All Opinion articles – Page 68
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OpinionEffective financial education for those considering retirement
The most radical pensions overhaul in nearly a century has arrived. These changes offer employees in a defined contribution (DC) scheme who are aged 55 or over greater flexibility in how to access their pension. But without the right financial education, employees could be left incredibly vulnerable to making poor ...
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OpinionMaking the most of tax-free mileage allowances
Whenever the subject of tax-efficient car benefits comes up these days, people naturally think of salary sacrifice.However, there are other travel-related areas where employers and business drivers can maximise the value of tax reliefs and allowances. For instance, anyone who receives a cash allowance in lieu of a company car ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: How much freedom should employers give staff?
In it, the agency’s co-founder Jenny Biggam explained why the organisation has done away with a number of typical workplace conventions in order to give its staff greater freedom. This includes doing away with job titles and enabling staff to contribute their skills in order to shape the company; flexible-working ...
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Opinion
Yorsipp’s Mark Canning explains a new “default option” for their SIPPs
Why do you think there is a need for a governed Auto Invest option?Across our proposition we seek to bring institutional quality and standards of governance to the retail market. The FCA have been very clear in their guidance on “suitability” of both the SIPP wrapper provider and the underlying ...
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OpinionPaul Winter: Blending the pledge with day-to-day health at Ipswich Building Society
We signed up to five pledges, which have become the cornerstones of our healthcare.Some practical examples of this include the mental health and wellbeing pledge, through which we actively encourage lunch breaks and ‘desk breaks’ so employees can take time out to charge their batteries.We created a quiet room for ...
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Opinion
02. Sponsor's Comment: Support for a smooth transition
Returning to work after a long illness such as cancer may be a daunting prospect for some employees.Fear of going back to the workplace, especially after a lengthy time off, may prove difficult for some. For others, the return to work may mean a path to normality, supporting their overall ...
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OpinionAndreas Kornelakis: Communicating benefits and the role of employee voice
Communicating to a global workforce may take place via direct and one-way modes of employer communication, for example staff handbooks, posters, emails, newsletters, total reward statements, SMS, webinars, podcasts or more interactive means such as staff meetings or forums, intranets and social media such as internal Facebook sites.The institutional perspective ...
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OpinionLovewell's logic: Employers strive to meet evolving needs
This is no longer the case as the world of work has, once again, become more dynamic, with employees moving between roles and employers in order to achieve their career, and their pay and benefits ambitions.In part, this has also been driven by the rise in the multi-generational workforce, particularly ...
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OpinionRob's reward: Pension freedoms, long may they remain
Speaking to a few providers, it seems that the initial rush of calls has subsided and some semblance of calm is slowly being restored.Before the reforms came into effect, some first feared that there would be a rush of people taking their cash in full to spend on a new ...
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OpinionJohn Pryor: A multi-diverse mobility plan has never been greater
Cost management, risk management, carbon footprint reduction, business efficiency and effectiveness and time management are all issues that impact on corporate travel.Too frequently, many employers retain the status quo and simply accept that employees have a company car, will access a pool car or drive their own car and reclaim ...
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OpinionPenny Cogher: Complexities and uncertainties around pensions during insolvency
The Supreme Court judgment in the case of Trustees of the Olympic Airlines SA Pension and Life Assurance Scheme v Olympic Airlines looked at what connection a foreign employer must have with the UK to entitle an English court to wind it up, if its centre of main interests is ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: Where should the boundaries lie for wearable technology?
For two weeks, she will be kitted out with gadgets in a bid to determine whether the personal data these generate is actually useful to managers, as well as the impact on employees’ lives.There is no doubt about it that wearable technology is set to become more common among members ...
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OpinionClosing the digital gap
We are being bombarded by digital innovation, 365 days a year. Following a spate of ‘must-have’ apps appearing for consumers, group risk providers as a whole could still be missing one vital digital trick.Digital is everything. The internet has changed the world, and there is a world of online potential ...
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Opinion
05: What are employers' legal responsibilities when offering group risk benefits?
Most GIP policies will provide cover until retirement or a return to work, whichever is sooner, often at 50% or 75% of then current salary. Almost all potential legal problems can easily be avoided by appropriate contractual drafting.Avoiding costly errors in group risk provisionThe most costly error that employers can ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: The benefits of relocation
Now, I’ve been in the benefits industry for more than 12 years (it’s scary how quickly time flies!) and have often written about international benefits issues, but, listening to speakers in these sessions was the first time I’ve really considered what it really means for employees to relocate overseas.I’ve often ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: How much financial help should employers offer staff?
Employers offering loans to their staff is nothing new, and particularly at a time when some lower-paid staff are struggling to make ends meet, these can be a valued benefit.But, unlike many of the interest-free loans offered by employers, Betfred’s offering attracts 39.99% APR on the value of the loan. ...
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OpinionDavid Ludlow: Gender pay disparity is set to become more transparent
This means that in the next 12 months, large firms with more than 250 employees will have to publish the average salaries of both genders.The measure will increase transparency and is likely to lead to an accelerated eradication of the gender pay difference, which currently stands at 20%, as employers ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: Will we ever see an end to workplace gender inequality?
The list, which is compiled in partnership with the gender equality campaign from Business in the Community, Opportunity Now, identifies and celebrates employers that can demonstrate best practice in improving attraction, retention, progression and engagement in relation to their approach to gender equality, diversity and inclusion.Employers that made this year’s ...
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OpinionFreedom and choice: finding the right voice
Key pointsEmployers retain a bond of trust with employees: staff will go to their employer for advice.Anticipate their needs to create a strategy to offer valuable support at a critical time, especially defined contribution (DC) scheme members approaching retirement.The pension revolution has only just begun. The after-annuities era will continue ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: Does charity begin at work?
But these days does this really hold true? Or is it now more of a case that charity begins at work?Many employers now offer employees opportunities to support charities through the workplace, be it through fundraising, workplace giving or volunteering initiatives.Here at Employee Benefits, we’re no different. Every year, Centaur ...