Employee Benefits

For too long there has been an administrative burden on companies who have sought to provide security for their employees whilst working and in retirement.

In a traditional employee benefit package, the employer determines both the range and level of benefit options.

Traditional benefits typically comprises of:

•  Pension
•  Life cover
•  Disability insurance
•  Private Medical insurance
•  Company car

Over the last couple of years, there has been a surge in companies either implementing or intending to implement flexible benefits in the near future. This is not surprising given that:

•  Research continually points to the fact the majority of employees would prefer flexible benefits to enable them to match their benefits package to their lifestyle;

•  The availability of web-based technology now means that the headaches of complex paper-based administration flexible benefits systems are over.

In a fully flexible benefit plan, each employee is provided with a benefit allowance with which they can purchase various employee benefits from the range provided to them.

In most cases, the company will select certain benefits that the employee must buy a minimum level of, which are known as "core benefits". This is normally for the employees' protection and reflects those benefits, which must be offered as a legal requirement and often a paternalistic employer attitude. Further non-core benefits are then made available to the employee to purchase with their remaining benefit allowance.

Core benefits normally include the following:-

•  Holiday
•  Pension
•  Life cover
•  Disability insurance

Non-core benefits that are typically offered include:

•  Critical illness cover
•  Private medical insurance
•  Dental cover
•  Company car
•  Car insurance
•  Fuel allowance
•  Petrol card
•  Car allowance
•  Shares Options
•  Gym membership
•  Crèche facilities
•  Additional holiday entitlement
•  Childcare vouchers
•  Retail vouchers
•  Season ticket loans
•  Training