All articles by Nicola Sullivan – Page 7
-
Article
Flying car in test phase
Employers offering company car schemes might soon be able to consider adding a flying car to their list of choices.After all, the American flying car, dubbed Transition, from aviation company Terrafugia, would certainly help employees beat the traffic. It has just completed its first flight at 1,400 feet for eight ...
-
Article
Business drivers take steps to reduce fuel consumption
Half of business drivers have altered their driver behaviour in an effort to reduce fuel consumption, according to research by ALD Automotive.The survey of 1,000 employee drivers also found that 50% of respondents shop around for the cheapest fuel available.†Two-thirds (65%) of respondents drive slower and more smoothly in an ...
-
Article
Kantar Worldpanel boosts pension take-up
Kantar Wordpanel has boosted the take-up of its group personal pension (GPP) plan following a communications exercise.The membership of the firm’s GPP scheme increased from 72% in 2011 to 79% in 2012, following a series of communications with provider JLT Online Benefits in February.The sessions also informed staff about auto-enrolment ...
-
Analysis
Get a full view of pension annual management charges
If you read nothing else, read this…Annual management charges (AMCs) can range from approximately 0.3% to 1%.Employers setting up a new pension scheme may be able to take advantage of competitive terms being offered by providers in a ‘land grab’ ahead of the Retail Distribution Review coming into effect from ...
-
Article
Gandhi-inspired Italian lawyers strike for better pay and job security
Employees striking over pay and benefits issues in the UK might challenge any preconceptions of their militancy by finding inspiration in unexpected places, just as striking lawyers have done in Italy.Members of the United Lawyers Organisation, who have been striking for better pay and job security, modelled their resistance on ...
-
Article
The Court of Appeal reviews how holiday should be managed for employees on long-term sick leave
The Court of Appeal is reviewing whether employees who are absent on prolonged sickness leave must inform their employers of an intention to take holiday and whether they can carry holiday forward to a subsequent holiday year.Yesterday (29 March), the case of NHS Leeds vs Larner, considered two unresolved issues: ...
-
Article
JLT Pension Capital Strategies appoints Martyn Phillips
JLT Pension Capital Strategies has appointed Martyn Phillips as head of buyout consulting. Phillips, who will move from Lane Clark and Peacock, will assume responsibility for buyout and settlement activity across JLT Pension Capital Strategies, when he starts 2 April 2012.At Lane Clark and Peacock, he focused on consulting with ...
-
Article
Filmology launches new platform for cinema vouchers
Filmology has launched a new employer-branded platform that allows employers to offer cinema tickets to staff seven days a week at more than 440 cinemas across the UK and Ireland.Employees log on to the portal and type their location to find out what cinemas in their area they can purchase ...
-
Article
Getting payroll systems ready for auto-enrolment is a big challenge for employers
Getting HR and payroll systems ready for compliance with auto-enrolment requirements is the biggest challenge relating to defined contribution (DC) pensions facing employers, according to research by Mercer.The research, which analysed the DC pension offerings of more than 300 UK employers, showed that getting employees to understand pensions ranked as ...
-
Article
BMW looks to boost pay but reduce breaks
As part of BMW’s discussion with union representatives about offering employees a pay rise, it will also be negotiating on the length of employees' tea breaks.The German firm is due to offer employees based at its Mini plant in Cowley, Oxford, a reported pay rise of 6%.BMW would not confirm ...
-
Article
Employers offer choice in employees' benefits packages
More than 60% of employers offer some form of choice in the benefits that their employees receive, according to research by Mercer.The research, which surveyed employers based in 12 European countries, found that respondents’ most important reasons for offering choice were to: remain competitive in the marketplace (58%); improve employee ...
-
Article
Music lessons hit the right note with employees
Employers can ensure their employees hit the right note by providing them with music lessons at work.Keynote Team Building aims to provide organisations with teambuilding and communication skills guidance through music.Musicians Stuart Bulsara and Amy Lorne set up the firm after struggling to find a rewarding career after leaving university. ...
-
Article
Legal and General awarded PQM for staff pension scheme
Pensions provider Legal and General has been awarded a Pension Quality Mark (PQM) for the defined contribution (DC) pension scheme it offers its own staff.The PQM, awarded by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), recognises DC schemes with total contributions of at least 10% of an employee’s salary and ...
-
Article
Budget 2012: Review to be held on differentiated regional public sector pay
The government will hold a review on whether to introduce differing regional public sector pay deals.During his delivery of the Budget report, Chancellor George Osborne said he wanted to make public sector pay more responsive to local pay rates.Daniel Hibbert, a principal in Mercer’s human capital business, said: “A change ...
-
Article
Budget 2012: Government to introduce single-tier state pension
Chancellor George Osborne has announced that the government will introduce a single-tier state pension of around £140 per week.The new system, which was originally mooted by pensions minister Steve Webb last year, will be introduced early in the next Parliament. It will be set above the mean-tested pensions credit and, ...
-
Article
Budget 2012: Personal allowance to rise to £9,205
The government has increased the personal allowance by an additional £1,100 as part of its objective to make the first £10,000 of income tax free from tax.During his presentation of the Budget report, Chancellor George Osborne announced that in April 2013 the personal allowance would rise to £9,205. The personal ...
-
Article
Trinity Mirror to cut pension fund payments by £69m over three years
Trinity Mirror is to cut its pension fund payments by £69 million over three years as part of a deal to refinance its £221 million debt.The newspaper group, which publishes five national papers and more than 130 regional titles, has reached a deal with the trustees of its pension schemes ...
-
Article
Adult minimum wage to increase to £6.19 an hour
The national minimum wage for adults is to increase by 1.8%, but rates for younger workers will be frozen at their current levels.From 1 October, the adult minimum wage will increase from £6.08 to £6.19 an hour. The youth development rate will remain at £4.98 an hour and the rate ...
-
Article
Employers plan to use existing DC pension plan for auto-enrolment
More than two-thirds of employers plan to use their existing defined contribution (DC) pension plan to automatically enrol their employees, according to research by Towers Watson.The Towers Watson DC governance survey 2012, conducted among 145 fiduciaries of UK DC plans, found that the national employment savings trust (Nest) is being ...
-
Article
Business professionals flock to sheep-dog training course
High-flying professionals are flocking to a course in Wiltshire, which claims to combat stress and develop teamworking skills by teaching them how to behave like sheep dogs.The Raising the Baa course gives employees the chance to herd disorderly sheep into a pen. But there is no room for woolly thinking ...