research – Page 20
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ArticlePensions lifetime allowance to reduce to £1m
Budget 2015: The government has announced that it will reduce the pensions lifetime allowance (LTA) limit to £1 million from 6 April 2016.It was also announced that from 2018, the limit will be index-linked and adjusted according to the level of inflation.The current lifetime allowance has stood at £1.25 million ...
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ArticleTax exemption introduced for DB to DC transfer advice
Budget 2015: The government is introducing an income tax exemption for payments made for advice on transfers out of defined benefit (DB) schemes to defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.The new measure, announced as part of Chancellor George Osborne’s 2015 Budget, will apply to any employer that provides or pays for ...
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ArticleGovernment to increase tax threshold for higher-rate taxpayers
Budget 2015: The government is to increase the point at which higher-rate taxpayers must start to pay 40% tax, Chancellor George Osborne has announced.It will increase by £315 in 2016-2017, and by £600 in 2017-2018. This will take the higher-rate tax threshold to £43,300 by 2017-2018.
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ArticlePersonal tax allowance to rise to £11,000
Budget 2015: The personal tax allowance will be increased to £10,800 from April 2016, and to £11,000 from April 2017, Chancellor George Osborne has announced during the 2015 Budget.The allowance, which is the amount employees can earn before they have to start paying tax, will enable the average taxpayer to ...
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ArticleNational minimum wage to rise by 3%
The national minimum wage will increase by 3% to £6.70 an hour from October 2015.The increase is equivalent to an additional 20p an hour for workers aged 21 and over, from its current rate of £6.50 an hourThis will be the largest increase to the national minimum wage in real-terms ...
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ArticleGovernment to extend pension freedoms
The government plans to remove the restrictions on buying and selling existing annuities from April 2016 to extend its pension freedoms to five million people who have already bought an annuity. The proposed legislation is aimed at allowing pensioners to sell on their annuities, with the returns then allowed to ...
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ArticleEmployers will have to reveal gender pay gap
Employers with more than 250 employees will have to reveal differences in pay between male and female members of staff under a change to a law passing through Parliament.Firms that do not comply with the new rules could face fines of up to £5,000.The government will set the form and ...
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ArticleNicky Morgan: What can employers do to address the pay gap?
Tackling the gender pay gap is about more than making sure women are paid the same for doing the same job as men, although this is of course essential. It is also about ensuring women can access a range of careers, including those with higher pay, enabling them to move ...
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ArticleJon Dymond: What can employers do to address the pay gap?
While employers need to ensure that they are paying people the same money for the same work without reference to gender, as the law insists, addressing pay inequality alone will not remove the pay gap.Whether we as employers like it or not, traditionally male-dominated sectors pay more on average than ...
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ArticleGreet Brosens: What can employers do to address the pay gap?
The Autumn Statement 2014 announced that the gender pay gap is at its lowest in history and this is fantastic news. However, until the pay gap is completely closed, employers will continue to experience challenges in the workplace.This disparity in pay can be damaging. It can undermine a hard-won reputation, ...
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ArticleRoadchef staff win 17-year battle over share options
Hundreds of Roadchef employees are set to receive a pay-out after settling a 17-year dispute over lost share options.The long-running dispute was between Roadchef Employee Benefits Trustees (REBTL) on behalf of former and current members of staff and its former owner Timothy Ingram Hill, in relation to how the motorway-catering ...
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ArticleObesity ruling could lead employers to make 'reasonable adjustments'
This could be an alarming cause for concern for employers given that more than 64% of adults are classed as being overweight or obese in the UK, according to the Overseas Development Institute.The ECJ found in the case of Karsten Kaltoft v Billund, in which a childmider who weighed 25 ...
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ArticleRound up of compliance issues in January
A date has been set in the Asda equal-pay case, with legal action likely to be taken by female employees over claims that male employees in the supermarket’s distribution centres are being paid more, despite doing comparable work. The firm representing employees, Leigh Day, and Asda are due to attend ...
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ArticleImpact of the Fit for Work Service
Provided by Health Management, the service includes an online library, telephone, email and online support for employers, staff and GPs, as well as occupational-health-related assessments.This support is for employees who have been, or are expected to be, absent from work for at least four weeks. Staff will be referred by ...
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ArticleEmma Codd: Is shared parental leave a good thing?
Any organisation that wants to attract and retain the best staff must recognise the significance of the legislation to its talent management strategy.Shared parental leave should build on a bigger commitment to workplace agility, recognising employees’ needs and ensuring they can work in a way that supports them in managing ...
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ArticleYvonne Stewart: Is shared parental leave a good thing?
We definitely see it as a positive thing.Dell has a longstanding culture of encouraging team members to optimise their work-life balance. We offer online training to help employees assess their current work-life balance, and overcome any internal and external obstacles to achieving a healthy balance.Our goal is to ensure that ...
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ArticleHigh Court ruling protects bankrupts' pensions
A bankrupt has retained his pension after a High Court judge held that he should not be compelled to hand it over under an Income Payments Order (IPO).The case of Horton v Henry could mean that bankrupts’ pensions are protected after the freedom and choice reforms that come into force ...
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ArticleEllen Broome: Is shared parental leave a good thing?
The reforms are a very welcome development. It is truly encouraging to see the government acknowledging the importance of supporting parents to make genuinely free choices about their work and family lives.By removing one of the key barriers to fathers playing a full and equal part in family life, the ...
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ArticleKey tax and legislative changes that took place in December
The government announced plans to simplify pensions auto-enrolment to ease the burden on employers. The Department for Work and Pensions’ consultation, Technical changes to automatic-enrolment: consultation on draft regulations, set out changes to legislation that include the introduction of an alternative quality requirement for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes.An Employment ...
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ArticleKey points from the 2014 Autumn Statement
The Chancellor said the government had accepted 51 of 58 recommendations made by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) that were aimed at making the taxation of employee benefits and expenses more straightforward. This will help to reduce the administrative burden on employers, saving an estimated £20 million a year ...