Danone UK, the dairy arm of the company's food and drink business offers a learning and development account, alongside a wellbeing account, through its flexible benefits scheme.
The accounts, which receive half-matched employer funding, were introduced this January.
So far, a quarter of the 90 employees in the Danone Dairies division have chosen to take part in the wellbeing accounts, with at least 50% of these contributing the full amount. Just 10%, however, have signed up to the learning account.
The accounts allow staff to draw on their funds up to four times a year and to use them to pay for an extensive range of activities such as night classes, gym membership, acupuncture and aromatherapy. Liz Ellis, HR director, said: "We wanted to encourage a learning environment." Employees must get the company providing their chosen service signed off by their employer and then hand in the receipt allowing them to be reimbursed.
