All Opinion articles – Page 70
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OpinionClare Bettelley: Benefits market consolidation is long overdue
Two of the higher-profile deals saw insurance giant Aviva’s £5.6 billion takeover of Friends Life and Sodexo’s £41 million takeover of incentive and recognition provider Modivcom.For many benefits professionals, consolidation cannot come soon enough to help tackle market saturation, particularly in the healthcare arena.As Jackie Buttery, an independent benefits consultant, ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: Should we be tackling UK's pay gap?
In its annual report, investment bank Goldman Sachs revealed that it paid its bankers an average of $373,265 (approximately £245,500) in 2014.In total, the bank set aside $12.69 billion (around £8.35 billion) to pay 34,000 employees’ compensation and benefits packages, which include salaries, discretionary compensation, equity awards and benefits.Statistics from ...
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OpinionJonathan Watts-Lay: Three steps to greater pension flexibility
The 2014 Budget changed the face of retirement options for members of defined contribution (DC) pension schemes, with perhaps the most radical pension proposals of our lifetime.The changes will come into force from April 2015, removing many restrictions on how pension benefits can be taken from age 55.But as April ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: Time to get moving
Its European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition study, which analysed data from more than 334,000 men and women across Europe in order to measure the link between physical inactivity and premature death, found that just a 20-minute brisk walk each day could cut the chances of early death by ...
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OpinionRichard Kandler: Taxation of death benefits and changes from April 2015
In broad terms, this can be regarded as an extension of tax relaxations recently announced in relation to lump-sum death benefits. Those changes do not affect either the inheritance tax or lifetime allowance (LTA) positions, but they do ease the burden of the current 55% ’special tax charge’.For payments made ...
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OpinionAndrea Finney: Improving financial wellbeing
This is largely because of the global financial crisis of 2008, which has resulted in a sustained increase in the cost of living, coupled with a fall in real earnings.Increased diversity in financial services, constriction in consumer lending and a growing pensions crisis have also put new burdens on employees.We ...
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OpinionDebra Corey: Global mobility strategy is vital
Our strategy has grown organically, and the team and I will develop our talent as we diversify into new disciplines in new office locations.To expand internationally successfully, organisations must strive to introduce or develop their global mobility schemes. They must ensure these policies are competitive and comprehensive, that they meet ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: Festive parties should be celebrated
With the Christmas party season now well underway, by now, most employees will have been to at least one festive celebration.But how many employees truly appreciate the investment their employer makes in seasonal events?Research published this week by Wolters Kluwer’s UK pay and benefits specialists, Croner, found that 83% of ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: New thinking needed around pensions?
Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in August, for example, found that almost half of all working age people are failing to save enough.However, Swedish retailer Ikea has come up with a clever approach to boost employees’ pension pots by rewarding performance with additional pensions contributions.This year, ...
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OpinionAndrew Roycroft: Tax relief for bonus clawbacks
The tax position of such arrangements is complicated by the commercial imperative to pay the bonus upfront, and any repayment occurs only at a later date (clawback). Such bonuses are taxed on receipt, and the difficulty is obtaining tax relief for the repayment.The rules governing deductibility of amounts paid by ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: How can we close the gender pay gap?
This week’s figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which showed that the gender pay gap is now at its narrowest since 1997, made for encouraging reading.According to its latest Annual survey of hours and earnings, 2013 provisional results, the gender pay gap overall has fallen to 9.4% compared ...
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OpinionSimon Nash: Why I'm not interested in making staff happy
Reward professionals are pretty straightforward people. We like to make salary and bonus decisions on an analytical basis, taking into account market data, labour market trends and the commercial drivers of the business and sector.When it comes to benefits, too, a similar logic applies. We are looking for return on ...
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OpinionJeanette Makings: Financial education provides essential retirement guidance
The new pension reforms announced by chancellor George Osborne in the 2014 Budget have been welcomed by most pensions professionals, despite them requiring employers, providers and the industry at large to move quickly to respond.The changes, which include the abolition of compulsory annuity purchase for defined contribution pension scheme members, ...
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OpinionMichael Rose: Benefits must give the right messages to motivate staff
While considerable attention is given to the extent to which money is a motivator (my view is that for the vast majority of people, it is not), little is said about the role of benefits in employee motivation. With the money spent on salaries and bonuses normally dwarfing the cost ...
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OpinionGeorge Bull: Scrapping of 55% tax rate on pensions goes further than expected
Before this announcement, members of defined contribution (DC) pension plans faced a difficult choice. If they opted for an annuity but died early, then the annuity provider would profit, but if they did not take one and instead left their funds in the pension pot, then the taxman would take ...
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OpinionLovewell's Logic: Will shared parental leave take off?
From Monday (1 December), new rules will mean that, for the first time, working mothers and fathers will be able to share a period of parental leave for 12 months after the birth or adoption of a child.As well as offering eligible families much greater flexibility around childcare following the ...
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OpinionTom Gaynor: Employers need to demonstrate true value of employee benefits
So it is important for employers to take a long-term and holistic view of the group risk market and the issues it faces. It was evident that there is a need for insurers to explain the relevance and value of group risk benefits and demonstrate their value to both employers ...
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OpinionDenise Keating: Flexibility increases wellbeing
Employers typically offer formal flexible-working policies, such as leave for parents, and flexibility around sabbatical or other opportunities.The reality is that flexible working is driven only when an employee has a need, such as childcare and eldercare.On the other hand, agile working is where an employer provides employees with flexibility ...
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OpinionWill flexible benefits technology be free in the future?
Lawrence Sutton, senior manager, EMX solutions at KPMG, says yes:Flexible benefits technology has evolved significantly in just 20 years. When it first arrived on the scene, it was a luxury for even large, wealthy organisations. Today, flex technology is ubiquitous, even in small and medium-sized businesses. In the future, I ...
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OpinionHilary Aldred - Employers disagree obesity should be protected by disability law
A vast majority of 98% of respondents made it clear that almost no one wants obesity to be classed as a disability and 89% do not make any adjustments for obese or overweight staff.As the results were so clear, we are now reflecting on why employers think like this.I do ...