Company cars: The safe approach
Richard Schooling, commercial director of car scheme provider Alphabet, compares different types of scheme from the perspective of duty of care. The Government has made at-work driving the main lever in its campaign to reduce road deaths and injuries. Its 2003 guidelines on managing work-related road safety cast a wide net over employers and can […]
Legal view: Company cars – benefit or burden?
Alison Wallace, head of employment practice at Steptoe & Johnson explains how to manage the use of mobile phones while driving, understand corporate manslaughter and phase out company car benefits, legally. The acquisition of a company car was once the aspiration of many employees. It was a highly prized and valuable benefit if fully expensed […]
Advertorial: An open and shut case for Home Computing Initiatives
There’s never been a better time for your organisation to take advantage of Home Computing Initiatives (HCI schemes) thanks to a comprehensive support framework that makes implementation straightforward and cost-effective. Most HR professionals are aware of the government legislation that supports Home Computing Initiatives (HCI). Announced in the 1999 budget, it enables organisations to take […]
Flexible benefits improve employee retention
Over 60% of companies report that the introduction of flexible benefits increases employee commitment and retention, according to the 10th annual Flexible Benefits Survey. The survey of 400 organisations conducted by Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow, also found that 2002 saw the largest increase in organisations implementing flexible benefits for the past decade. The research reveals […]
The flexible benefits marketplace examined
This featured article from Philip Hutchinson, Head of Reward Consulting at Jardine Lloyd Thompson Benefit Solutions examines the trend towards providing more flexible benefits options for employees, and looks at the types of options being offered. Although there has been much interest shown in flexible benefits recently by the trade press, the fact remains that […]
Employees feel barred from basic benefits, finds survey
Over half of the UK's employees (55%) do not feel entitled to basic workplace courtesies like being able to talk to their colleagues about anything other than work, according to new research by youatwork. Despite the fact that, as a nation, we spend more time with our work colleagues than any other country in Europe, […]
Incentives called for to boost pensions
The Association of British Insurers is urging the government to consider further incentives to boost pension saving in the workplace. The ABI’s call for action comes as new, independent research by IFF Research and Continental Research, reveals:– 16 million people are not confident that their income in retirement will be sufficient.– 9 million are less […]
New rights for fixed term employees
Over a million fixed-term employees have new rights to equal treatment on pay, pensions, holidays, sick pay and training, from 1st October. The new rights will also stop the practice of using successive fixed-term contracts in what are effectively permanent posts. Alan Johnson MP, Employment Relations Minister, said: "Fixed-term contracts can provide flexibility for both […]
Young managers anxious about pension provision
According to research by the Chartered Management Institute, adverse publicity has left 63 per cent of young managers questioning their pension provision, and whilst they dream of an early retirement, 41 per cent are far from confident that their provision will provide adequate financial support for their future. 34 per cent of survey respondents do […]
Employees don’t understand pensions
A SURVEY by recruitment consultancy Joslin Rowe has revealed that just under 60 per cent of professionals surveyed confessed to not understanding their current pension scheme. 300 people working in the UK financial services sector were questioned in the survey about their pension plan and in particular details surrounding the type of scheme and contribution […]
Men and women differ on the value of perks
A battle of the sexes is underway in UK workplaces when it comes to perks of the job as men would still rather have a company car than an office crèche, according to research carried out by pension firm Virgin Direct. Virgin's second annual Desk Divide survey looks at what workplace perks UK employers offer […]
TUC calls for three more bank holidays a year
Britain's workers not only get the least statutory annual leave in Europe but have to manage on the lowest number of bank holidays as well, according to a TUC report released today (Friday). Banking on your holiday? says British workers enjoy only eight bank holidays a year compared to 12 in Italy, 13 in Austria […]
Big Brother star Craig tells how to make charities the winners
Big Brother star, Craig Phillips, today joined forces with Treasury Minister, Melanie Johnson, to plunge the taxman into a bath of cold, baked beans at the launch of a Government campaign to double the amount of money given to charities through the payroll. Whether it's bungee jumping or sitting in a bath of beans, people […]
Payroll Giving: Background Information
The Government aims to double the amount of money given through the payroll to more than £60 million a year by April 2003. It also aims to increase the number of employers operating Payroll Giving schemes and to widen access to the scheme from one in five employees to one in three by 2003. Most […]
