All Employee Benefits articles in Web Issue – Page 264
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BDO Stoy Hayward boosts cycle to work take-up
BDO Stoy Hayward has increased take up of its cycle-to-work scheme by running an extra enrolment period for the first time.The accountancy firm first launched the scheme to its 3,000 staff in December 2007 when it achieved a 4% take up.It was offered to staff again in December last year ...
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JCB launches eye care vouchers
JCB has launched eye care vouchers for staff to replace an in-house optician service.The manufacturer purchased vouchers for visual display unit (VDU) users and prescription safety spectacles from Specsavers Corporate Eyecare last month for around 4,000 employees.It previously used to provide employees with an optician that came onsite to carry ...
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Lloyds Banking Group integrates share plan businesses
The Lloyds Banking Group will merge its two offshore employee equity share plan businesses based in Jersey following the merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS.Following a review on how best to bring the two businesses together, the decision has been taken to transfer the Lloyds TSB Offshore Trust Company's Corporate ...
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American Express suspends pension contributions
American Express has suspended employer contributions into its occupational pension scheme in a move to cut costs.The financial services firm, which employs around 6,000 staff in the UK, has announced that it will halt the contributions for up to 18 months from 1 July to maintain profitability in the economic ...
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ITV comedy creates a stir with HR professionals
ITV's recessionary comedy Monday Monday has created a stir within the HR community.The programme, which screens at 9pm on Monday nights on ITV, is a colourful farce about the questionable behaviour of an alcoholic HR department head.The writers miraculously managed to weave a short discussion about defined benefit (DB) funding ...
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Barclays staff balloted on industrial action over final salary pension closure
Barclays employees are set to be balloted on whether to take industrial action over the bank's decision to close its final salary pension scheme.Trade union Unite says its members are incensed at the pension proposals, which would result in the total closure of Barclays' pension scheme. In a consultative ballot, ...
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Gap between absence in the public and private sector widens
The gap between public and private sector absence has increased from 2.6 days per employee per year to 3.3 days, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).The CIPD's Absence Management Survey of more than 600 employers shows that while private sector absence has fallen from ...
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Article
Heyday case on default retirement age returns to court
The Heyday case on the default retirement age (DRA) has returned to the Administrative Court to determine whether or not it is legitimate for UK employers to continue with the current practice of retiring employees when they reach age 65.The hearing, set to end today with a final judgement expected ...
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Article
Walker Review proposes to curb excessive pay in banking
The Walker Review of corporate governance in the banking sector has made a series of recommendations on remuneration which are designed to curb excessive pay policies in the financial services sector.The review, conducted by David Walker, looked at banks' board quality, pay policy, risk management procedures and the role of ...
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Article
The Royal Mail Group wins award for tackling sickness absence
The Royal Mail Group has won an award after reducing its sickness absence rate by 7% in one year, saving the organisation more than £15 million.Royal Mail's health and wellbeing programme, which demonstrates the value of each employee’s contribution to the organisation, has earned it the accolade of the Business ...
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Only 65% of AIM 100 firms disclose executive remuneration details
Only 65% of Alternative Investment Market (AIM) 100 companies publish an executive remuneration report with a minority putting this to a shareholder vote, according to research conducted by Hewitt New Bridge Street.The 2009 Report on FTSE AIM 100 Directors’ Remuneration also showed just 21% of AIM companies disclose any cap ...
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Co-operative Group launches healthcare services for staff
Co-operative Group and Co-operative Financial Services are launching occupational healthcare services for 82,000 employees.Under the programme, staff will have access to pre-employment referrals and absence management services, including physiotherapy and workstation assessments to help improve employee wellbeing and reduce absence.The employers have teamed up with Atos Healthcare to provide the ...
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Article
ING Direct is reviewing its flexible benefits scheme
ING Direct is reviewing its flexible benefits scheme to ensure it continues to be relevant for its workforce and increases levels of employee engagement.The firm has awarded Aon Consulting a 12-month contract to provide consultancy, benefit broking and communication services for its flex scheme Pick & Mix.In addition, measures will ...
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Asperity Employee Benefits achieves security standard
Asperity Employee Benefits has been accredited by BSI to ISO EN 27001 the internationally-recognised standard for information security management.The standard ensures companies understand and classify the data that they hold on individuals and the risks and threats associated with that data. The standard ensures risks are managed through process and ...
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The Finance Act 2009 receives Royal Assent
Tax relief on pensions for employees with an income of £150,000 or more will be tapered downwards, falling to 20% for those earning more than £180,000 as a result of the Finance Act 2009, which has received Royal Assent.The Act also contains anti-forestalling measures designed to prevent high earners from ...
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Pensions tax changes could cost execs more than £50,000
Changes to pension tax relief mean a typical director of a FTSE 100 company will, from 2011, pay more than £50,000 a year in additional tax until they retire.†The changes, ratified in the Finance Act which received Royal Assent this week, mean tax relief on pensions for employees with an ...
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FSA fines HSBC Actuaries and Consultants £875,000 for losing data
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined HSBC Actuaries and Consultants £875,000 for losing personal information of 1,917 pension scheme members.Their details were contained on an unencrypted floppy disk, which was lost in the post in April 2007. The confidential information included members' addresses, dates of birth and national insurance ...
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Pagan police officers get additional leave for summer solstice
News that Pagan police officers are given special dispensation to take eight Pagan holidays a year will no doubt get HR professionals wondering how they should allocate annual leave for staff that do not follow the Christian calendar.But tailoring holidays for followers of many different faiths might be easier said ...
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Macmillan selects Hymans Robertson for investment advice
The £85m Macmillan Limited Pension and Life Assurance Plan has appointed Hymans Robertson to provide investment consulting services.The role will include advising on investment strategy, plan structure and manager selection.Catherine Fleming, secretary for The Pension and Life Assurance Plan of Macmillan Limited, said: “We were very impressed by Hymans Robertson’s ...
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Parity Training appoints Enrich as healthcare and risk adviser
Parity Training has appointed as its healthcare and risk advisor.The 36-month contract with Enrich will see 110 employees provided with private medical, dental and group life insurance, income protection, critical illness insurance and a death-in-service pension.Sabi Farooqi, HR manager at Parity Training said: “Working with Enrich has been a reassuring ...