All Employee Benefits articles in Web Issue – Page 279
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Analysis
Using driver to improve fleet efficiency
Driver training can make company car users safer and save their employers money, says Nic PatonAccording to statistics published by the Department of Transport, almost one in three UK road accidents involves a company vehicle, while 200 deaths or serious injuries a week involve someone driving for work.In January this ...
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Article
Room for improvement in the standard of employers' retirement literature
Research conducted by the Pensions Regulator has found that 30% of UK employers have allegedly failed to disclose adequate guidance to their employees on defined contribution (DC) pensions.A review of retirement information, which looked at 97 DC schemes, found that 30% had alleged legislative breaches of retirement disclosure regulations, while ...
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Article
Killik launches workplace guide to money matters
Killik Employee Services has launched a workplace financial education service designed to complement the Financial Services Authority's national financial capability initiative.Online serviceThe online service, Money in Mind, gives guidance on matters such as pensions, budgeting, savings and insurance.Staff can access interactive and planning tools such as virtual financial education tutorials ...
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Article
National minimum wage rises today
The national minimum wage rose by 7p to £5.80 an hour starting today (1 October 2009).Workers aged 22 and over will receive a minimum of £5.80 per hour; up from the previous £5.73 national minimum wage.The rate for 18 to 21-year-olds will also increase to £4.83 from £4.77.Minimum wage for ...
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Article
New laws on hospitality sector tips and pay in force
Employers in the hospitality sector will not be able to use tips to make up minimum pay for their staff, following new rules that came into place today.The government said the change would promote fairness and clarity for staff, customers and employers, despite claims from the British Hospitality Association that ...
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Article
West Sussex County Council increases healthcare provision
West Sussex County Council has appointed Atos Healthcare to provide a range of health services for its 22,000 employees and support a further 5,000 employees working at its partner organisations.Under a three-year partnership, staff will be provided with a range of on and off-site services that will include pre-employment, management ...
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Article
The Pension Protection Fund reduces cap on risk-based levy to 0.5%
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is to reduce the cap on its risk-based pension protection levy to 0.5% of liabilities.It said the move will help protect 10% of the schemes which pay the PPF’s levy – an increase from the 5% of vulnerable schemes protected under the previous cap of ...
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Article
Employee Benefits Live 2009 conference slides
To view a presentation from the Employee Benefits Live 2009 which was held in London on 29 - 30 September, please click on the link next to the session below. Not all speakers are able to give us permission to put their slides online. When this happens we have tried ...
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Article
Canada Life launches services to help employers tackle absence
Rising absence levels and a 22% increase in group income protection claims over the past year have prompted Canada Life Group Insurance (CLGI) to launch a range of services designed to help employers prevent workplace absence and reduce the number of staff off on long-term sick.CLGI's Working Well package includes ...
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Article
Employees want gossip breaks and dating service at work
Imagine an office where female workers are granted official gossip breaks, such as the ones unofficially enjoyed by their smoking colleagues, and male employees are allowed to watch the football on plasma screen TVs during working hours.Meanwhile, amorous employees make eyes at each other during internal meetings after being introduced ...
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Article
Hay Group uses swine flu screens to monitor absence
Hay Group’s human capital management (HCM) system has been customised with swine flu screens to effectively manage the impact of the illness on staff absence levels.The global management consultancy launched the HCM system from COA Solutions for the management of its 320 UK staff in March.In preparation for the potential ...
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Article
Google appoints Mercer to act as benefits advisor
Search engine Google has appointed consultancy firm Mercer to act as an advisor for its employee benefits provision in the UK.Mercer will advise the firm on how to manage its contract-based pension scheme and associated risk, as well as its medical arrangements.In addition, Mercer will broker benefits on Google's behalf, ...
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Article
HDI-Gerling implements group stakeholder plan
The UK Branch of HDI-Gerling, the German industrial insurer, has selected Friends Provident to supply a new group stakeholder pension scheme for its UK employees.The new scheme replaces the company’s existing group personal pension (GPP) scheme, provided by Aviva, and follows the closure of the HDI-Gerling’s final salary scheme.All of ...
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Article
Employers increase DC pension contributions despite downturn
Average contributions to UK defined contribution (DC) pension schemes have increased by 1.5% over the last two years despite the economic downturn, according to research by Mercer.The susrvey revealed that since 2007, employers have, on average, increased their contributions from 6.80% to 7.25%, whereas member contributions have increased from 3.60% ...
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Article
LeasePlan implements new benefits portal for staff
LeasePlan has implemented a new benefits portal for its UK employees.The vehicle management and leasing provider introduced the cube3 portal, provided by Lorica Online, as the next stage of its UK employee reward strategy.Sarah Mengham, HR service development manager at LeasePlan, said: "Our people are our most valued asset and ...
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Article
Leading employee benefits managers 2009
High-fliers of the benefits industry share the secrets of their successThe benefits industry has grown significantly over the last decade. As benefits professionals have been expected to deal with the increasing demands placed upon them by such a fast-moving marketplace, their status within organisations has increased exponentially. As a result, ...
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Article
Senior public sector staff could face pay freeze
The government has proposed a pay freeze for senior public sector staff along with rises of less than 1% for hospital doctors, dentists and non-senior civil servants.Chancellor Alistair Darling will write to the independent pay review bodies in a bid to get them to impose the changes, which would come ...
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Article
Beaverbrooks, Whitbread and Aviva awarded for payroll giving excellence
Leading employers, including Beaverbrooks, Whitbread and Aviva, have been recognised for their payroll giving schemes at this year’s Payroll Giving Excellence Awards.At the third annual event, held at HM Treasury on 5 October, jewellery retailer Beaverbrooks won the award for Best launch of a new scheme, as well as the ...
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Article
Co-operative Group appoints Mercer to advise on pension investments
The Co-operative Group has appointed Mercer to provide consulting services for the alternative investments in its defined benefit career average earnings pension fund.These will be phased in over two years to represent 13% of the total fund.Mike Thorpe, pension finance and risk controller at the Co-operative Group, said: "Given the ...
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Article
British Airways to lower wages for new cabin crew
British Airways is to grant voluntary redundancy for 1,000 employees and reduced hours for a further 3,000 more workers, and has confirmed it will recruit new cabin crew on lower wages, as part of continued cost-cutting.The changes, due to come into force in November, will represent a reduction of 1,700 ...