UK Provider of Group Risk benefits, Elipse who were recently purchased by AIG have published their annual employee benefits research which shows;
1. The benefits employers are offering.
2. The reasons for offering them.
3. What employees think about what they are offered.
4. How age and gender alter the popularity of benefits.
They surveyed 1000 UK employers of all sizes across differing industries to better understand the benefits staff are being offered.
1. In 2018, after pensions the most commonly offered benefits were?
2. And the reasons employers provide benefits?
When asked for a single reason to provide benefits over and above the salary, statutory holidays and pensions the most common reasons were;
1. 27% to reward staff.
2. 27% for staff retention.
3. Only 12% for staff recruitment.
In a competitive market place with virtual full employment it’s holding on to key people that is the biggest driver.
3. Which benefits do employees value the most?
When employees were asked to choose the top three benefits from an extensive list the top three were;
1. 37% workplace pension
2. 23% private medical insurance
3. 20% life insurance.
Interestingly none of the top three benefits offered by employers (childcare vouchers, cycle to work scheme, workplace wellbeing programme) made the list of the employees three most popular benefits. It could be some employers are putting resources into providing benefits that their staff just don’t want.
4. How age and gender alter the popularity of benefits.
There is little gender difference between men and women when rating benefits, but age differences are apparent when you look at the popularity of the Group Risk insured benefits. You would expect that employees in the age range of 30-50 would have the greatest interest in life insurance and income protection as they may be raising young families with low levels of savings. Older workers with lower outgoings and more savings become more interested in critical illness insurance due to the increased risks associated with ageing.
Life Insurance popularity by age group;
Group Critical Illness popularity by age group;
Group Income Insurance popularity by age group;
Summary
According to a 2014 ACAS report (https://bit.ly/2cZs4Cq) the cost then of replacing a single member of staff was £30000 and the figure will be much more today, faced with that employers should be well advised to make more modest investments in employee benefits as part of a clear strategy for retaining there team. The Elipse report provides valuable information to help employers and advisers to select the most effective package.
The full Elipse report can be read here; https://bit.ly/2Tal6w2
