News
More than half of the UK workforce is unaware of the upcoming pension reforms.
Auto-enrolment will be gradually introduced from October 2012 and will ensure that every qualifying employee has access to an occupational pension. However,...
Companies have been urged to use staff benefits to combat employee weight problems following worrying obesity predictions from scientists.
Figures published in the medical journal The Lancet show that nearly half of men and more than 40...
Executive pay will continue to rise in 2012 across the FTSE 350, according to 79 per cent of senior reward professionals.
The majority of increases are likely to stem from base salaries, with more than two-thirds anticipating a hike of...
A leaked email has revealed the pay information of some temporary workers at The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
Data about contractors’ remuneration was sent by Hays, the recruitment firm, to a number of their workers at the bank....
A fifth of graduates are being paid less than those who are only qualified to A-level standard.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics also show that 15 per cent of those who have completed degrees are on a lesser wage than...
National Payroll Week (NPW) is taking place between 5–9 September 2011. What are you doing to celebrate?
This year’s theme is about making payroll shine, so we would like to hear from you about your plans for the week. Will...
The future of cheques should not be under the control of the Payments Council, according to a Treasury Select Committee report.
A number of recommendations have been put forward to ensure that decisions surrounding payment methods take...
Andy Coulson received large payments from News International after he began working as Director of Communications for the Conservative party.
The former News of the World editor, who is already in the spotlight for his involvement in...
Stagecoach shareholders have been urged to vote against the executive pay package on offer at the group.
The Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (PIRC) has criticised the transport firm’s remuneration committee which...
Pay awards remain static, with the median growth stalling at two per cent for the three months until the end of July 2011.
The figure is the same as this time a year ago, despite signs that the average remuneration increase was rising...
The CBI has criticised the Government’s plans to
extend the levies that certain companies have to pay towards training.
The lobbying organisation believes that the additional cost would be a hindrance to employers investing in...
The definition of an agency employee has been amended in time for the implementation of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) on 1 October 2011.
The Government has corrected the errors made in earlier drafts of the AWR. These had caused...
Pension deficits have increased by £21 billion in August for the FTSE 350, according to Towers Watson.
On average defined benefit schemes have seen obligations rise at a rate of £2 billion a day. At the end of July deficit...
More than 1.4 million employees have invested in Save As You Earn (SAYE) share schemes – a five per cent increase year-on-year.
The popularity of the employee benefit has seen 44 per cent of eligible staff participate, in spite of...
The engineering and manufacturing sectors are experiencing the biggest demand on pay and skills.
Following a 50 per cent year-on-year surge in job vacancies, the industry is coming under intense pressure on remuneration levels as the...
Employees remain entitled to pay if they cannot get to work due to the riots, unless there are specific contractual clauses that state otherwise.
The recent troubles across England have affected a number of retail and inner-city...
The cost of childcare is forcing some mothers to leave the workplace, according to figures from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).
Despite unemployment levels falling, the number of women out of work has risen. The IPPR...
All employees should have the right to request flexible working as it has real business advantages, insists the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD).
In its response to the Modern Workplaces consultation, the...
The majority of employees have not had a pay rise since January 2011 as salaries fall below the cost of living.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that nearly 60 per cent of employees have experienced a...
A staggering 83 per cent of companies with low benefits take-up have not tried to solve the problem, new research has found.
The most common workplace offerings included pensions (71 per cent) and childcare vouchers (38 per cent). The...
Pay levels for new jobs have begun to increase, according to the Reed Salary Index.
Wages have risen by one point to give an overall Index reading of 99. Industries such as accountancy, hospitality and catering, and sales have seen the...
Employers need to think creatively to get people back to work, following results that show one in three employees admit to skiving.
The main reason behind workers taking unscheduled leave is because they are disillusioned with their jobs,...
The former Chairman of the BBC Trust has run up an expenses bill of more than £11,500 over the course of six months.
Sir Michael Lyons’ expenses bill consists of £5,274.29 on accommodation, £3,846 for rail fares and...
UK workers have lost £647 in take-home wages in the past year as salaries have failed to keep up with inflation.
The Office for National Statistics revealed that the average salary increase over the past year was 2.3 per cent. This is...
