All articles by Tynan Barton – Page 47
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AnalysisBuyer’s guide to private medical insurance
The factsWhat is private medical insurance (PMI)? PMI is health insurance to cover employees for the treatment of curable short-term medical conditions. Cover can include consultations, diagnostic tests and in-patient and out-patient procedures.What are the origins of PMI?The roots of PMI can be traced back to the late 19th century, ...
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Case StudiesCapital One builds enticing employee value proposition
The EVP focuses on benefits in the context of total reward. It covers the standard benefits offered by the organisation, such as private medical insurance, pensions and bikes for work, and also ensures that staff are given details about their working environment, development opportunities and health and wellbeing initiatives.Jill Cunnison, ...
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Case StudiesMcCarthy and Stone uses financial education to boost pension take-up
The revamp was driven by the fact that the group personal pension (GPP) scheme the employer had offered since the 1990s had not changed much since it was implemented. Its new scheme is a self-invested personal pension (Sipp) supplied by Hargreaves Lansdown as part of its Corporate Vantage platform, a ...
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AnalysisKey issues around fleet salary sacrifice schemes
Estimates for the number of cars covered by salary sacrifice schemes vary, but a realistic figure would be 50,000-75,000, and this figure is expected to grow in coming years.The number of providers has also increased significantly and recent focus has been on the ‘employee experience’. Many suppliers are concentrating on ...
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ArticleInterview with Mark Goodlake, group reward manager at Tullow Oil
For example, at Astellas Pharmaceuticals, where he was senior director reward, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), before joining Tullow Oil last month as group reward manager, Goodlake learnt that reward helps to boost employee engagement. “At Astellas, we didn’t do anything unless it related to organisational values and ...
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AnalysisWhat is a relevant life policy?
Key points about relevant life policies:A relevant life policy (RLP) provides life cover outside of the structure of a registered pension scheme.An RLP’s death benefits do not form part of an employee’s lifetime allowance, so does not trigger a tax charge.The premiums of an RLP do not form part of ...
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AnalysisBenefits offered to staff based outside the UK
Sample: Respondents responsible for compensation and benefits in their own organisation, which offer benefits to staff based outside the UK (80)Source: The Benefits Research 2013, Employee Benefits, published May 2013.
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ArticleBuyer's guide to bikes-for-work schemes 2014
One of the main attractions of the scheme is the tax and national insurance (NI) breaks it offers employees and employers.Employees can reduce their tax and NI liability when they buy a bike for their commute to work through a salary sacrifice arrangement. The typical saving for a standard-rate taxpayer ...
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AnalysisHealthcare benefits to address depression in the workplace
If you read nothing else, read this…One in five adults in the UK experience anxiety or depression.Line manager training and online assessment tools can help employees to manage depression.A support programme to address depression can integrate all healthcare benefits.This finding, together with the detrimental effect winter can have on employees’ ...
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AnalysisThe value of health cash plan benefits paid in 2012
Read the digital version of our Health cash plan supplement 2014 in full.
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AnalysisWhy health cash plans are an integral part of a health and wellbeing strategy
If you read nothing else, read this:Health cash plans can be used to support an employer’s wellbeing strategy.The wide range of healthcare benefits available through a cash plan makes them appeal to all members of a workforce.A cash plan sits well alongside, not in place of, other healthcare benefits such ...
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Case StudiesLow-cost benefits help Hertfordshire County Council balance budget
Like many public-sector employers, the council has had to work with limited resources after a number of budget cuts in recent years.This is against the backdrop of an ageing and increasing population in the county with complex needs, which are putting extra demands on the council’s services.Emily Austin, HR pay ...
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AnalysisInterview with Sally Purbrick, head of reward, Anglian Water
“The days have gone in Anglian Water when the traditional HR department was just seen as something that brings people into the organisation and pays them,” she says.“It’s about the value we can bring. Specifically, the reward area, and our strategies around linking personal performance to reward, pushes the reward ...
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Analysis
Benefits to energise a workforce
If you read nothing else, read this…Well-considered health and wellbeing initiatives can boost employee performance.Team challenges, such as marathon running, can improve staff camaraderie.Healthy-eating workshops can help staff take responsibility for their own health. Logic dictates that healthier workers will also be more productive and motivated to put more discretionary ...
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Case Studies
City and Guilds studies flex communications
The vocational qualifications provider has three enrolment windows each year; the main one is in November, with the other two in March and July. Staff feedback has shown City and Guilds that, at present, employees are interested in tangible benefits that give an immediate value, so the organisation has focused ...
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AnalysisFlexible benefits schemes can help staff keep new year's resolutions
If you read nothing else, read this…The new year is a good time for employers to educate staff about the flexible benefits they offer. Financial wellbeing is a particular area of focus for many employees as they assess their Christmas spending.Successful flexible benefits schemes require good forward planning. Employers could ...
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Article
Government to pilot public sector pay cost control
Autumn Statement 2013: Chancellor George Osborne has announced that the government will pilot a pay bill control to tackle public sector pay costs.This will replace the 1% cap on pay awards for a small number of government organisations that will take part in the pilot from 2014.The pay bill control, ...
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Case Studies
Towry creates default fund to help staff spread investment risk
The organisation has mirrored the risk profile-based investment approach that it offers to private clients when looking at retirement planning for its own staff. The strategy is a mix of different asset classes.The lifestyle investment strategy Towry created is a blend of a growth-based and a managed approach, a bond ...
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OpinionSimon Chinnery: Plenty of guidance on good governance
Evidence points to the majority of savers wanting someone to take responsibility for their investment decisions, so figures of 70-85% of scheme members opting for the default strategy are the norm. The millions of new savers entering DC for the first time as a result of auto-enrolment is likely to ...
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ArticleInterview with Rosemary Crabb, senior manager, flexible benefits, Nationwide Building Society
The secondment followed a four-year stint with an absence management team at the building society.“Back in 2004, [the flex team was] looking at migrating [benefits] online, whereas previously enrolment for flex had been paper- and brochure- based,” says Crabb.“They were actually integrating the rewards platform, and I was aware they ...