All Employee Benefits articles in Web Issue – Page 590
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Article
The White Company launches corporate reward division
The White Company has launched a corporate reward division called The White Company for Business, which enables employers to incentivise and recognise employees.Gift vouchers are available in £5, £10 and £50 denominations, which can be spent online, in-store and via phone. The vouchers can also be remotely activated.The White Company ...
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Article
Average pay in 2012 on a par with 2003
The average earnings of UK employees in 2012 were roughly the same as 2003 levels in real terms, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The analysis, which is based on the ONS’s Annual survey of hours and earnings, found that real wages peaked in 2009. Since then, ...
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Article
NAPF launches online auto-enrolment guide
The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has launched a free online auto-enrolment guide for employers.The guide provides information about auto-enrolling staff into a workplace pension. It is broken down into sections, including assessing eligibility, picking a pension scheme, administration and communication.The guide also includes advice about dealing with opt-outs ...
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Article
Rolls Royce to change DB financing
Rolls Royce will change the financing of its defined benefit (DB) pension schemes in 2013 so that the post-retirement benefits are calculated on the net surplus or deficit using an AA corporate bond rate.According to the manufacturer’s 2012 Full year results, if this strategy had been effective in 2012, it ...
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Article
MOD firefighters and police could retire at 60
Ministry of Defence (MOD) firefighters and police could be able to retire at age 60 following amendments to the Public Service Pensions Bill.MOD firefighters and police currently have to work until age 68 before they receive their pension, but the House of Lords has agreed two amendments to the bill. ...
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Article
DOD’s blog: this week in benefits
So, this week we’ve had more news about employers deferring bonus payments until after 6 April so that staff earning more than £150k a year can pay income tax at 45% instead of 50% as currently applies.Virgin Media defers bonus paymentsThe general population might squeal at the idea of ‘fatcats’ ...
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Article
Is dating the new employee benefit?
Something for the weekend…Most employers encourage social gatherings and activities among staff to foster a better working environment.Events usually involve days or nights out, such as meals and office parties, but could workplace dating services be the next step? A survey of 1,000 employees, by OfficeTeam, found that 73% of ...
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Article
Employee-owned firms outperform FTSE firms
Employee-owned organisations outperformed the FTSE all-share companies in the first nine months of 2012, according to research by Field Fisher Waterhouse.The UK Employee ownership index (EOI), published by the law firm’s equity incentives team, monitors the share-price performance of listed organisations, comparing the performance of FTSE all-share companies with organisations ...
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Article
Wightlink appoints pension consultancy
Wightlink has appointed a pensions consultancy to provide actuarial and administrative services for its £70-million defined benefit (DB) pension scheme.The trustees of the scheme selected Punter Southall following a competitive tender process.Bill Frampton, chair of the trustees at the ferry company, said: “It is clear that [Punter Southall] understands our ...
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Article
Bonus deferral could have tax implications
Employers considering offering the deferral of bonuses may need to seek written agreement from employees.A number of organisations, including Aon, Tullett Prebon and Virgin Media, are offering employees the opportunity to defer bonuses until after 6 April 2013 to allow them to take advantage of the change to top-rate tax, ...
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Article
LinkedIn gives all employees an iPad mini
LinkedIn has awarded each of its 3,500 employees an iPad mini as a reward for beating quarterly revenue targets by more than $25 million.The iPads were handed out at the organisation’s bi-weekly, all-employee meeting.A LinkedIn spokesperson said: “We wanted to acknowledge the hard work and accomplishments of all of our ...
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Article
Tax relief awarded in bonus repayment case
The First-Tier Tribunal has found that an employee repaying a signing bonus should receive tax relief because the repayment amounted to ‘negative pay’ for the employee.Julian Martin was awarded a signing bonus of £250,000 in 2005/06 by his employer JLT Risk Solutions with the provision that he would stay with ...
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Article
Employers must play role in reducing workplace stress
Almost half (48%) of employee respondents said that stress impacts negatively on their working life, according to research by Canada Life Group.The research, which surveyed 1,613 UK employees, found that, of those who found their anxieties impacted on their working life in 2012, 20% said their employer was understanding, 8% ...
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Article
Grass Roots Group CEO to step down
David Evans is to step down as chief executive officer and chairman at Grass Roots Group.Andy Lister, former managing director of Grass Roots UK, will return to the business as chief operating officer, while David Hackett, Nat Solomon and Richard King have been appointed as non-executive members of the board.Evans ...
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Opinion
Louise Aston: Mental health must be taken seriously
We are working in really tough times, which look set to continue. Across the UK, people are putting in longer hours, are more stressed and feel anxious about the future. Indeed, with one in four people experiencing a mental health problem within their lifetime, it is now more important than ...
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Article
Glasgow Climbing Centre introduces bike rides
Glasgow Climbing Centre has introduced a weekly bike ride for all staff.The climbing centre, which employs eight full-time staff and 45 part-time staff, holds the bike ride every Wednesday afternoon.Rob Watts, centre manager at The Glasgow Climbing Centre, said: “By nature of what we do, the people I employ are ...
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Article
Enrich partners JargonFree on auto-enrolment
Benefits consultancy Enrich has partnered JargonFree to offers its auto-enrolment compliance software to its small and medium-sized employer (SMEs) clients.The product, which was launched in September 2012, will now be available through Enrich as a standalone system or it can be integrated into Enrich’s Benefits2go portal, which was launched in ...
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Article
E.On to launch auto-enrolment system
E.On is set to launch an auto-enrolment management system to comply with its staging date of 1 April.The system, Enroller, provided by Benefex, will be available to all 12,000 UK employees, including 3,500 who are not currently pension scheme members.The utilities firm has offered a group personal pension (GPP) plan ...
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Supplier article
Health Shield puts final procedures in place to meet capital adequacy regime
The company began a comprehensive review of its risk and capital management procedures in 2008. It now intends to introduce those changes 12 months ahead of the EU’s planned implementation date.According to a survey by PwC, the majority of companies expect Solvency II to fully come into force in 2016. ...
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Supplier article
Member survey results reveal excellent customer service at Health Shield
The Call Handling Survey, which was conducted over a 12-month period, showed consistently high levels of customer relations when dealing with enquiries over the telephone.Ninety seven per cent said their queries are dealt with ‘competently and professionally’ with the same percentage again agreeing that calls are answered quickly.Members described the ...