All Employee Benefits articles in Web Issue – Page 555
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Quorum employees encouraged to travel smart
Employees at Quorum Business Park were encouraged to use alternative means of travelling to work as part of a week-long campaign to raise awareness of sustainable transport.The annual Go smarter campaign coincided with European Mobility Week, between 16-22 September, and prompted employees to travel by foot, bike or public transport.The ...
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PPF levy could rise by 10%
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levy could rise by 10% for 2014/15 unless market conditions change.This is after the levy was held for 2013/14. Speaking at the National Association of Pension Funds’ annual conference, Alan Rubenstein, chief executive of the PPF, said that an increase in levies is necessary if ...
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Pensions rebrand could attract savers
Rebranding pension schemes could encourage more people to save because the term ‘pension’ has become tarnished, said Martin Lewis, journalist and creator of Moneysavingexpert.com.Speaking on the first day of the National Association of Pension Funds’ (NAPF) conference, Lewis said that pensions and the pensions industry has been tarnished in part ...
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The right vicar for the job
Recruiting and retaining staff is not always easy, but a village in Essex has found that its employment package is not quite enough to attract the right vicar for the job. So the villagers have taken to Youtube to highlight their offering.The parishes of St Andrew’s in Bicknacre and St ...
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Consultation launched on employee-owner scheme
The government has launched a consultation that sets out its plans for a new employment status, called employee-owner.The move follows Chancellor George Osborne’s proposal on 8 October that employee-owners would be able to own shares in their company worth between £2,000 and £50,000, which will not be subject to capital ...
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Morrisons helps staff save dough
Morrisons launched a campaign to help its employees understand why they need to save for the future and how to go about it ahead of its auto-enrolment staging date.Its Save Your Dough campaign is aimed at Morrisons 135,000 employees spread across four divisions as part of the organisation’s auto-enrolment strategy. ...
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Disclosure of pension charges essential
Full disclosure of pension charges is essential if scheme members are to gain value for money and subsequently refrain from opting out post-auto-enrolment, according to Gregg McClymont, shadow pensions minister.Although annual management charges (AMCs) are published, this is insufficient, he added. “AMCs may comprise less than a third of total ...
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Pension can be a benefit for all
Employees need to understand the benefit of a pension in order for an employer to see a benefit from investing in a scheme, according to Paul Armitage, head of DC consulting at JLT Benefit Solutions.Speaking on the second day of the National Association of Pension Funds’ annual conference, Armitage said ...
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Kingfisher to bring forward staging dates
NAPF: Kingfisher will auto-enrol its nearly 40,000 employees across six organisations into a money purchase pension scheme on 1 April 2013.Based on the number of employees in each part of its business, parent company Kingfisher would have been enrolling staff between January 2013 and July 2014. Its businesses include B&Q, ...
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Motivating staff is main concern for employers
Ensuring benefits offerings engage and motivate employees is now a bigger concern for employers than the need to attract and keep staff, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).The CIPD Reward risk survey found that for the first time employee attraction and retention has fallen ...
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Gender gap in pensions savings hits new high
The gap between the amount men and women are saving for retirement has grown to a record high, according to research by Scottish Widows.The eighth annual Scottish Widows Women and pensions report, which surveyed 5,200 UK adults, found that the gender gap in retirement savings has increased by more than ...
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Deloitte tackles workplace mental health among staff
Business advisory firm Deloitte has unveiled a black dog statue at is London offices. The statue is a symbol of the firm’s commitment to the Black Dog campaign run by Sane, the mental health charity, to support the mental health and wellbeing of staff.Deloitte has been working with Sane since ...
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John Lewis says auto-enrolment is ‘wrong for us’
NAPF: John Lewis Partnership’s head of pensions, Dinesh Visavadia, has slammed the inflexibility of auto-enrolment legislation because of its disconnect with the organisation’s business strategy. Speaking at the National Association of Pension Funds’ (NAPF) annual conference in Liverpool on 19 October, he said: “It is the wrong kind of legislation ...
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Cigna UKHB launches EAP
Cigna UKHB has launched an employee assistance programme (EAP) to complement its occupational health, medical and dental plans.The EAP provides support for line managers and employees through:An in-house team of telephone counsellors and case managers that deliver a range of support and advisory services.A 24/7 access via free phone, SMS ...
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Incorrect staff status could lead to penalities
Employers should be aware of the areas HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will look at when considering whether a worker is classified as self-employed or as an employee.If an employer treats a worker as a freelancer or contractor when they are, in fact, an employee, HMRC could require the employer ...
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Employers try to avoid pay freezes
UK employers are responding to the difficult economic climate by trying to avoid freezing employees’ pay and focusing on staff retention, according to research by Aon Hewitt.Its 2012/2013 Global salary planning report found that, in 2012, private sector salary budgets increased at a rate of 3.2%, the same rate as ...
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UK employees worried about financial future
More than half (52%) of UK respondents are worried about their financial future and the ability to retire with a sufficient income, according to research by global professional services firm Towers Watson.The third part of its Global workforce study, a survey of 32,000 employees worldwide, including 2,600 UK workers, also ...
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HeiaHeia launches workplace exercise product
HeiaHeia has launched an online product, which employers can offer to staff to promote exercise and healthy activities.The online product, which was first introduced in Finland, has been used in Scandanavia by employers, such as Ericsson, PepsiCo and GE Healthcare Finland. It has now been rolled out in the UK.Employers ...
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Capita appoints pensions consultant
Capita Employee Benefits has appointed Peter Vickers as pensions consultant.He has joined the organisation from Thomsons Online Benefits, where he was a business consultant.His previous experience includes senior pensions consultant at Willis Employee Benefits and client manager at Alexander Forbes Financial Services.Vickers said: “Coping with the issues of auto-enrolment and ...
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Equal pay ruling could raise employer costs
The Supreme Court has ruled that equal pay claims can be brought through civil courts rather than employment tribunals, which will extend the time limit to make a claim from six months to six years.Birmingham City Council, the employer at the centre of the case, appealed to the Supreme Court ...