All articles by Rebecca Patton – Page 12
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Article
Fancy a job as a human scarecrow?
It would take a great employment package to tempt most workers to sit in a cold field chasing away birds, but Jamie Fox seems happy with a modest salary and a good book.Fox, a 22-year-old music and English graduate from Bangor University, has taken on the role of human scarecrow ...
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Article
Employers go for global benefits policies
Multinational organisations are looking to increase corporate control and oversight of their employee benefits programmes worldwide, with 90% expecting to have corporate benefits policies in place over the next three years, according to research by Aon Hewit.The 2012 Corporate governance of global employee benefits study, conducted with the American Benefits ...
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Article
HEG to develop auto-enrolment and RTI support
EXCLUSIVE: The Hotel Employers Group (HEG) is to develop a support pack for its employer members to help them deal with pensions auto-enrolment and the real-time information (RTI) programme for payroll.The group, which represents hotel industry brands such as Holiday Inn Express and Best Western, are working with professional services ...
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Article
Mental health stigma is decreasing
More than a quarter (28%) of respondents believe there is less stigma around mental health issues in the workplace compared to a year ago, according to research by Aviva.Aviva’s Health of the workplace 2012 report, which has been launched to coincide with World Mental Health Day on 10 October, found ...
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Article
Owner-employee contract could breach EU laws
A proposed new employment contract that would require employees to give up employment rights for shares in their organisation could still leave employers open to claims for unfair dismissal under European regulations.The owner-employee contract, announced at the Conservative Party conference on 8 October by Chancellor George Osborne, could see employers ...
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Article
Newsquest journalists strike over pay
Newsquest journalists in York took strike action on 5 October in a dispute over pay.The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) members were balloted between 28 August and 11 September after the newspaper publisher notified staff they would not receive a pay increase in 2012 due to difficult trading conditions.NUJ members ...
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Article
FirstGroup staff pick new charity partner
FirstGroup staff have chosen Macmillan Cancer Support as its new national charity partner.Employees of the public transport operator were asked to vote for one of three charities. Macmillan Cancer Support received 60% of the staff vote.Katie Smart, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and community manager at FirstGroup, said: “This is a ...
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Article
Google boss shows off dance moves
And now something for the weekend…Staff engagement and motivation are important in all offices around the world to get the best out of a workforce.But is a bit of office dancing the way to do it? Google certainly thinks so.Eric Schmidt, executive chairman at Google, joined staff members in Google’s ...
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Article
AWR have increased admin costs
A year on from their introduction, the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) are thought to have cost organisations more than £1.5 billion in administration costs, but have not increased benefits for workers, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).The regulations, which were introduced 1 October 2011, give agency workers entitlement ...
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Article
Phoenix Group raises flex take-up
EXCLUSIVE: Phoenix Group has seen an increase in employees taking up its flexible benefits scheme for the third year in a row.More than three-quarters (77%) of staff take advantage of the Flexit scheme, which is provided by Vebnet.Lynne Weller, group reward manager at Phoenix Group, said: “Since launching Flexit in ...
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Article
BITC launches Workwell Benchmark
Business in the Community (BITC) has launched the Workwell Benchmark to measure FTSE 100 organisations’ management of employee wellbeing and engagement in the workplace.The benchmark will be based on a questionnaire, which covers areas such as leadership and management, occupational health and wellbeing promotions, and employee engagement.Paul Litchfield, chair of ...
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Article
Manufacturing pay freezes rise
The number of manufacturing firms instigating pay freezes has grown to one in seven in the three months to August 2012, due to economic uncertainty, according to research by EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, and Jam Recruitment.The September 2012 pay bulletin found that this was an increase from the one in ...
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Article
Ban on age discrimination extended
New provisions set out in the Equality Act 2010, which extends the ban on age discrimination, came into force on 1 October and could impact some service providers, such as healthcare providers.According to the Equality Human Rights Commission, the new ban will mean, in most cases, these service providers will ...
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Article
All employees should have a pension
The vast majority (98%) of respondents said that every employee should be entitled to a workplace pension, according to research by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).The research, conducted for the NAPF by Populus, surveyed 979 UK employees, and was launched to coincide with the start of auto-enrolment on ...
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Article
Aviva launches auto-enrolment tool
Aviva has launched an online auto-enrolment modelling and compliance tool for employers.Auto-enrolment Manager for Employers (AME) is a hub-based tool that can connect to multiple pension and payroll schemes, and can be used across other providers’ pension schemes.It features financial modelling, automatic compliance monitoring and employee communications.Graham Boffey, managing director ...
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AnalysisTop tips on total reward statements
If you read nothing else, read this…Employers must be sure of their reasons for using total reward statements (TRS) and how they should be sent out.Statements can be tailored to groups of employees or individuals.Any errors in a statement can undermine an employer’s hard work.Pay rises are few and far ...
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Case Studies
Prudential employees want online statements
The organisation moved the total reward statements online in 2010 at the same time as it relaunched its online flexible benefi ts scheme.In 2011, Prudential added a mid-year online total reward statement to give staff a real-time view of their package after the salary and bonus review process in April.The ...
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Article
Buyer's guide to group personal pensions 2012
The UK pensions system is undergoing significant change this year, with the roll-out of auto-enrolment beginning in October.Under the legislation, employers must operate a qualifying pension plan into which they are required to auto-enrol eligible employees. This can include a group personal pension (GPP) plan, as long as it meets ...
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Article
Levels of presenteeism on the rise
The average level of employee absence has fallen from 7.7 days in 2011 to 6.8 days per employee per year in 2012, according to research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Simplyhealth.The CIPD/Simplyhealth Absence management survey found that, with the fall in absence, there has been ...
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Article
High pension charges could cut income
Auto-enrolling employees into older-style pension schemes with high charges could lose up to 50% of their retirement income, according to research by the Pensions Institute at Cass Business School.The research, Caveat venditor: the brave new world of auto-enrolment should be governed by the principle of seller not buyer beware, examined ...