Monthly Archives: July 2012

Employee engagement levels

I was not surprised to see that the recent, and much documented, corporate scandals in the UK may have further dampened employee engagement.  If you missed the story, please see the attached link:  http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/23/07/2012/58674/corporate-scandals-damaging-employee-engagement.htm Yet it may be just too convenient to lay … Continue reading

Posted by at 1:52 PM in Articles and technical, Steve Herbert | | Leave a comment

Quarter Of NHS Sites Fail To Provide Adequate Care

A significant number of NHS hospitals, care homes and dental practices are falling short of recommended standards of care, a new report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reveals. According to BBC News, 27% of the 14,000 NHS healthcare institutions … Continue reading

Posted by at 3:51 PM in Healthcare | | 5 Comments

Man bites dog (again)

As Lord Northcliffe, arguably the inventor of the modern journalist, once apparently said: “it’s not news when a dog bites a man, but it is news when a man bites a dog.” This is, sadly, very true.  Good news often makes for insipid stories, … Continue reading

Posted by at 7:03 AM in Articles and technical, Steve Herbert | | Leave a comment

Minimum Income Standards

You may well have heard some coverage recently following the publication of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on The Minimum Income Standard (MIS) in the UK. MIS does not claim to be an official poverty line, as in most cases it is … Continue reading

Posted by at 11:16 AM in Articles and technical, Steve Herbert | | Leave a comment

[sigh] – yet more changes to Auto Enrolment…

I almost can’t believe that I am writing this, but we have yet another tweak to staging dates.  I have not had a chance to look at this in any detail – but the attached link gives a little more … Continue reading

Posted by at 7:09 PM in Articles and technical, Steve Herbert | | 1 Comment

A brief history of time (in pensions that is)

For anyone who wonders how we got to the point where Auto-Enrolment (AE) was needed, and possibly why it’s all as complex as it is, I invite you to read an article which gives you my take on the last decade … Continue reading

Posted by at 7:13 AM in Articles and technical, Jelf in the news, Steve Herbert | | Leave a comment

When should you cease benefits?

Following the recent abolition of the Default Retirement Age (DRA), and not withstanding the complications of the Seldon judgement recently, a question that many employers are asking me is when benefits such as Life and Income Protection should now cease. Whilst there … Continue reading

Posted by at 10:26 AM in Articles and technical, Jelf in the news, Steve Herbert | | Leave a comment

Throwing stones?

I am not an avid reader of the national press, but chose to buy The Guardian on Tuesday to see if they had any coverage on a recent report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on UK Income Standards.  As it happened, the … Continue reading

Posted by at 11:47 AM in Articles and technical, Steve Herbert | | Leave a comment

The Whitehall Studies & employee benefits: Your views…

I am horribly aware that I have not been updating the blog with my usual diligence over the last couple of months.  In my defence, I have been dragged to all ends of the UK on seminar and workshop duty. … Continue reading

Posted by at 2:42 PM in Articles and technical, Seminars and events, Steve Herbert | | Leave a comment

Book now for the Manchester Pensions Workshop

As promised at our Manchester event last week, I am running a free to attend workshop on current pension issues (with a particular emphasis on Auto-Enrolment duties for employers).  Below are full details of the workshop content, including details of how to book a place.  Places … Continue reading

Posted by at 8:06 AM in Seminars and events, Steve Herbert | | 1 Comment