All Employee Benefits articles in Web Issue – Page 683
-
Article
Employers would support group risk auto-enrolment
More than half (52%) of respondents would support an initiative to auto-enrol employees into group risk protection products alongside pensions auto-enrolment, according to research by Group Risk Development (Grid).Its Group risk employer research, which surveyed 500 UK employers, found that 38% would consider implementing these products alongside auto-enrolment.The research also ...
-
Article
Employee Benefits Awards help share best practice and ideas
Janine Sparks, senior reward manager at British Airways, answers questions about what it means to be recognised as employee benefits professional of the year.Sparks, who was chosen for the accolade at the Employee Benefits Awards 2013, has spent more than 25 years in employee benefits and reward.What has winning an ...
-
AnalysisHow to use offshore employee benefit trusts
If you read nothing else, read this…Employee benefit trusts are tax-efficient discretionary trusts designed to hold employee assets.EBT assets may include employer shares and be held in the UK or offshore.Some employers are reluctant to use offshore EBTs because of negative publicity surrounding corporate tax avoidance.But in recent years, such ...
-
AnalysisThe challenges of auto-enrolling weekly-paid employees
If you read nothing else, read this…Weekly-paid employees’ eligibility for auto-enrolment is prone to change frequently because of their fluctuating pay.Employers’ payroll teams face increased workloads because of this fluctuation.HR and pensions teams need to support payroll providers to manage the workload.There have, of course, been challenges, not least of ...
-
OpinionLawrence Sutton: Tackling the auto-enrolment complexities of weekly-paid staff
Staging dates always fall on the first of the month, which will often be in the middle of an employer’s pay reference period for weekly-paid employees. Employers can consider using postponement to align the date at which they auto-enrol employees with the start of a pay reference period to avoid ...
-
OpinionIain Hasdell: Employee benefit trusts are popular option for employee ownership
Such businesses consistently outperform their externally owned competitors.EBTs continue to be a popular option for organisations wanting to implement employee ownership. They can appeal particularly to founding owners who are approaching retirement and who wish to sell their controlling interest in a business to their workforce.In such circumstances, EBTs can ...
-
OpinionIan Luck: Tax guidance for auto-enrolling weekly-paid employees
But without doubt, employers of weekly-paid staff will find compliance with the regulations extremely onerous.Any employee earning more than £182 per week must be automatically enrolled, when eligible, with contributions being based upon earnings above £109 per week. With the current minimum wage at £6.19 for over 21 year olds, ...
-
Case Studies
Cineworld extends payroll service to weekends to cope with auto-enrolment
Payroll manager Jenni Bromfield says: “We have faced a number of challenges, not least the fact that most of our staff are on zero-hour contracts and have pay that varies, so it is difficult to generate the data that determines who is eligible for auto-enrolment.“All our payroll processes are geared ...
-
Article
Friendly Pensions launches fee-free charging structure
Friendly Pensions has introduced a charging structure to its pensions that is fee-free until the pension fund grows by 5%.David Austin, managing director of Friendly Pensions, said: “We established Friendly Pensions to focus on auto-enrolment because we believe current providers did not offer value to small and medium-sized employers.“Our approach ...
-
Article
Poor pay levels top reason for staff turnover
Lack of remuneration and recognition is the top cause of voluntary staff turnover, according to research by the recruiter, Robert Half UK.Its research, which surveyed 200 HR directors, found that 40% of respondents cited poor pay and recognition as the major cause of turnover, 29% cited concern of their organisation’s ...
-
Article
FTSE 350 pension deficit increases to £102bn
The estimated aggregate deficit for the defined benefit (DB) pension schemes of FTSE 350 companies stood at £102 billion at 31 October 2013, according to research by Mercer.Its Pensions risk survey found that asset values increased by £13 billion over the month, from £553 billion at 30 September 2013 to ...
-
Article
Firefighters strike again over pension proposals
Firefighters across England and Wales are on strike today over the government’s proposed reforms to their pension scheme.It is the fourth strike that members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) have staged in recent weeks. Firefighters previously went on strike on 25 September, 1 and 4 November, and suspended planned ...
-
Article
Pg 16-17 Most talked-about news via Twitter
In an online news story published in November, Employee Benefits wrote that Arsenal Football Club denied that it pays its kitchen staff less than the London living wage, which was increased from £8.55 to £8.80 per hour during Living Wage Week, 4 to 8 November.@EmployeeBenefit “Arsenal FC denies paying below ...
-
Article
Pg 16-17 Tweets about the Employee Benefits Awards
@boostawards “Calling HR people, the very popular Employee Benefits Awards @EmployeeBenefit Open 4 Entries #EBAwards #AwardWriters”@Benefex “We just heard that @MindCharity has been selected as the charity for the @EmployeeBenefit Awards 2014. Awesome.”
-
Supplier article
Pg 16-17: Interactive: Top 10 most visited stories on the web
1. Arsenal Football Club denies paying below living wage2. Royal Mail staff must wait for full shares allocation3. Innocent Drinks staff share £19 million bonus payout4. The Work Foundation report: Absence could be cut by over one-third5. Axa PPP Healthcare research: 48% feel stressed at work6. Challenges around auto-enrolment postponement7. ...
-
Article
Top speakers at Employee Benefits Connect in New York
Alan Momeyer, vice-president of human resources at Loews Corporation, will speak about ‘The role of HR in shaping company strategy’, and Christopher Condeluci, former tax counsel of the US Senate Finance Committee, will talk about the Affordable Care Act. Sally Luck, HR director - corporate services and wellness at Hallmark ...
-
Opinion
Jonathan Dowden: SMEs do not have bandwidth to deal with auto-enrolment
Smaller employers just do not have as much bandwidth to deal with the increased demand on people carrying out the administration associated with auto-enrolment, or the increased time it takes to understand the legislation and communicate it effectively to employees.The financial burden is also something that small businesses will not ...
-
Article
Recognition as valued as the annual bonus
Almost half (45%) of respondents prefer frequent recognition rather than an annual bonus, according to research by Globoforce.Its 2013 UK Workforce mood tracker, which surveyed employees from a range of organisations with 500 or more staff, found that 81% of respondents believe recognition and reward should be distributed more fairly ...
-
Article
Employees want to choose their own benefits
More than half (56%) of respondents are able to choose their own benefits, according to research by Capita Employee Benefits.Its research, which surveyed 3,000 employees, found that 28% are able to choose their own benefits and 16% do not know whether they have flexible benefits or not.Among respondents who do ...
-
ArticlePay rises by 0.8% in September
Average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 0.8% when comparing July to September 2013, according to the latest figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).Its report, Labour market statistics, November 2013, also found that the average weekly wage, including bonuses, rose by 0.7% during the same three months.In payment ...