Rebekah Brooks is reported to receive a severance package worth £3.5 million.
The former Chief Executive of News International, who resigned over phone hacking allegations, is expected to benefit from a large payout along with other...
Pension schemes are losing favour with higher earners following the changes to tax relief in April.
The annual allowance for tax-free pensions saving is now £50,000, down from £255,000. This dramatic decrease has seen the...
In July’s issue Pay & Benefits ran a competition offering readers the chance to win one of five copies of The IPASS Book from the Irish Payroll Association.
The book is updated annually and provides the latest information on Pay As...
The Payments Council has decided to keep cheques for as long as necessary, following widespread criticism from MPs, businesses, charities and individuals.
Last month Pay & Benefits reported that the decision to abolish cheques would not be...
Only one in 10 fathers plan to take more time off than the two weeks’ statutory allowance, due to the loss in earnings.
New fathers are not taking advantage of Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP)and leave arrangements, which came...
More than a third of employment claims are attributed to the public sector, despite it employing only 22 per cent of the UK workforce.
Research by commercial lawyers, EMW, highlighted that the number of cases in the public sector is now 24 per...
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has been charged with monitoring the opt-out rates for automatic enrolment.
As part of a committee debate over the Pensions Bill, MPs questioned whether some employers may encourage workers not to participate or...
The number of age discrimination cases has risen in the past year, according to the annual tribunal statistics.
Over the past three years the number of lodged claims has more than doubled from 3,800 in 2008/9 to 6,800 in 2010/11. This means...
Moderate pay rises are continuing to have an impact on the lower than expected level of unemployment.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has revised its forecast on employment rates, and has attributed subdued pay...
Some companies are failing to invest in employee wellbeing, despite the level of stress-related absences increasing in the past 12 months.
According to new research, 65 per cent of businesses think long hours and heavy workloads are the...
The impact of extended staff absences on other employees has been assessed by Aviva UK Health.
The findings reveal that long-term sickness can create low morale for those left in the workplace. A fifth of workers feel annoyed and overworked...
The integration of Income Tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) has moved forward after the Government issued a call for evidence.
The merging of the two tax entities was first proposed during George Osborne’s 2011 Budget. The...
A total of 82 Bank of England staff are paid more than £100,000 and many receive large pension contributions.
The Bank’s annual report, which disclosed pay levels at the institution, showed that these high-earning employees consist...
British Airways (BA) has told pension savers that it is unable to top up its plan as its financial position is too weak.
At a meeting for scheme members, attendees were told that BA was not the strongest of companies to be relied on....
The number of workers who are older than the normal retirement age has dramatically increased in the past 20 years.
According to a Trades Union Congress (TUC) analysis the proportion of over 64-year-olds in work rose to nine per cent by...
A £50 National Garden Gift Voucher (NGGV) has been launched to mark the 50th anniversary of the scheme.
The offering, introduced by the Horticultural Trades Association, was unveiled at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show in the form of a...
The Supreme Court has overturned a ruling which gave employees the right to legal representation during internal disciplinary hearings.
Pay & Benefits featured the case of R (on the application of G) v The Governors of X School in May 2011...
A third of sole traders have highlighted the forthcoming pension requirements as the largest barrier to taking on members of staff.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has called upon the Government to make sole traders exempt from...
Whitehall may be spending money on training instead of pay rises, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
The total bill for civil servants’ courses was approximately £275 million – around...
The Code of Conduct for executive remuneration is to be reviewed.
The Remuneration Consultants Group (RCG) is asking for feedback and comments on the functionality of the Code and its fundamental principles.
Dr Martin Read, Independent...
MPs have avoided any further scandal over the submission of their expenses.
The National Audit Office (NAO) has reported that the new expenses regime is working effectively and MPs are being cautious over any claims.
The Independent...
The executive board at the BBC has seen its total pay fall by 43 per cent as the Corporation seeks to reduce its wage bill.
As part of the BBC’s annual report, Director General Mark Thompson and his executive team saw their pay slashed...
The number of firms offering cash payments instead of a company car has fallen by more than 10 per cent in the past year.
The change in popularity of this alternative is largely down to the shift in attitudes about cars from both employees and...
