Employee benefits refer to the extra incentives provided by employers, in addition to a worker’s standard salary or wage. They provide a great way of ensuring teams feel valued, and are designed to promote employee satisfaction and wellbeing.

Some benefits are legally required, but often, additional benefits are added to employer offerings.

Core, legally required, benefits include:

• A workplace pension
• Statutory sick pay
• Holiday allowance

Additional employee benefits you could be offering

In addition to the legally required benefits, employers can offer a number of different incentives to ensure their teams are happy and feel valued. These perks can also be used as a means of attracting new employees, by promoting the business as a rewarding place to work.

Here are some examples of potential, additional employee benefits you could be offering, at a limited cost to your business:

 1. Medical insurance

Private medical insurance could be offered to employees, to pay towards the cost of private treatment for certain medical conditions. It could be offered as an opt-in policy, whereby employees can choose if they would like to receive this benefit, in addition to their monthly salary.

Often, private medical insurance doesn’t cover every condition, so it’s important for employees to review the policy details to see what’s covered and if the insurance is right for them.

2. Car allowance

A car allowance refers to an extra payment given to an employee, to allow them to buy a car for their work. Additionally, it could refer to a business providing an employee with a car, to allow them to travel for work purposes.

A company car allowance comes with National Insurance and reporting obligations, so if you are offering a benefit of this kind to your team, its important to ensure everything is done correctly to avoid financial penalties.  

3. Life insurance or Death in Service

As an employer, you could offer a life insurance policy in addition to a team member’s monthly salary. It should be offered as an opt-in benefit, with employees having the ability to choose whether they would like to receive this.

Alternatively, you could offer a Death in Service policy, which, similar to a life insurance policy, offers a tax-free lump sum if an employee passes away, to provide financial support to people who may depend financially on them. The policy amount is often a certain number times their salary. For example, if a team member is on a salary of £25,000 and is offered a ‘4 times salary’ policy, their benefactors would receive a £100,000 lump-sum should they pass away.

4. Reward schemes

Reward schemes, such as Equipsme, nez perks or yulife, are a great incentive for keeping employees motivated by offering useful, exclusive perks.

These reward schemes often work on a subscription basis, with the employer being required to pay a certain amount per month per employee, towards receiving discounts and other reward types. They allow employees to earn points towards these perks, and often include a built-in leader board to promote healthy competition amongst teams.

 

For advice on the kind of additional benefits you could be offering employees and how to set these up, get in touch Contact Us or call 0121 270 2954