All articles by Tynan Barton – Page 36
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OpinionRosemary Lemon: What does 2018 hold for employee benefits?
Life is getting hard and it looks like getting tougher in 2018 as we struggle with the potential impact of Brexit, increasing cost of living and the ever expensive property market. Recent press coverage has highlighted the escalating use of food banks and the fact that, as Christmas approaches, some ...
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OpinionAnt Donaldson: What does 2018 hold for employee benefits?
Every year seems to bring new challenges, so what should we be looking out for in 2018?As always, changing regulations are a key theme. Despite a quiet Budget, the headline change is the increase in minimum pensions auto-enrolment contributions to 5% from April, including 3% from employees, with a further ...
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OpinionNigel Peaple: Employers need to support employees with pension choices
Automatic-enrolment has been extremely successful and there are now 13.5 million people who are active members of a pension scheme, according to the Office for National Statistics' (ONS) Occupational pension scheme survey, published in September 2017. This means that employers are making a substantial contribution to many workers' retirement aspirations. ...
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OpinionJohn Williams: Line managers can contribute to agile working conditions
People are heavily influenced by their working environment. Rigid structures and siloed departments with complex hierarchies are becoming something of the past; employees now naturally want to work in flexible, friendly and, dare we say it, fun organisations. But is this the reality in the UK workplace? And if not, ...
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Case StudiesBelron UK uses feedback from line managers and staff to inform recognition scheme
Belron UK relied on employees' and line managers' feedback to design a new recognition scheme.The vehicle glass repair and replacement organisation, which owns Autoglass UK, worked with provider OC Tanner to design a new scheme based on employees’ views, which included feedback that there was not enough recognition throughout the ...
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Case StudiesSt Andrew’s Healthcare works with line managers on pay strategy
St Andrew’s Healthcare has worked with its line managers to redesign its pay strategy.The mental healthcare charity's reward team and HR business partners spoke with line managers to find out their views on the previous approach to pay, for example, what worked well, what factors were missing, and whether there ...
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AnalysisWhat role do line managers play in the design of a reward strategy?
Need to know:Line managers can provide essential insight and employee feedback to aid the design of a reward strategy.If line managers are involved in a reward change management project, they can act as advocates when communicating changes to employees.Line managers can play an essential role in supporting employees’ health and ...
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OpinionRuth Christy: Avoiding the pitfalls of the office Christmas party
The Christmas party season is approaching and, for employers, it could open a Pandora’s Box of complications if not carefully managed.The office Christmas party presents two specific challenges: the party is normally off site and the combination of high spirits and alcohol. This unique work-related scenario requires some forward planning ...
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Case StudiesHome Group uses a range of festive schemes to reward employees
Home Group involves its employees in a range of reward schemes during the festive period to show its appreciation of their work throughout the year.As well as decorating offices and desks, the provider of social housing, and care and support services, has held a 12 Days of Christmas event in ...
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AnalysisWhat are the latest trends in Christmas rewards?
Read more:Gift cards and vouchers remain a popular choice of Christmas reward because they offer employees choice and flexibility around where to spend them.Tailored gifts, such as mobile beauty services, experience vouchers and personalised products, are increasing in popularity among employers.Employers must consider the messages that their Christmas rewards are ...
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ArticleEmployers tax relief for life assurance and overseas pensions to be modernised
Autumn Budget 2107: The government has announced that tax relief for employer premiums paid into life assurance schemes or certain overseas pension schemes will be modernised.The changes, coming into effect from April 2019, will cover policies when an employee nominates an individual or registered charity to be their beneficiary.
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ArticleIncome tax exemption for Armed Forces accommodation allowances announced
Autumn Budget 2017: The government has announced the introduction of an income tax and national insurance contribution (NIC) exemption for accommodation allowances for Armed Forces personnel.The exemption will apply to certain allowances paid to personnel for renting or maintaining accommodation in the UK private market.The exemption is to support the ...
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ArticleStaff will not incur benefit-in-kind tax for charging electric vehicles at work
Autumn Budget 2017: Employees that charge their electric vehicles at work will not incur a benefit-in-kind charge on the electricity used.Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the move, which will come into effect from April 2018, during his Autumn Budget 2017 speech today (22 November).The announcement is part of the government’s focus ...
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ArticleDiesel supplement in company car tax to increase by 1%
Autumn Budget 2017: The government has announced that the existing company car tax diesel supplement will increase from 3% to 4% in April 2018.This will only apply to diesel cars that do not meet the latest emissions limits.In the Autumn Budget 2017, Chancellor Philip Hammond also announced that, from April ...
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ArticleStaffcare relaunches as Zest
Employee benefits technology provider Staffcare has relaunched its business as Zest, and simultaneously launched its new benefits technology platform.The launch marks the culmination of a multi-million, three-year investment programme by Zest, supported by its parent company, The SimplyBiz Group.Ray Sieber, managing director of Zest, said: “Today marks a major shift ...
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OpinionMark Swain: Tips for engaging younger workers with their health and wellbeing
Early-career professionals seem to have a growing mistrust of the 'big bad corporate', and anything that commits them to something over the long term. Maybe that’s symptomatic of younger people making only short-term commitments, and having many more jobs and projects over their working lifetime. And this transience is compounded ...
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OpinionEdward Houghton: The best reward strategies are often data driven
Reward and pay are fundamentally important factors for helping to attract, retain and engage employees at work. Given the availability and increasing prominence of data systems to HR professionals, the best strategies are now, more often than not, data-driven: both in their development and in their communication. To succeed today, ...
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ArticleCivil Service to launch diversity and inclusion strategy
Employee Benefits Live 2017: The Civil Service is to launch a new strategy to improve diversity and inclusion (D&I) within its workforce, in order to see improvements in its business performance.Addressing delegates at Employee Benefits Live 2017 in a session titled How to make progress and impact with diversity and ...
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Case StudiesThe benefits offered by Oliver Bonas
The workplace benefits offered by Oliver Bonas include:PensionPension: Master trust, with standard contribution rates required under auto-enrolment. These currently stand at 1% from the employer and 1% employee.Healthcare and wellbeingPrivate medical insurance, employer funded, for senior managers and store managers.Health cash plans, employee paid, available through the benefits platform.Compay carsCompany ...
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Case StudiesOliver Bonas redesigns benefits strategy to reflect core values
Lifestyle retailer Oliver Bonas has reviewed and restyled its benefits strategy in order to reflect its core values: work hard, play hard, and be kind.With the majority of its 820 employees working part-time in stores, the organisation recognises that its benefits have to appeal to many different people, as well ...