All Employee Benefits articles in Web Issue – Page 344
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Newsquest to close final salary pension scheme to future accrual
Newsquest has announced plans to close its final salary pension scheme to future accrual.The scheme was closed to existing staff in 2007, when employees’ contributions were also increased from 6% to 10%.Some scheme members received the news about the changes on Friday 6 August and others received a letter to ...
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Portus Consulting launches new online business
Portus Consulting has launched a new business Portus Online.The site offers flexible benefits, total reward statements, voluntary benefits, reward and recognition programmes, and benefit communication solutions.It is designed to help employers create reward and benefits solutions to meet the lifestyle needs of their employeesPortus Online can be accessed through the ...
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Sainsbury's increases take-up of cycle-to-work scheme
Since Sainsbury’s launched a cycle-to-work scheme at the end of June, over 100 staff members have taken advantage of it and that number continues to grow.The scheme was introduced so that its 150,000 employees, based at over 850 locations across the UK, will be able to get fit and be ...
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HSBC bank managers face changes to their sickness absence pay
HSBC bank branch managers face having their sickness absence pay reduced to a maximum of 26 weeks.The announcement was made to staff on Tuesday as part of a plan to increase the number of bank branches open on a Saturday from 330 to 500. This change will affect 1,500 branch ...
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Leeds City Council among employers offering corporate wellbeing programmes
Leeds City Council is among the organisations offering staff access to corporate wellbeing coaching, wellness incentive days and onsite massage.Previous organisations to take advantage of the offering, from KK Wellbeing, include Barclays and Manchester Airport.Kay Kirkby, director of KK Wellbeing, said: “Boosting staff morale has a positive effect on any ...
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Majority of investment and pension business is placed through platforms
The majority (62%) of investment and pension business is placed through platforms, says research from Defaqto.The independent financial research company found that 76-100% of investment and pension business is placed through a platform for 38% of IFAs, while 51-75% is placed through platforms for 24%. Only 3% of IFAs do ...
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Majority of BAA staff vote for strike action over pay dispute
Almost two-thirds (74%) of BAA staff members who belong to the union Unite have voted for strike action in a dispute over a 1% pay rise offer.BAA has also informed all staff that they would not receive their annual airport incentive payment of £700 for 2010.Unite balloted 6,185 staff including ...
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Medicash research: Men more likely to be absent due to stress
Men are four times more likely than women to phone in sick due to work related stress, according to a survey from Medicash, the healthcare cash plan provider.In the survey of 3,000 workers, 20% of men admitted to taking two sick days in the past month because of stress, while ...
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Consultation on using CPI for pension payments launched
The government has launched its consultation on the draft regulations related to pensions intended to bring in the changes announced on 8 July 2010.The consultation document seeks views on the draft Financial Assistance Scheme and Pension Protection Fund (Valuation, Revaluation and Indexation Amendments) Regulations 2011. These draft regulations include the ...
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Computacentre launches reward and recognition programme
Computacentre has launched an online reward and recognition programme for its 4,000 employees.Incentive and motivation agency AYMTM will deliver the scheme under the firm’s recognition awards called ‘Excellence in Action’.Among the available recognition applications are personalised ‘Moonpig’ style cards from colleagues to colleagues, to a more formal thank-you from line ...
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Befriending colleagues on Facebook could lead to red faces all round
According to The Protection Gap survey, commissioned by Abbey Legal Protection, 36% of UK employees have been sent a friendship request on Facebook by a colleague, boss or client.The survey shows that one in five workers have photos accessible for colleagues to see on Facebook. More than a quarter of ...
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HMRC clarifies tax rules on end of cycle-to-work scheme hire period
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HRMC) has clarified how employers must calculate the fair market value of a bicycle at the end of a cycle-to-work scheme's hire period.It is common for cycles provided under salary sacrifice arrangements to be sold or transferred to employees after the end of a period ...
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Sodexo Motivation Solutions partners with Cycle Solutions
Sodexo Motivation Solutions has teamed up with Cycle Solutions as the next step in its development of a range of flexible benefits offerings.Sodexo is aiming to raise the profile of the government’s cycle-to-work scheme through the partnership.Kevin Harrington, director of Sodexo Motivation Solutions, said: “Our association with Cycle Solutions is ...
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Special reports from employee benefits on key reward topics
Report on group risk (July 2012)Roundtable on auto-enrolment (June 2012)Report on workplace savings (June 2012)Survey on employee benefits (May 2012)Roundtable on group risk (May 2012)How to manage salary sacrifice company cars (May 2012)Report on workplace savings (April 2012)Survey on flexible benefits schemes (April 2012)Showcase on auto-enrolment (March 2012)Report on financial ...
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Article
Unite calls off strike action after reaching pay deal with BAA
Threatened strike action at six UK airports has been ended as BAA reached an agreement with Unite yesterday.BAA staff and their union, Unite, voiced concerns that a 1% increase on basic earnings plus an additional 0.5% conditional on changes to its sickness agreement fell short of employee expectations.A ballot of ...
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Only 4% of staff would approach boss with health concerns
Only 4% of employees would approach their boss with a health concern, according to new research from Aviva UK Health.The ‘Health of the Workplace’ study also showed that only 5% would confide in a colleague, while 1% would trust their problems to the HR department. By comparison, 60% said they ...
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NHS Employers launches retirement resource pack for staff
NHS Employers has published a resource pack that will help all NHS trusts provide a range of retirement options to their staff.The resource pack sets out how the NHS pension scheme can be used to attract and retain skills.This enables employers to explore a range of retirement options for staff ...
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Staff at AstraZeneca prepare to strike over pension cuts
Employees at one of AstraZeneca's largest factory plants have voted for strike action as it presses ahead with plans to freeze final salary pension benefits.Members of the GMB union at the firm Macclesfield site decided to support industrial action after it emerged the firm was planning to end its defined ...
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Asos.com raises £10,000 since relaunching workplace giving scheme
Asos.com employees have raised more than £10,000 since relaunching its workplace giving scheme in November last year.†The online fashion retailer won the Best Use of Payroll Giving award at this year’s Institute of Fundraising National Awards for the relaunch.Asos.com worked with fundraising organisation Workplace Giving UK to relaunch the scheme ...
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Towers Watson research: Staff require pensions of 65% of salary to retire
The average employee expects to need a pension of around 65% of their salary before retirement, according to research from Towers Watson.Around 13% expect to need less than half their final salary, 25% expect to need around half their final salary and 27% expect to need a retirement income of ...