All Employee Benefits articles in Web Issue – Page 504
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EXCLUSIVE: Three adds discounted mobile phones to flexible benefits scheme
Three has added discounted mobile phones to its flexible benefits scheme.The new perk, which was trialled in 2011, was introduced in March, during the telecommunications firm’s annual flexible benefits enrolment window. Brands on offer include HTC, Blackberry, Samsung and Sony.Three will also introduce an additional flexible benefits enrolment window in ...
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48% of respondents are saving into a workplace pension
Less than half (48%) of respondents make regular contributions into a workplace pension scheme, according to research by Friends Life.The research also found that 19% do not have a pension at all, 11% do not know how much they contribute in their pension, and 35% save less than £100 a ...
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Towers Watson launches iPad application for HR management
Towers Watson has launched a human capital metrics (HCM) iPad application.The HCM app can be used by employers to measure and compare the cost and effectiveness of their HR programmes, as well as managing retention, turnover and labour costs.The app includes:Access to benchmarking data developed using Towers Watsons’ HCM database.The ...
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More than one million DB members will have benefits provided by insurance firms
More than a million members of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes will have their pension benefits provided by insurance firms by 2017, as increasing numbers of organisations and trustees de-risk their pension liabilities using insurance, according to research by Lane, Clark and Peacock (LCP).The fifth annual LCP Pension buy-ins, buy-outs ...
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Birmingham Airport appoints pension scheme actuary
Birmingham Airport has appointed Barnett Waddingham to provide actuarial and administrative services for its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The actuary and consultancy firm already provides investment services for the scheme.Joe Kelly, deputy chief executive officer at Birmingham Airport, said: “We carried out a rigorous tender process, asking prospective service providers ...
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DC pension scheme members must save 10 times more than DB members
A 35-year-old joining a defined contribution (DC) pension scheme today could have to contribute more than 10 times the annual contributions of a colleague in a defined benefit (DB) pension scheme to build an equivalent pension at retirement, according to research by Pension Corporation.The research found that this would equate ...
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Payroll-giving scheme celebrates 25 years
The payroll-giving scheme, which allows employees to donate to charities directly from their gross pay, is 25 years old in April.The Association of Payroll Giving Organisations (APGO) marked the anniversary by delivering a giant card to 10 Downing Street, highlighting the £1.2 billion raised and thanking organisations and their staff ...
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Unilever staff vote to accept pension changes
Unilever staff have voted to accept changes to their final salary pension scheme, which will be closed and replaced with a career average revalued earnings (Care) scheme.Following talks with the union Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) in February, Unilever maintained its position that the existing final salary pension scheme ...
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Aer Lingus appoints HR and payroll outsourcing provider
Aer Lingus has appointed NorthgateArinso to provide HR and payroll services.As part of its six-year contract with NorthgateArinso, the Irish airline will consolidate its HR and payroll systems and processes into a single platform. It will also establish an HR shared services centre at Dublin Airport.The airline will also use ...
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More than a third of respondents yet to take action on removal of earnings cap
More than a third (36%) of respondents have not yet taken action to remove the earnings cap on group risk benefits paid out to employees in occupational pension schemes, according to research by industry body Group Risk Development (Grid).The research, which found that a further 30% of respondents are still ...
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Average state pension rises to £124 a week
The average state pension payment for 2012/13 is estimated to be £124 a week, an increase of £6 on last year.The basic state pension will increase from £102.15 to £107.45 a week from this week. The basic state pension will be 17% of average earnings, the highest it has ever ...
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Employers see rise in costs since Agency Workers Regulations took effect
Employers have faced a rise in costs since the Agency Workers Regulations took effect, with the majority citing increases of more than 10%, according to research by law firm Eversheds.The research found that some respondents have seen a rise of between 25% and 50%. Nearly two-thirds are relying on at ...
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The Pension Trust launches auto-enrolment website
The Pension Trust has launched an auto-enrolment website, which aims to guide employers through every step of the process and outline what will be required of them over the coming months.The site will host The Pensions Trust’s cost calculator, which can be used to determine the additional pension costs employers ...
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EXCLUSIVE: Konecta UK harmonises benefits and creates grading structure
Konecta UK has harmonised benefits for its 380 employees, created a grading structure for its roles, and added in a variety of new benefits.The organisation took over an outsourcing contract from Santander in 2008 (when it was still known as Abbey National but was a subsidiary of Grupo Santander), and ...
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London councils propose pooled pension fund
Councils in London are looking into plans to create a pooled pension fund to reduce administration costs and divert up to £2.25 billion to infrastructure projects in the capital.The pensions arrangement would hold up to £30 billion of assets, and is modelled on the infrastructure of Canada's Ontario Municipal Employees ...
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Finance directors do not always liase with HR on benefits
A fifth (20%) of finance directors do not liaise with the HR department on employee benefits, according to research by Unum.The Employee benefits survey, which polled 850 finance directors and chief financial officers, found that a further 27% have limited interaction with the HR team.When asked about income protection, 10% ...
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HMRC among employers piloting real-time information programme
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is among 10 volunteer employers that is piloting the real-time information (RTI) programme from 11 April.Most employers will join RTI from April 2013 and all employers will be using the programme by October 2013.RTI is intended to make it easier for employers, pension providers and ...
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BMW workers reject pay deal
BMW employees at its Mini plant in Oxford have rejected a pay offer, which included a 2.21% basic pay increase, an additional increase of 1.79% for working an extra 30.1 hours a year, and a team bonus of 2%.In a consultative ballot of almost 2,000 Unite members, 97% rejected the ...
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Interxion introduces sleeping pods to ease burden of Olympic commute
While many employers will offer flexible or remote working to ease the stress of commuting during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, date centre services firm Interxion has installed ten pods for workers to sleep in its offices in Brick Lane.The pods are kitted out with laptop holders, earphones ...
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UK councils' pension deficits reached £54bn in 2010-11
Councils across the UK had a combined pension deficit of £54 billion in 2010-11, according to research by The Taxpayers’ Alliance.This figure is down from £91 billion in 2009-10, but still an increase from £51 billion in 2008-09.The research also found:Birmingham City Council had a deficit of £1.3 billion, the ...