All Employee Benefits articles in Web Issue – Page 219
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Article
Lloyds TSB Autolease launches online fleet calculators
Lloyds TSB Autolease has launched three free online calculator tools to help employers manage fleet costs.The calculators each focus on one area of fleet management, covering fuel bills, cash allowance takers and whole life cover costs.Fleet managers input headline figures in each category to work out the estimated annual cost ...
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Article
Morris & Spottiswood offers hybrid cars to clean up fleet
Morris & Spottiswood has cleaned up its fleet by limiting its company car selection to just two models, both of which run on environmentally-friendly hybrid fuel.The building company, which specialises in fit-outs for large retailers, housing development and maintenance, previously offered a choice of 15 diesel cars that emitted an ...
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Article
Extension to flexible working confirmed
The government has confirmed it will press ahead with plans to extend the right to request flexible working hours to 4.5 million extra people.However the Confederation of British Industry has expressed concern at the timing of the changes, which come into effect in April 2009.The extension allows all parents with ...
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Analysis
Lloyds TSB's proposed merger with HBOS could create fleet giant
Lloyds TSB's proposed merger with HBOS would create the country's biggest fleet management player and rationalisation is inevitable, but there should still be plenty of competition, says Nic PatonOne of the less remarked-upon aspects of the agreed £12bn merger of Lloyds TSB and Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), has been ...
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Article
Japanese employers urged to give employees more time to reproduce
Key employers in Japan are tackling the country's demographic crisis head on with new work life balance strategies aimed to encourage employees to have more sex and spend time with the family.The country's leading employers have reportedly established family weeks and are encouraging employees to actively participate in boosting the ...
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Article
Celerant introduces GPP and flexible benefits scheme
Celerant Consulting has overhauled its benefits package by launching a group personal pension (GPP) for UK staff and a flexible benefits scheme.It has also introduced a salary sacrifice arrangement around pension contributions into the GPP.The process management company, which employs 120 UK staff, will contribute between 3% and 20% of ...
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Article
Workers worry and working more
Employees are working and worrying more, often for no financial reward, as the downturn begins to bite, according to research from Friends Provident. The Britain Under Pressure survey found that UK employees are working an average of seven hours’ unpaid overtime each week, losing out on a combined £23bn a ...
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Analysis
Employers look to identify savings on pay and benefits
The looming recession has prompted employers to look into identifying savings on pay and benefitsAS THE COUNTRY heads towards recession, the need to reduce or control costs has prompted many organisations to examine areas where cutbacks can be made and a number are now reviewing their pay and reward structures. ...
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Article
Amanda Wilkinson, editor of Employee Benefits: Value for money essential to tackle tough year
In normal circumstances, people are often glad of the fresh opportunities a new year brings. But as 2008 draws to an end and 2009 beckons, many may be wishing the new year was over before it has even begun. The year ahead promises to be tough, with the UK now ...
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Article
Annette Lawson, consultant, policy and diversity, Abbey: Back-up care can help avoid some stresses
In October this year, Abbey became one of the first retail banks in the UK to offer back-up [also known as emergency] care to its 16,000-strong workforce. This is in marked contrast to the US, where back-up care has been a popular employee benefit across most industries for several years.Back-up ...
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Article
Chris Noon, partner at Hymans Robertson: Challenge the commoditisation of benefits
Over the past 15 years, the balance of risk and responsibility that is inherent in the design of employee benefits plans has seen a dramatic shift from employer to employee. Some of this has been driven by cost, such as the flight from defined benefit pensions, and some by employee ...
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Article
Pension enquiries soar in downturn
Pension enquiries from scheme members have soared because of fears triggered by turmoil in the financial markets, says Aon Consulting. The firm reported a leap in the volume of retirement (60%) and transfer value quotation (74%) requests it received in September, compared with the same time last year. The total ...
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Article
Clampdown on bonuses
More than a quarter of employers (27%) have decreased levels of staff bonuses, pay or benefits in response to the financial downturn, according tothe Institute of Directors (IoD). The Policy Voice survey of 1,114 IoD members also revealed that the same proportion had reduced expenditure on staff entertainment, including Christmas ...
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Article
VAT refund claims window to close
A 12-month window to claim VAT refunds on two specific areas of fleet dating back to 1973 will close at the end of March 2009. It covers fleet support bonus payments made to employers that bought company cars outright between 1973 and 1996/7. HM Revenue and Customs will also consider ...
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Article
Pension levy estimate set
The Pension Protection Fund has set an estimated pension protection levy of £700m and a levy scaling factor of 2.22 in advance of 2009/10. The PPF said it decided to keep the same levy estimate as last year, indexed to wages, to ease the burden on levy payers. It has ...
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Article
IES appoints Brown
Duncan Brown has joined the Institute for Employment Studies as director of HR development. He was previously a director in PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ reward practice for two years. Brown said that he is looking forward to his new role, which has been specially created for him after 20 years in the field. ...
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Article
Buyer's guide to motivation vouchers (December 2008)
Vouchers remain popular as a means of motivating staff, says Tom WashingtonAs benefits practitioners continue to look for ways of engaging staff, motivation vouchers remain in demand. According to Andrew Johnson, director general of trade body the VA, there has been a rise in business-to-business activity, which he attributes to ...
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Article
Buyer's guide to group income protection (December 2008)
Group income protection products have undergone much development in recent years, providing more flexibility, says Nicola SullivanThe past few years have seen a number of changes in the way employers offer group income protection, as well as much product development, with providers adding options such as rehabilitation services to schemes. ...
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Article
Employers are failing to meet eyecare regulations
Many employers are failing to meet health and safety regulations by not paying for eye tests and the full cost of basic spectacles for employees who require them when using a visual display unit (VDU), such as a computer.Eight-out-of-10 (81%) employers are only making a contribution to the cost of ...
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Article
Firms may consider levelling down pensions in 2012
Almost half of employers may end up considering scaling back their pension provision when auto-enrolment and compulsory employer contributions are introduced in 2012.Research by Gissings shows more than one-in-five employers (21%) may consider levelling down their provision to the statutory minimum, and 28% have yet to decide whether to do ...