Planning & protection
Adam Salomon
Recruiting and retaining the right employees is fundamental to the success of every business.
But besides paying them well, how can you ensure that you bring on board and keep hold of talented staff?
I’ve been advising business owners for over 30 years and one thing which I’ve found time and again to be effective when it comes to recruitment and retention is employee benefits packages.
Don’t just take my word for it – recent research shows that 70% of employees are more likely to stay with a company that offers well-structured benefit packages while 65% of candidates say they consider employee benefits as a crucial factor in their job choice.
In this article, I’m going to run through some key employee benefits, how to put attractive incentive packages in place and what factors you need to consider as a business owner when you’re looking to reward employees.
Employee benefits come under a range of different headings and can cover everything from health insurance to Cycle To Work schemes.
They are incentives in addition to standard remuneration and statutory holidays. Just as every business is different, so is every employee within a business, so when considering what benefits to offer to your employees, it’s a good idea to try to provide a range of incentives covering different areas of life.
Let’s break down some of the main employee benefit categories with some examples of incentives you could offer.
Aside from a competitive salary, to help with your employees’ finances you might want to consider:
Also known as Private Medical Insurance, this is one of the most popular employee benefits in the UK. It can help your staff get quicker access to GPs or other health services such as physiotherapy and, depending on levels of cover, potentially a choice of specialists or hospitals. This benefit also has the added advantage to you as an employer of potentially cutting down the length of time staff need to be off work.
Also known as Death In Service benefit, this provides a financial safety net for employees’ families in case the worst should happen to them. Typical levels of cover are three to four times an insured employee’s annual salary.
Having advised business owners on a number of occasions over the years with employee life insurance claims, I know how valuable this kind of policy can be in providing a financial safety net for employees’ families in times of great distress.
In a similar way to company life insurance, disability insurance cover will provide income if any of your employees are unable to work due to illness or injury.
A number of companies offer employees discounted or free expert guidance and support for their financial wellbeing as part of a package of benefits.
In the UK, employers have to enrol eligible workers into a pension scheme and then pay into the scheme on their behalf. There are minimum contribution levels from employers and employees, but you can choose to provide more generous contributions as part of an employee benefits package. This subject is dealt with in more detail on our workplace pensions blog.
A healthy, happy workforce is invariably a more productive one. Health and well-being benefits you could consider for your employees include:
Benefits such as discounted or free gym memberships, health screenings or educational seminars can help promote health lifestyles across your workforce.
This can include things like access to confidential counselling services or advice lines, employee assistance programmes and resources to help your employees to manage stress.
Dental insurance plans insurance plans typically cover routine check-ups, fillings, and other necessary treatments while eyecare insurance helps cover the costs of eye tests and glasses.
Keeping your employees focused at work while enjoying their leisure time can be crucial. Benefits that can assist with this include:
In addition to statutory holidays for full-time workers, you could offer your employees extra holidays and/or the right to ‘buy’ additional leave as well as things like having their birthday off or an allotment of ‘personal’ days to recharge their batteries.
If your business is suitable for it, offering staff things like flexible start/finish times, compressed work weeks and remote working options can be attractive to new hires and existing employees alike.
Providing additional time off for new parents outside of statutory limits can help promote a family-friendly workplace, as can allowing staff time off for caring for family members such as elderly relatives.
Investing in your employees can bring dividends to your business as well as to your staff. Examples of career development benefits include:
Offering opportunities for employees to enhance their skills and knowledge – whether by in-house training or paid places on external courses – can upskill your workforce and improve staff retention rates.
Part or full payment for staff to embark on educational courses or degrees can enhance their personal development and your business.
Paying for sessions with professional vocational coaches has the potential to develop employees’ skills and competencies in the workplace, giving you a more efficient and more productive workforce.
From little touches which make your business a nicer place to be to ways of saving staff money on everyday purchases, there are lots of perks you can put in place including:
From money off goods and services you provide to discounts from leading retailers, many workplace benefits packages offer savings just for being a member of staff.
Whether it’s free fruit on Fridays or access to a subsidised canteen, providing staff with food and drink benefits invariably prove popular.
Something usually offered to senior staff, company cars can be a benefit which people find hard to give up, although it is important to fully investigate and understand the various tax implications involved in company car schemes.
Many public transport providers offer corporate membership for help with staff commuting to their place of work, giving employees access to discounted travel costs.
Under this government initiative, employees can save money on the purchase of a bicycle and cycling equipment through salary sacrifice. Essentially, employees can lease a bike and accessories from their employer, paying for it through monthly deductions from their pre-tax salary, resulting in tax and National Insurance savings.
As you can see from the wide range of different employee benefits available, costs associated with such schemes vary to a similar degree.
When considering which schemes to put in place, it is important to bear in mind not just how much it will cost your business, but also how it will affect your tax situation and the tax and National Insurance situation of your employees.
In many cases, this is not an easy thing to work out and is just one of the reasons why consulting a financial adviser is an important first step in your employee benefits scheme journey.
Working with your business accountants, a financial adviser can provide detailed advice on new employee benefits and ongoing support.
A financial adviser can also provide forecasts to help you plan for the future and change employee benefits as and when needed as part of your overall corporate financial planning.
Over the years, I have helped many clients to put in place and maintain successful employee benefits programmes which have reaped dividends for their business and their staff alike.
For more details, please get in touch.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change. Always seek professional advice before making financial decisions.
For further information, please contact:
For further information, please contact:
