All Employee Benefits articles in Web Issue – Page 523

  • Article

    Job vacancies for zombies

    2012-06-22T11:17:08Z

    News that there are vacancies for zombies to work at a haunted manor house brings a whole new meaning to being stuck in a dead-end job.The experience website Wish.co.uk wants to hire the scary recruits to battle with guests visiting its Zombie Manor House near Manchester.And, according to the job ...

  • Article

    Employee Benefits Summit 2012 - slides

    2012-06-25T10:12:00Z

    To view a presentation from Employee Benefits Summit, which was held at the Penha Longa Hotel, Portugal, 20-22 2012, please click on the link next to the sessions below..Reducing the Cost of Sickness to Employers, Taxpayers and the Economy - Download PDF of slidesDavid Frost, CBE Co-chair of ‘Health at ...

  • Article

    Opus Energy launches workplace wellbeing scheme

    2012-06-25T11:04:00Z

    Opus Energy has launched a workplace wellbeing scheme, which is aimed at increasing the overall mental and physical wellbeing of its 410 employees.The scheme, Opus Energise, will offer:An online health and wellbeing information portal.Quarterly health challenges, starting with a pedometer team competition.Health screenings and advice.Access to an occupational health programme.A ...

  • Article

    Hermes Fund Managers accredited as living wage employer

    2012-06-25T11:12:00Z

    Boutique fund manager Hermes has been accredited as a living wage employer.Hermes Fund Managers, which employs over 400 staff in London, joins a group of 100 accredited living wage employers in the UK.As an accredited employer, Hermes Fund Managers ensures that all employees are paid the living wage and above, ...

  • Article

    BT barred in attempt to lower pension scheme costs

    2012-06-25T11:14:00Z

    BT has been barred from inducing its competitors to share in the costs of lowering its £3 billion pension scheme deficit by setting higher charges for their use of its phone lines.The Competition Commission has decided that BT’s regulator, Ofcom, correctly barred the organisation from including deficit repair charges from ...

  • Article

    AWD Chase de Vere partners with accountancy firm to provide auto-enrolment advice

    2012-06-25T23:00:00Z

    Independent financial advisory firm AWD Chase de Vere has entered into a partnership with the Welsh accountancy firm Ktsowensthomas (KTS).AWD Chase de Vere will provide independent financial advice to employers working with KTS, including investment and pension advice and strategies to prepare for, and implement, auto-enrolment.Stephen Kavanagh, chief executive at ...

  • Article

    Low Pay Commission launches consultation on the national minimum wage

    2012-06-26T09:00:00Z

    The Low Pay Commission (LPC) has launched a public consultation to obtain views on the operation of the national minimum wage (NMW).The consultation is part of a wider evidence-gathering exercise, following the government’s publication of LPC's remit for this year.The remit has requested that LPC consider a number of aspects ...

  • Article

    Derbyshire County Council consolidates additional voluntary contribution pensions

    2012-06-26T09:30:00Z

    Derbyshire County Council Pension Fund has consolidated its additional voluntary contribution (AVC) pension scheme arrangements as part of efforts to boost take-up of AVCs.The council, which previously had three AVC plans, has retained its arrangement with Prudential.AVCs offer pension scheme members a cost-effective, tax-efficient way to increase their pension savings. ...

  • Article

    Forth Ports Group appoints pensions actuarial and investment consultancy

    2012-06-26T23:00:00Z

    Forth Ports Group has appointed Punter Southall to provide a range of actuarial and investment consultancy services for its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The scheme has approximately 2,500 members and assets of around £250 million.The Scottish ports group, which comprises ports in Grangemouth, Dundee, Leith, Rosyth, Methil and Burntisland, conducted ...

  • Article

    More than half of employees are unaware of auto-enrolment

    2012-06-27T09:26:00Z

    More than half of all employees are unaware that their employer will have to auto-enrol them into an occupational pension, according to research by Hymans Robertson.The research found that 51% of employees did not know about auto-enrolment and of those that were aware, almost half said that they had not ...

  • Article

    DHL Supply Chain moves to shared services HR model

    2012-06-27T09:40:00Z

    DHL Supply Chain is moving towards a share services model for HR that will make its administration of reward more efficient and cost effective.The organisation, which is a division of Deutsche Post DHL, will set up a centralised HR team next door to its head office in Milton Keynes towards ...

  • Article

    The Bernicia Group launches flexible benefits scheme for staff

    2012-06-27T10:24:48Z

    The Bernicia Group has launched a flexible benefits scheme for its 350 employees to allow them to maximise choice around their benefits.The housing organisation, which provides more than 8,000 homes throughout the north east of England, has introduced the scheme, Building Bernicia, with You at Work and Barclays.The scheme includes ...

  • Article

    Pension Quality Mark adapts its standard for new types of pension scheme charges

    2012-06-28T09:42:29Z

    The Pension Quality Mark (PQM) is setting up a new standard for pension schemes that use new types of charges, in order to adapt to changes prompted by auto-enrolment.Previously, only defined contribution (DC) pension schemes that used annual management charges (AMCs) were able to apply for the PQM, which was ...

  • Article

    Membership in DC pensions set to reach 16 million by 2020

    2012-06-28T09:46:00Z

    Membership of private sector defined contribution (DC) pensions schemes is projected to more than double, from 6.6 million to 16 million by 2020, according to research by the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) and MetLife Assurance.The research, The changing landscape of pension schemes in the private sector in the UK, found ...

  • Article

    ECJ ruling: Staff on annual leave entitled to extra time off if they become ill

    2012-06-28T10:35:00Z

    The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that employees who become ill while on annual leave have the right to reclaim additional paid leave of the same duration at a later date, regardless of when their ill-health commenced.The ruling was prompted by a Spanish trade union case against a ...

  • Article

    Salaries are up 1.5% year-on-year

    2012-06-28T23:00:00Z

    Salaries are up 1.5% year-on-year in the UK, according to research by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters.The Robert Walters 2012 salary survey found that overall permanent salary levels increased 1.8% in London, 2.4% in Thames Valley and the south east, 0.4% in the Midlands, and 0.8% in the north of England.Contractor ...

  • Article

    Education sector framework appoints payroll provider

    2012-06-28T23:00:00Z

    A framework in the education sector has appointed Equiniti ICS to provide payroll services.The framework, provided by Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC), enables educational institutions, including universities, further education colleges, sixth forms and schools, to procure payroll services from Equiniti ICS’ in-house expertise.Alan Foley, director at Equiniti ICS, said: “We are ...

  • Article

    Bandai UK warehouse employs cat as security guard

    2012-06-29T09:15:00Z

    Millie is not the cat that got the cream, but the one who got the job and the competitive reward package.The Bengal cat has been hired as a security guard at the Bandai UK toy warehouse in Southampton. Having put her paw to paper contract, Millie will be paid in ...

  • Article

    Employee Benefits Pensions and Workplace Savings Research 2012: Investment

    2012-07-01T00:00:01Z

    Getting to grips with pensions and investments can be challenging for employees. With global stock markets and many economies in a state of flux, it is hardly surprising that so many pension scheme members select their plan’s default funds because they either do not want to make a decision about ...

  • Article

    Employee Benefits Pensions and Workplace Savings Research 2012: Schemes on offer

    2012-07-01T00:00:01Z

    The demise of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes and employers’ move to defined contribution (DC) plans has been well documented. This trend can be tracked through Employee Benefits’ pensions research over the last 12 years. In our Pensions strategy research 2000, for example, 39% of respondents offered a DB scheme ...