Benefits June 2, 2008

Better Absence Tracking May Deter Summertime Scheduling Issues

June 2, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Almost half (45%) of employees surveyed that have vacation time say their employer does not have a policy regarding advance notice for vacation time.
Reported by

Perhaps because of this, 21% of full-time employees that have vacation time say they have been denied time off because a co-worker had already requested it, according to a news release on “The Summertime Crunch” survey sponsored by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated.

Get more!  Sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters.

Only 37% of survey respondents that have vacation time say their employer uses an automated system to track or schedule vacations and absences, but 59% indicate they have to coordinate their time off with co-workers before they go. Forty-one percent of full-time employees that have vacation time think their employer has benefited or would benefit from using an automated solution to track vacations and absences, the release said.

Scheduling issues are worse in the summertime due to employee vacations (69% of respondents indicated they would take vacation sometime between Memorial Day and Labor Day), but also due to “seasonal absence syndrome.” Only 15% of respondents employed full-time admit they anticipate calling in “sick” to enjoy a day off from work, but 37% say they have called in “sick” to enjoy a day off from work in the past.

“The Summertime Crunch” survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive between April 23-25, 2008 among 2,033 U.S. adults aged 18 and over, of whom 1,092 were employed full-time and 1,015 of those had vacation time from their job.

Administration June 1, 2008

Pension Fund Assets Outgrew Liabilities Worldwide in 2005

January 30, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Growth in institutional pension assets in the 11 major international markets was 17%, measured in local currencies, in 2005, while pension fund liabilities increased 9%, according to global research from Watson Wyatt.
Reported by

In its  press release , Watson Wyatt points out that this 8%-improvement in funding positions for global pensions compares to decreases in funding positions by around 30% between 1999 and 2002.  

Watson Wyatt’s global research shows that total pensions fund assets in all the main markets apart from the US and Japan have doubled in size during the past ten years.   Ireland had the highest 10-year growth figure (312%), largely due to the establishment of its National Pensions Reserve Fund in 2001, followed by Australia, with a 10-year growth figure of 268%.   Australia’s market is dominated by defined contribution assets, according to Watson Wyatt.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANSPONSOR NEWSDash daily newsletter.

Roger Urwin, global head of investment consulting at Watson Wyatt, said strong government support in Australia, including legislation for mandatory contributions, has helped improve the pension position in that country.

Watson Wyatt believes that defined benefit pension provision is unlikely to improve substantially in the medium term.   Urwin said in the release, “While assets have clawed back some ground in the last three years, liabilities are likely to continue to increase because of mortality improvement and falling bond yields. As a result, the global balance sheet is likely to remain in a delicate state for the foreseeable future. It remains the case that pension funds’ balance sheets are volatile on account of their high equity content, which now averages 58% of total assets.”

«