Employee Benefits

UK - Employers are wasting nearly £5bn a year on undervalued employee benefits for younger members of staff, an employee benefits administrator claims.

UK - More than a quarter of firms offer staff flexible benefits - up from just over one in five firms a year ago, a new survey shows.

UK - Employee benefits consultant Jardine Lloyd Thompson and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development have produced a guide for employers on flexible benefits.

UK - Firms must go online to stop workers underestimating the value of employee benefit programmes, Mercer Human Resource Consulting claims.

UK - Supermarkets may turn their defined benefit schemes into non-contributory pension plans in a bid to slash National Insurance costs.

UK - Electronics giant Toshiba Information Systems has launched an online information service aimed at "demystifying" pensions for members of its £10m defined contribution scheme.

UK - Corporate car schemes are losing their appeal, Mercer Human Resource Consulting claims.

UK - More than half of all employers have closed their final salary pension schemes to new members and 15% have raised their retirement age, a new survey shows.

EUROPE - German politicians have reacted angrily to Commerzbank's announcement that it is to close its company pension scheme.

UK - Royal Mail is taking a leading position in a government drive to help improve workers' computer skills.