Employee Benefits

UK - The National Association of Pension Funds will launch a guide to setting up defined contribution schemes at the end of the month.

UK - The Faculty of Actuaries has backed government proposals which will prevent employers imposing a mandatory retirement age.

UK - Barclays is launching a new-style home computing scheme which allows staff to buy discounted PCs direct from shops.

UK - Denton Wilde & Sapte is to offer mobile phones to its staff through a salary sacrifice arrangement.

UK - Unions have dismissed Royal Mail plans to improve attendance by giving staff the chance to win a car as "a gimmick".

UK - Mercer Human Resource Consulting's £8m contract with Profund Systems has been terminated by the firm's successor.

UK - Workers underestimate the value of their total pay and benefits package by as much as 25%, KPMG People Services claims.

UK - Finance group HBOS has issued total reward statements to 65,000 staff to boost awareness of pensions and other employee benefits.

UK - AstraZeneca has given its employees the option of acquiring mobile phones or handheld %s through its flexible benefits scheme.

UK - The Inland Revenue has removed an anomaly which had led to the "double counting" of car and fuel benefits in tax calculations.