All Employee Benefits articles in Web Issue – Page 714
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ArticleLife Planning Association launched
A new national professional body has been launched to support employers and employees in life and retirement planning. The Life Planning Association has been formed because of the current challenging circumstances of an ageing population, changes in pension schemes, state benefit reforms and longer working lives.It will aim to influence ...
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AnalysisAt-retirement options glossary
AnnuityA type of insurance policy that employees can buy from an insurer, often their pension scheme provider, at retirement using their pension savings in return for an income for life.Enhanced annuityWorks in the same way as a standard annuity, but offers better income levels for employees in poor health, caused ...
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ArticleHay Group reviews benefits to fund auto-enrolment
EXCLUSIVE: Hay Group has undertaken a full review of its employee benefits to help fund the cost of auto-enrolment.The global management consultancy, which has around 350 employees, reached its auto-enrolment staging date on 1 February 2014.Charlotte Koch (pictured), head of HR at Hay Group, said: “Auto-enrolment allowed us to take ...
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AnalysisBack to basics on diversified growth funds
A diversified growth fund is managed actively so that the range of asset classes changes over time, with the aim of delivering a reasonable rate of return but with less risk than a single asset fund.If you read nothing else, read this …A diversified growth fund invests in a broad ...
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ArticleGovernment to ban public sector pension transfers
The government is to ban employees from transferring out of public sector defined benefit (DB) pension schemes under proposals announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the Budget 2014.This coincides with the government’s announcement of a radical overhaul of defined contribution (DC) pensions in the UK, which will enable anyone aged ...
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ArticleDC pension savings to become more flexible
In the Budget 2014, Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) announced greater flexibility in the way employees retiring with defined contribution (DC) pensions can take their savings.In the future, DC members will be able to take their pension wealth as a lump sum, drawdown, or an annuity.A range of changes came in ...
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Case StudiesLeicester City Council’s car salary sacrifice scheme offers cost-effective benefit
The scheme, operated by Tusker, includes motor insurance, servicing and maintenance, roadside assistance, tyres and glass, plus protection against redundancy, resignation and maternity leave .Before implementing the scheme, the organisation wanted to reduce the cost of its employee benefits, having previously offered a central user allowance for employees to travel ...
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AnalysisGuy Roberts: Cars are the biggest benefit, but can be the trickiest
After a house, a car is typically the biggest purchase a person makes. So it is no surprise that cars are quickly becoming an essential part of a competitive benefits package.However, company cars have always posed challenges. Balancing issues such as the choice of cars, recharges and ex-employees leaving cars ...
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ArticleShare plan savers benefit from Isa limit increase
The annual individual savings account (Isa) allowance will be increased to £15,000 from 1 July 2014, according to Chancellor George Osborne in today’s Budget speech.This will allow staff transferring exercised shares into an Isa from a maturing employee share plan (such as sharesave) to protect more of their gains over ...
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ArticleDiscover why employers must support staff financial wellness at Employee Benefits Connect
Employers must offer the tools to help employees navigate their own financial wellness.Katie Nedl, global head of benefits at BlackRock, will speak at a session titled Understanding the effect of global financial benefits on work engagement at Employee Benefits Connect in New York on March 25, 2014.She said: “In a ...
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Article
Interview with Sharon Tebb, compensation and benefits manager at Withers
“I marched up to KPMG with my CV and a little folder of two-line letters that I’d typed and got an interview,” she says. “It’s quite embarrassing, really; I think they felt sorry for me.”Within 18 months, she was promoted to senior secretary and then to the newly-created role of ...
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Case StudiesWithers ensures it offers staff engaging benefits package
The organisation reported a 7% decline in net profit, down from £24.2 million in 2011/12 to £22.5 million in 2012/13, based on revenue of £117.8 million. Profits per equity partner also fell, from £386,000 to £370,000, over the same period, according to its financial results for 2012/13, published in July ...
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AnalysisThe impact of the government's Health and Work Service on group health benefits
If you read nothing else, read this…The Health and Work Service aims to help employees on sickness absence to return to work.The service could help providers and employers to create new wellbeing initiatives.But conflict could arise when an employee goes through the referral process.The service aims to provide occupational health ...
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AnalysisWhat does the future hold for group risk benefits?
If you read nothing else, read this…Life assurance is expected to continue to dominate employers’ group risk focus for the next few years as they auto-enrol their workforces.In a new trend, organisations are separating their pension provision and life assurance cover.An ageing workforce does not necessarily mean higher group risk ...
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Case StudiesKaren Harrison, head cashier, values Withers’ employee benefits package
She used the cover for an operation to remove a cyst from her brain which was detected four years ago. “If I’d gone down the NHS route, it would have taken quite a while to get the surgery done, especially having just had a newborn baby, so it was really ...
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VideoVIDEO: Kevin O'Boyle: BT targets benefits communication
Employers should try to help employees understand the benefits of being in a pension scheme or employeeshare plan through regular, targeted communications, said Kevin O’Boyle (pictured), head of pensions at BT Group, in an interview with Tynan Barton, features editor at Employee Benefits.“There is an awful lot of inertia,” he ...
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AnalysisFamily-friendly benefits for the school summer holidays
If you read nothing else, read this…Childcare vouchers are a popular family-friendly benefit that employers offer staff.Flexible working and discount vouchers can be equally valuable.Employers should ensure they do not discriminate against staff without children.But employers can offer considerable support to help them cope, and at relatively little cost.Childcare vouchers ...
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Case StudiesWolseley UK builds an engaging benefits offer
Now the construction and building products distributor, a subsidiary of global organisation Wolseley, is focused on its corporate strategy, including its principles, its employees, and transforming the business to stay ahead of the competition.Neil McCawley, head of reward, benefits and policy at Wolseley UK, says: “People are one of our ...
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Article
DOD’s blog: What the Budget means for workplace pensions
Wednesday’s Budget is a game changer for workplace pensions, and one that I broadly welcome.The details and ramifications of these changes to the way savers can withdraw wealth from defined contribution (DC) pension plans will play themselves out over the coming months and years.But the new rules – some of ...
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Case StudiesMcCarthy and Stone uses financial education to boost pension take-up
The revamp was driven by the fact that the group personal pension (GPP) scheme the employer had offered since the 1990s had not changed much since it was implemented. Its new scheme is a self-invested personal pension (Sipp) supplied by Hargreaves Lansdown as part of its Corporate Vantage platform, a ...