research – Page 18

  • Altmann-Ros-2013
    Article

    Altmann puts defined ambition and automatic transfers on hold

    2015-10-16T11:13:00Z

    Pensions minister Ros Altmann has announced that plans to impement defined ambition pensions, collective benefits and automatic transfers (also known as pot follows member) have been put on hold.In a statement to the House of Commons, the pensions minister (pictured) said that the timing was not right to ask the ...

  • pay-increases-istock-2015
    Article

    California acts to bridge gender pay gap

    2015-10-08T09:28:00Z

    New legislation has been passed in California, USA, to help close the gender pay gap.The California Fair Pay Act was signed into law by Californian governor Jerry Brown to strengthen equal pay legislation in the state. Current law prohibits employers from paying a woman less than a man when they ...

  • AndyBriggs_Sep15
    Article

    67% say Isa system would lower staff pension savings

    2015-09-30T10:41:00Z

    Two-thirds (67%) of respondents believe an individual savings account (Isa)-style tax system for pensions would result in a reduction in the amount employees save into their pension, according to research by insurance provider Aviva. Its survey of 118 Friends Life (now part of the Aviva Group) corporate pension clients also ...

  • Gender pay
    Article

    93% say employers should publish gender pay gap data

    2015-09-30T05:01:00Z

    Almost all (93%) of respondents believe that employers should have to publish the overall gender pay gap within an organisation, according to research by Business in the Community.Its report, The gender pay gap: what employees really think, which surveyed 1,179 employees, also revealed that 87% of respondents think compulsory gender ...

  • Pension pot-2015
    Article

    EAT rules on disability discrimination pensions case

    2015-09-28T13:23:00Z

    An appeal has been allowed against a ruling that found a former technician had been discriminated against after receiving half of the pension he would have been entitled to had he been working full-time at the time of his ill-health retirement.In the case of the Trustees of Swansea University Pension ...

  • Uber-app-mobile-2014
    Article

    FedEx, Uber and Yelp cases bring employee status issue to the fore

    2015-09-23T05:00:00Z

    In the US-based case of Gray vs FedEx Ground Package System, the latter contracts with operators to make deliveries. Under their contracts, the operators were not required to personally drive, but could hire someone else to do so. The plaintiffs brought a suit against FedEx claiming that they should be ...

  • Police-EAT case-2015
    Article

    Police forces to appeal decision on age discrimination case

    2015-09-23T05:00:00Z

    An appeal has been filed against the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s (EAT’s) ruling that a regulation enabling police forces to compulsorily retire officers after they become entitled to a pension worth at least two-thirds of pensionable pay is not age discriminatory.The judgment in the case of Harrod and others v Chief ...

  • AndyBriggs_Sep15
    Article

    23% favour Isa-style tax system for pensions

    2015-09-16T05:00:00Z

    Less than a quarter (23%) of respondents would opt for an individual savings account (Isa)-style system for pensions after gaining a full understanding of the tax implications, compared to an initial 41%, according to research by Aviva.Its survey of 2,000 working adults found that the number of respondents that prefer ...

  • Court-judgement
    Article

    European Court rules that travel time is work

    2015-09-11T11:10:00Z

    The European Court of Justice has ruled that travel between an employee’s home and the first and last job of the day at a client’s location constitutes working time for staff without a fixed or habitual place of work.The court considered this time spent travelling as working time, with the ...

  • Uber-app-mobile-2014
    Article

    Employee status of US Uber drivers to be decided

    2015-09-09T05:05:00Z

    App-based taxi firm Uber, is facing further legal action regarding the employee status and rights of its workers, this time from the US.The US-based case, that of O’Connor et al. vs Uber Technologies, has been brought to the courts by three Uber drivers who claim that they should be treated ...

  • AndyBriggs_Sep15
    Article

    66% have little to no understanding of pension tax relief

    2015-09-02T11:10:00Z

    Around two-thirds (66%) of respondents have little or no understanding of how the tax system impacts pension contributions, according to research by insurance provider Aviva.Its survey of 2000 working adults in the UK, carried out in August, also found that one in ten respondents have never heard of pension tax ...

  • FedEx-tax and legislation-2015
    Article

    Jury to rule on employee status of FedEx drivers

    2015-09-02T05:00:00Z

    A US district court in St Louis, Missouri, has referred a dispute over the employee status of FedEx drivers to a jury for deliberation.In the case of Gray vs FedEx Ground Package System, the latter contracts with operators to make deliveries. Under their contracts, the operators were not required to ...

  • Retirement - thumbnail
    Article

    Pensions research deadline extended

    2015-09-01T00:00:00Z

    The Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2015 deadline has been extended to Wednesday 30 September so there is still time to have your say.How are the pension reforms impacting workplace pension strategies? How are employers communicating the pension changes to staff? Share your experiences by taking part in the short ...

  • Pension savings-2015
    Article

    Take part in exclusive pensions research

    2015-09-01T00:00:00Z

    How well do your employees understand the pension reforms? What financial education strategies are you using to support staff?Tell us in the exclusive Employee Benefits/Close Brothers Pensions research 2015, which is designed to help you benchmark your organisation’s pensions strategy.We are particularly interested in finding out how the pension reforms ...

  • Police-EAT case-2015
    Article

    Police to appeal against EAT decision on age discrimination

    2015-08-26T05:10:00Z

    An appeal has been filed against the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s (EAT) ruling that a regulation enabling police forces to compulsorily retire officers after they become entitled to a pension worth at least two-thirds of pensionable pay (typically after 30 years’ service) is not age discriminatory.The judgment in the case of ...

  • Pension pot-2015
    Article

    69% take entire pension pot as cash lump sum

    2015-08-24T10:10:00Z

    More than two-thirds (69%) of respondents have chosen to take their entire pension pot as a cash lump sum since the pension freedoms came into effect in April, according to research by Royal London.The life, pensions and investment firm’s survey of 800 customers found that just under a third (32%) ...

  • Case law-judge-2015
    Article

    US court rules Yelp reviewers are not employees

    2015-08-19T05:05:00Z

    US District Judge Richard Seeborg has dismissed a class action against Yelp in which a group of reviewers sought to be considered employees and therefore be compensated as such.In the case of Lily Jeung, et al., vs Yelp. the claimants alleged that they were ‘directed how to write reviews and ...

  • Court-judgement
    Article

    Court rules travel expenses are subject to tax

    2015-08-06T11:12:00Z

    Reed Employment has lost an appeal against HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), in which it contested up to £158 million in tax payments relating to travel expenses for the temporary workers it employed.The case covers the period between 2001 and 2006 when the employment agency aimed to make non-taxable payments ...

  • Share schemes
    Article

    Tribunal rules on valuation of restricted shares

    2015-08-01T00:00:00Z

    The First-Tier Tribunal has ruled that restrictions should be taken into account when shares issued to employees are valued for tax purposes.In the case of Sjumarken v HM Revenue and Customs [HMRC], Lars Sjumarken was employed by BNP Paribas as an investment banker, in charge of BNP’s EU investment banking ...

  • Lock
    Article

    Government consults on pension freedom charges

    2015-07-31T11:07:00Z

    The government has launched a consultation on early exit charges surrounding the pension freedoms that came into effect in April.The consultation will examine whether exit charges should be capped for those aged over 55 years that are planning to withdraw money from their pension pots.It will also look at how ...