Flexible employee benefits

The benefits offered by employers are becoming increasingly more important for attracting and retaining employees, so you need to ensure that the benefits package you offer will be appealing to everyone you hope to bring into your business. The best way to achieve this is by offering flexible benefits, thereby allowing employees to select the benefits that best suit their needs and to discard ones that don't.







Flexible benefits packages can be introduced during times such as mergers or acquisitions, as a way of harmonising benefits across the company and promoting equality among employees. However, there's no reason you can't begin offering a more flexible approach to benefits at any time - especially if you're entering a recruitment phase and looking for ways to entice more new workers.







Many types of benefits can be included in flex packages, including tax-efficient benefits like childcare vouchers or mobile phones, as well as salary sacrifice pension contributions to help pension holders grow their nest eggs at a faster rate. With a large number of flexible employee benefit packages available, the market has also grown more competitive, meaning it's now possible to find great deals when comparing the offerings of different providers.

It's important to realise the difference between various packages offered however, some of which may not truly be flexible employee benefits if they do not provide a certain degree of flexibility - such as voluntary benefits, which are available to employees at discounted prices. Rather than having to buy benefits themselves, employees should have the ability to trade one benefit for another under a flexible benefits program. In some cases, employers even offer their staff greater flexibility, by allowing them to "trade down" cover on particular benefits, in exchange for a cash sum. You might find that this is of particular use to you if you’re looking to cater towards younger employees, or those with less in the way of family commitments. For example, many employees might opt to trade down on their holidays, or life assurance policies.







Flexible benefits are really taking off in many sectors, with a recent study revealing that 23 per cent of organisations now operate formalised flexible benefits plans, while another 30 per cent are considering making the switch. Flexible employee benefits are usually run for a set period of time, but the term may end sooner due to lifestyle changes such as pregnancy or retirement.







The author of this article is a part of a digital blogging team who work with brands like Standard Life The content contained in this article is for information purposes only and should not be used to make any financial decisions.