{"id":1876,"date":"2022-08-11T10:10:37","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T02:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1876"},"modified":"2022-08-11T17:24:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T09:24:07","slug":"employee-benefits-scheme-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/employee-benefits-scheme-in-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"How to choose the right employee benefits scheme in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

Employees are always demanding more employee benefits from their employers. To recap on what are employee benefits, the <\/span>Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in the UK<\/span><\/a> defined them as: \u201cnon-cash provision within the reward package, although they can have a financial cost for employers, for example, paid holidays, pensions, or company cars.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a number of advantages of an employee benefits program. But as business leaders, choosing the right employee benefits scheme in the UK can make the difference between a wasteful investment and one that boosts employee engagement, retention rate, and productivity levels.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this article by <\/span>Pacific Prime UK<\/span><\/a>, our employee benefits experts will take you through the three most important questions that will help you choose the right employee benefits scheme in the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Corporate<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n

1. How old are your employees?<\/h2>\n

Different employee age groups will benefit from a different employee benefits package. Implementing the wrong employee benefits scheme may actually do more harm than good. It can alienate your employees and make them feel unrewarded when a benefits scheme that is irrelevant to them is implemented. To prevent this from happening, let\u2019s go through a few key examples that will help you choose the best employee benefits scheme for your company.<\/span><\/p>\n

Note: <\/b>Is your workforce characterised by employees from multiple generations? If so, you may want to look into <\/span>flexible or flex benefits<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Older employees<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It is no surprise that the healthcare needs of older employees are far greater than those of younger employees. As the cost of healthcare and health insurance in the UK continue to rise, businesses have started to adopt the following employee benefits to help their employees ease the financial burden associated with healthcare costs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Private health insurance<\/h5>\n

With the cost of private health insurance outpacing the salary growth of employees in the UK, providing private health insurance coverage for employees is a highly valued benefit for older employees. This demand for better health insurance coverage in the UK is further fueled by the country\u2019s struggling National Health Service (NHS), which experiences long queues and waiting lists throughout the year \u2013 especially given the impact that COVID-19 has had on it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Pacific Prime\u2019s latest <\/span>2021 report<\/span><\/a> on the cost of international health insurance, the UK\u2019s private health insurance premiums are the 14th most expensive out of the 100 countries surveyed. With an average cost of USD $4,737, the UK saw its average cost of health insurance for individuals increase by up to 6% in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

Retirement savings plans<\/h5>\n

Another financial issue that your veteran employees are facing is saving up for retirement. Many of them will be less than a decade away from retiring and they are starting to worry about saving up for retirement. Employee benefits schemes have evolved over the years to address this issue in the form of financial wellness programmes that include retirement saving programmes and seminars.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, financial wellness is more important and relevant than ever given the soaring inflation and cost of living crisis the UK is experiencing. It can even impact other areas of health and wellness. <\/span>According to a survey of UK adults<\/span><\/a>, 59% said that the cost of living crisis has had a negative impact on their mental health, which has left them feeling anxious, depressed, or hopeless.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Younger employees<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Younger employees are not as worried about health-related issues as their older counterparts. This generational divide is reflected in the type of employee benefit that they value.<\/span><\/p>\n

Work-life balance and personal wellbeing<\/h5>\n

With more and more Gen Z\u2019ers entering the workforce, employers need to recognise the employee benefits that this demographic prefers. More often than not, Gen Z\u2019ers <\/span>prefer work\/life balance and personal wellbeing over many traditional employee benefits<\/span><\/a>. In other words, they\u2019re looking for more progressive benefits than just employee insurance benefits. By responding to Gen Z’ers’ needs, employers can be attractive to this growing pool of candidates and stay competitive in the face of the \u2018<\/span>Great Resignation<\/span><\/a>\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

Career development programmes<\/h5>\n

Career development programmes are another employee benefit that has been proven to be effective in increasing engagement levels and retention rates among younger employees. For instance, <\/span>a 2022 survey of approximately 5,000 US-based LinkedIn members<\/span><\/a> revealed that: almost half (40%) of employees aged 24 or younger would take a pay cut of 2 to 5% if it meant greater chances of career growth. In comparison, the US average amongst all age groups is only 26%.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. How stressful is your workplace?<\/h2>\n

Workplace stress is not only harmful to your employees, it\u2019s also costly for your business. According to new <\/span>mental research by Deloitte<\/span><\/a>, poor mental health costs UK employers up to \u00a356 billion a year, which is up from the previous year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

To reduce costs associated with workplace stress, employee benefits like EAPs have been shown to be effective ways to improve the wellbeing of your employees, helping them remain focused at work. The programmes can involve services such as therapeutic counselling, work-life balance seminars and an around-the-clock hotline.<\/span><\/p>\n

From improved retention rates, increased productivity and lower absenteeism, a typical EAP will have a return on investment of USD $3 or more for every USD $1 invested in the programme, according to the <\/span>Employee Assistance Trade Association<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flexible working hours<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Another cost-effective method of addressing the need to take more days off from younger employees is to implement flexible working hours in your office. This will allow employees to feel like they can work late on productive days and come into work late the next day. It will also give your employees the freedom to leave work early when they finish their tasks faster than usual.<\/span><\/p>\n

This creates a natural reward system in your workplace that keeps employees productive and engaged throughout the day. In fact, some employers are taking this further. Starting June 2022, more than 30 UK companies launched the <\/span>4-day work week pilot<\/span><\/a> to show that hours logged don\u2019t matter as much as output. <\/span><\/p>\n

3. What are your business goals and budgets?<\/h2>\n

The final question you need to ask is, what are you looking to get out of the employee benefits programmes? Whether you are aiming to attract and retain employees, improve your employees\u2019 job performance and productivity, or lower the level of absenteeism will determine the type of employee benefits scheme that will be most suitable for your business.<\/span><\/p>\n

From these goals, you can make data-driven decisions on what the most impactful and cost-effective employee benefits plan will be. Furthermore, your business goal and budget will determine the extensiveness of the employee benefits scheme, as well as their period of implementation.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to know more about choosing the right employee benefits in the UK, feel free to <\/span>contact<\/span><\/a> our experts at Pacific Prime to find the <\/span>most cost-effective employee benefit plan<\/span><\/a> in the country. As global health insurance brokers, Pacific Prime partners with employee benefits providers in the UK and the rest of the world to offer a wide range of plans for businesses of all sizes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Visit our <\/span>website<\/span><\/a> to learn more about health insurance in the UK and receive a no-obligation, <\/span>free quote<\/span><\/a> today!<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Business<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Employees are always demanding more employee benefits from their employers. To recap on what are employee benefits, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in the UK defined them as: \u201cnon-cash provision within the reward package, although they can have a financial cost for employers, for example, paid holidays, pensions, or company cars.\u201d There …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":1878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Employee benefits schemes can make the difference between your employees staying on and leaving for another company. Check out our latest blog to find out how you should go about choosing the most suitable and cost-effective employee benefits scheme in the UK.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[742],"tags":[765,1187,1190,1189,1188],"class_list":["post-1876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employee-benefits","tag-ban_cor","tag-emeployee-benefits-schemes-in-the-uk","tag-employee-benefit-plan","tag-employee-benefits-providers-uk","tag-employee-benefits-uk"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/UK-ermployee-benefits-1.jpg?fit=1140%2C495&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcnTsc-ug","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1876"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2790,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876\/revisions\/2790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}