Employee Benefits

IRELAND - Members of defined contribution schemes in Ireland are receiving a total 10% contribution on average, a level which is likely to prove inadequate to provide a pension, according to a new survey from Mercer HR Consulting.

US - New York City comptroller William C. Thompson, on behalf of the five New York City pension funds, has requested 15 companies to adopt workplace human rights policies.

AUSTRALIA - Mercer Human Resource Consulting has announced its plans to acquire the Australian operations of Mellon Human Resources & Investor Solutions and its subsidiaries.

US - The Thomson Corporation has outsourced its human resource operations to Hewitt Associates.

UK - The sharpest differential between UK employers offering DB schemes for existing and new employees is in the manufacturing and production sector, according to a new report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

UK - Communication is crucial to help staff appreciate the value of a pension scheme, reports the UK's Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

UK - The government's tax exemptions for companies that pay for employees to receive independent financial advice have been dismissed as a "sham".

UK - Mercer Human Resource Consulting is concerned that the government's new tax exemption on pension advice and information masks a wider push to require all employers to contribute to pensions via the back door.

EUROPE - Almost two thirds of European companies support a new international accounting standard, which demands that corporates expense employee share options in their financial statements, according to poll by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

AUSTRALIA - By making personal contributions of 3% of annual salary, Australians can lift their living standards in retirement by an average of 27% - but it will cost them a 4 to 6% drop in their pre-retirement standards.