All Opinion articles – Page 66
-
Opinion
6: Column - What will employers need to consider in light of the rise in insurance premium tax?
In the Summer Budget 2015, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the standard rate of insurance premium tax (IPT) will increase from 6% to 9.5% from 1 November 2015.IPT is a tax on insurers and is added to general insurance products, such as car, home and travel cover, as well as ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Hollywood meets employee benefits
Yet, this week this is exactly what happened when actress Jennifer Lawrence wrote an article on her experiences of gender pay inequality in the film industry for the newsletter service Lenny, run by actress Lena Dunham and television producer Jenni Konner. Lawrence discovered that her salary for the film American ...
-
OpinionSir Cary Cooper: Motivating employees naturally
In the current economic climate, every employer is looking for ways to motivate its workforce, boost productivity, inspire creativity and, ultimately, improve its bottom line.Interestingly, there is a real business case for the benefits of incorporating natural elements into office design. Known academically as biophilia, the concept describes the biological ...
-
OpinionLouise Aston: Benefits need to be regularly promoted
Many employers offer a wealth of benefits to staff, but too often employees do not take them up.Classic benefits packages often miss a trick by not being placed alongside broader wellbeing benefits, such as flexible working arrangements. By thinking in terms of ‘bits of people’, rather than looking at the ...
-
Opinion
Thinking differently
Remember the children’s poem ‘There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly’? There was a rather nice colourful book with holes in it that showed the strangely happy-looking woman munching her way from fly through spider through bird, cat, dog, cow and horse that ended, not surprisingly, in her ...
-
OpinionBernard Casey: The challenges of an ageing workforce
When it comes to the challenges surrounding the ageing workforce, [many employers] will be interested in how compensation strategies will have to be adapted, for example, in terms of pay, different benefit packages and training programmes. And behind all this is the question of whether older workers are as productive ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Have benefits gone full circle?
Earlier this week, I attended a debate on what the future holds for employee benefits.Throughout the conversation, a recurring theme was how what employees are looking for from their employers is changing. As a result, many employers are now considering what they can offer to support their staff with everyday ...
-
OpinionZoe Spicer: Voluntary benefits need to reflect employees’ complex lives
Employees’ lives are as complicated as ever, coupled with an increasing need to attract and retain top talent. So HR professionals need to stay ahead of the competition when it comes to pay and benefits: the employee value proposition. In today’s busy world, targeting employee rewards at helping employees feel ...
-
Opinion
2 -Sponsor's comment - Cars remain a valued benefit
According to the Lex Autolease 2015 Report on motoring, published in September??, 59% of company car drivers and 20% of employees with privately owned cars say their car is absolutely essential to do their job. Cars remain central to the work life of many employees and while the company car ...
-
OpinionStephanie Creed: How should employers handle data sourced from benefits scheme technology?
But with great power comes great responsibility. The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), which governs data protection in the UK, imposes certain obligations on employers when handling personal data.What kind of information can be gathered?Benefits scheme technology encompasses a wide range of applications and software, including online benefits portals, workplace ...
-
OpinionSam Kirk: Portals must be eye-catching and educational
Giving employees easy accessibility to benefits is absolutely key if employers want them to truly engage with a benefits offering. At TalkTalk, we believe that the best way to do this is by providing staff with an online benefits system.Investing in an online benefits platform can be a huge commitment, ...
-
OpinionMalcolm Hurlston: Share schemes boost savings and productivity
Owning shares in the company they work for gives employees an extra stake, and when their company performs well they benefit too. Share plans work best as part of a full programme of employee engagement. As well as dividends and probably capital gains, employee shareholders can vote and the [Employee ...
-
OpinionJo Broadbent: Addressing long-term sick leave during unit transfers
A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision found that an employee on long-term sick leave did not transfer under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Tupe) to a new employer with other employees when the part of the business in which he worked before his absence transferred.In the case of ...
-
OpinionRob Barrett: Pension schemes must meet new freedoms
Since the government pension reforms in April, many pension providers have been reviewing their default funds. They have looked at whether their products will continue to meet the needs of their investors, and whether they are providing what people are looking for in the new environment.In particular, plans have looked ...
-
Opinion
58 - YBS industry insight: What impact have recent changes had on the share plan market?
Over the last two years we have seen some interesting changes in the share plan market.We are now starting to see the impact of these changes, from trend analysis of 2015 share plan data and discussions with market advocates.For example, the increase in the sharesave maximum savings limits introduced by ...
-
OpinionLovewell's logic: Anyone for table tennis?
Employee Benefits Live always seems like a good opportunity for this. Although the two days are aimed at catching up on the latest trends, as well as looking forward at those appearing on the horizon, it always feels like an appropriate time to look back and reflect on how far ...
-
OpinionChris Brauer: Behavioural profiling completes insight jigsaw
Workplace wearables promise a new future in workplace analytics, and data from human beings is one of the missing pieces in harnessing value and strategic insight from the big data puzzle in organisations.Economically, the price of sensors, processors and networking continues to fall in real and relative terms. Technically, exponential ...
-
Opinion
45: Legal and General industry insight - Protection from this growing risk
Employee absences caused by mental health issues are impacting more businesses and costing them money.However, options are available that help employees back to work sooner and enable employers to reduce the likelihood of absence in the workplace.Last year, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) Absence management survey, published ...
-
Opinion
5 Column - Key issues in staff motivation
If people believe that the organisation they work for values their contribution and wants to involve them in important things, they are much more likely to feel motivated. This usually means seeking, listening to, and responding to employees’ views and suggestions, and including them in decision-making. Organisations can be good ...
-
OpinionBill Longe: What if pensions tax relief was scrapped?
“When you see someone putting on his big boots, you can be pretty sure that an adventure is going to happen.” AA Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh. Another Budget and yet more changes to pensions tax relief. Coupled with the announcement of further consultation on the subject, it is not difficult to reach ...