier for employers
The government is to explore ways to make it easier for employers to deal with flexible working requests in a new consultation process.The consultation, which follows the government's announcement that it would extend the right to request flexible working to all parents with children aged 16 years and under in ...
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Article
Final salary pension provision drops to all-time low
The number of final salary pension schemes that remain open to new members has dropped to an all-time low. Of the 100 final salary schemes surveyed for Aon Consulting's 2008 Employer Survey, just 17% are still open to new members, compared to 28% in 2007 and 50% in 2003. Of ...
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Article
A day to remember
Experience days can be used to reward staff by providing them with positive memories that also have the benefit of being associated with their employer, says Nicola SullivanBungee jumping, skydiving, rally car racing and diving with sharks are just some of the more unusual ways employers can reward staff for ...
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Article
Maintain morale in a downturn
As many employers look to make cost savings, it is still important to reward valued staff as their morale is vital to businesses' long-term prospects, says Nicola SullivanDuring periods of economic instability many employers will be keeping a close eye on benefits expenditure, looking for ways they can control or ...
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Article
Santander offers Alliance & Leicester staff free shares
Santander has offered Alliance & Leicester employees 100 free shares each to encourage them to stay with the company during the merger period, subject to shareholder approval.The Spanish bank has also offered key employees and executives bonuses of up to 125% of their salary. The incentives will be awarded to ...
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Article
BP plans to withdraw nine-day fortnight
BP plans to withdraw its nine-day fortnight arrangement for a number of of its workforce to improve the efficiency of its customer-facing operations.The nine-day fortnight, which was introduced to parts of the business after the acquisition of the American company Amoco in 1998, allows employees to take every other Friday ...
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Article
Marks & Spencer plans to cut redundancy benefits
Marks & Spencer is planning to cut redundancy benefits for its 60,000 staff by up to 25%.Under the new redundancy package, which the retailer wants to introduce by 1 September, the maximum payout employees can receive in relation to their length of service will be slashed from 70 weeks to ...
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Article
Lower pay rises for non-exec directors
Non-executive directors received lower pay rises last year, according to a report released by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC).The PWC annual guide on Non-executive director practice and fees, released today (August 18), shows that pay increased by 15.6% in 2007/08, compared with 16.7% in 2006/07 and 25% in 2005/06. The report highlights that ...
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Article
Norwich Union renews annuity and payment contract
Norwich Union has renewed its contract with Xafinity Paymaster to provide administration and payment services for the annuity part of its business for a further five-to-10 years.Norwich Union hopes to improve customer service by further integrating and automating its payment processes, as well as providing effective administration for an increasing ...
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Article
B&CE increases defined benefit scheme accrual rate
B&CE Benefit Schemes has increased the accrual rate for its closed defined benefit scheme by 4.3%. Employees who retire on or after 1 August will now receive a tax-free lump sum of £7.55 for every qualifying week they were in the scheme, which closed to further contributions in April 2001 ...
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Article
Chinese employers give staff tickets to the Olympic Games
Chinese employers are motivating their employees by giving them tickets to the Olympic Games.Staff are offered tickets in order to act as 'volunteer' fans and fill empty seats at the competition. Every employee is given training on how to act while watching the sporting events, for example, applauding for both ...
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Article
Pension not vital to potential recruits
Less than a quarter of people of working age think a pension scheme is an important factor when looking for a new job. Of the 749 people who took part in a survey by B&CE Benefit Schemes, 24 percent think pensions are a significant factor when seeking a new job ...
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Case Studies
Wolters Kluwer harmonises pension schemes into one GPP
Wolters Kluwer made its pension benefit more competitive by consolidating five separate schemes, resulting from a spate of acquisitions, into one group personal pension plan (GPP).The money the company saved on administration costs enabled it to increase its pensions contributions by an average of 2 percent for each employee who ...