What are Employee Benefits?
Employee benefits are part of a compensation package for employees, they are usually taxed however they do not form part of a basic salary.
They can help to attract the right people into a business.
Employers are legally required to provide statutory benefits in the UK, these are known as mandatory benefits.
Supplementary benefits are those benefits that employers choose to provide for their employees as an addition to those that are required.
Mandatory Employee Benefits
In the UK the mandatory employee benefits include:
- Pension scheme
- Holiday pay
- Maternity/paternity/adoption leave pay
- Parental Leave
- Sick pay
- Flexible working
Top 9 Supplementary Benefits include:
- Remote working
- Flexible hours
- Four-day working week
- Overtime pay or TOIL
- Private healthcare plan
- Performance based bonuses
- Early finish times on a Friday
- Company share options
- Employee discount schemes
Remote working – Being allowed to work from home or another location other than the Company offices.
Flexible hours – Employees with children, in a caring role or those who have other commitments, look for the option to be able to change their working hours around their outside life, which can have a positive impact on their wellbeing.
Four-day working week – Employers are wanting to know how the 4-day working week trials are going as if this is proven to be successful, there are many employers who may look at introducing this in their workplace.
Overtime pay or TOIL – Employees receive overtime payments or time off in lieu for any extra hours worked over their contracted hours.
Private healthcare plan – Covering health care costs including dentist and physiotherapy for example.
Performance based bonuses – To be awarded with added payment for hitting targets set.
Early finish times on a Friday – Allows employees to have more ‘weekend time’.
Company share options – Can be seen to be an extra saving scheme for employees where they can purchase shares at a ‘special’ rate.
Employee discount schemes – Companies offer discounts to employees on a variety of things such as shopping and cinema tickets for example.
Supplementary benefits need to be tailored to suit the culture of the business, as not all benefits will ‘fit in’ with a business.
It is up to employers to decide which benefits they wish to offer their employees, packages can vary between employees based on the job requirements and their needs.
Advantages of Good Employee Benefits
Having a good benefits package can help to attract the right employees into your business and helps to retain employees. Good employee benefits contribute to the wellbeing and happiness of employees, which can lead to increased employee happiness and satisfaction.
Employees are likely to move jobs for the right benefit packages, therefore by having an attractive benefits package it can help you to recruit the best people for your business.
As listed above, there are various benefits that can be offered to employees, whereas previously it used to be a company car which would be a big attraction for employees, however times have changed over the years and now flexible working, early Friday finish times and working from home, can all be seen by employees as more advantageous benefits to be offered to them.
Disadvantages of Benefit Packages
Even the best benefit packages do not always suit all employees, some employees who are dissatisfied with their benefits packages would prefer the ‘cash’ value be added to their basic salary.
If you require further information on benefits packages tailored to suit the needs of your business that drive employee engagement, please get in touch.
