All articles by System Administrator – Page 44

  • Article

    Cadbury moves it voluntary benefits online

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Cadbury Schweppes has moved its voluntary benefits scheme online to enable it to be easily updated.It has also added retail vouchers, PC discounts and telephone offers to the plan.The food and drink manufacturer hopes that by moving the scheme online in place of issuing a bi-annual paper-based brochure, it will ...

  • Article

    IT firm Pandi launches flexible benefits to boost staff engagement

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Pandi, the IT infrastructure provider, has launched a flexible benefits plan in an effort to boost staff engagement levels.The firm had been disappointed with take-up levels around core benefits, that included death-in-service cover and a Bupa healthcare plan, and put this down to poor communication with its largely field-based employees.It ...

  • Case Studies

    Nationwide Building Society has a comprehensive flexible benefits scheme

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Nationwide Building Society has a comprehensive flexible benefits scheme from which 19,164 staff can select perks.Prior to Nationwide’s takeover of Portman Building Society, around 50% of employees actively selected flexible benefits through the firm’s Choices scheme.The plan has 15 options including environmentally-friendly initiatives such as a carbon offsetting option and ...

  • Case Studies

    Siemens works hard to communicate its flexible benefits to staff

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Siemens places a great deal of importance on how its four-year-old flexible benefits scheme is communicated. Gavin Hayward, head of compensation and benefits at Siemens in the UK, explains: “We have a project team that works on internal communications, and we use some external publicity organisations to help with creating ...

  • Case Studies

    ING Direct launched flexible benefits on a cost-neutral basis

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    ING Direct launched a flexible benefits scheme on 1 January this year, with the aim of running it on a cost-neutral basis after start-up costs. Human resources director, Jennie Monon, explains: "We wanted to increase choice without increasing cost." The company's flexible benefits pot was created by enabling staff to ...

  • Article

    Universal Music axes salary sacrifice mobile phones

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Universal Music has been forced to axe its salary sacrifice mobile phone benefit due to poor staff take-up rates.The media firm believes that because the scheme was introduced at a time when employees were already tied into their own mobile phone contracts, many were reluctant to purchase another mobile phone.Michael ...

  • Article

    Allianz flexes pre-pay card

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Insurance firm, Allianz is replacing its paper-based discount voucher scheme with a pre-pay chip and pin debit card in an attempt to reduce administration.The card will be launched in January 2008 and it is hoped that it will also contribute to an increase in loyalty and motivation.The firm is to ...

  • Article

    Pension trustees urged to examine all the beneficiary evidence

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Pension trustees have been urged to study in detail the evidence about beneficiaries when making a decision on the distribution of a death benefit.A recent ombudsman decision in the case of Mrs P v Centrica Pension Scheme (the scheme) resulted in a finding of maladministration against the trustee for failing ...

  • Article

    Adrian Thornley moves to Cluttons

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    EC Harris' human resources manager Adrian Thornley has moved to property consultants Cluttons as human resources director. His new role is at board level. Thornley said: "It's a challenging time and I'm looking forward to helping the company grow."

  • Article

    Failure to monitor sickness absence costs

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Only just over a third of employers (34%) know how much sickness absence costs them each year, although 80% of them believe that their sickness absence procedures are adequate enough to enable them to manage any financial implications. However, according to the Sickness absence survey by disability insurer Unum, almost ...

  • Case Studies

    Acxiom manages absence effectively

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Acxiom plan for early warning to help it manage absence more effectively - and benefit from a bonus worth 5% of its annual premium - it implemented Legal & General's early notification scheme in 2006. This requires it to report at least 80% of its long-term absences by the sixth ...

  • Case Studies

    Westminster City Council's EAP has impacted its absence rates

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Although Westminster City Council cannot attribute a fall in absence rates entirely to its employee assistance programme, it believes the 24-hour helpline has had an impact.Since the EAP was introduced in May 2006, sickness absence rates have fallen from an average of 10 to eight-and-a-half days.While Trevor Webster, strategic HR ...

  • Case Studies

    AA offers its senior managers flexible benefits

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Senior managers at the AA have been offered access to flex as part of their reward package for the last six years.Previously, the AA was a division of Centrica, but when the AA was sold by the utility company to two private equity firms, the HR team took a fresh ...

  • Article

    Flexible benefits supplement October 2007

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Make sure a supplier does your biddingLook for potential savings to fund flexible benefitsIt's tough working out how to refresh flexChoice over popular perksMake best use of potential flex dataFlex makes gains in corporate lifeSponsor's comment: Flew reward: the next generationInterest in flexible benefits never seems to fade. Even Gordon ...

  • Article

    Happiness research 2007

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Benefits to make staff happyYouGov Employee Happiness IndexHow to drive happiness in the workplaceHow happy workers behaveSatisfaction with benefitsDownload: The Happiness research (PDF 973KB)Benefits to make staff happyEmployers should focus on recognition and reward, including benefits, as well as career development to boost workplace happiness of staffIt is perceived HR ...

  • Case Studies

    KPMG has 16 options in its flexible benefits scheme

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Financial consultancy firm, KPMG UK, has 16 options in its flexible benefits scheme, but the most popular is life assurance, followed by the pension and medical insurance.The next most popular benefit is holiday trading so staff can buy or sell leave provided they are left with between 20 and 30 ...

  • Case Studies

    Saatchi & Saatchi previously ran a phantom share scheme

    2007-09-02T23:00:00Z

    Saatchi & Saatchi ran a phantom share option scheme from the late 1990s to 2002.The advertising giant was then in the process of implementing a savings-related share option scheme for its employees, but found that the complexities of securities laws or exchange controls in some parts of the Far East ...

  • Article

    Under a third reward overtime

    2007-09-02T23:00:00Z

    Just under a third (31%) of employers reward their staff for working overtime, according to global research, Working Long Hours by international recruitment consultancy Robert Walters.The survey reports that only 11% of UK employers offer overtime pay to their employees, while 9% offer time off in lieu and career recognition ...

  • Article

    The mechanics of share schemes

    2007-09-02T23:00:00Z

    Share schemes have maturity options and tax implications that need explaining.For many employees, joining a company share scheme may be their first serious encounter with the stock market and how it works.While many employers believe that share schemes help boost motivation by giving staff a sense of ownership there are ...