The cost of living crisis has left many HR teams and businesses looking for ways to help employees with their finances. Many organisations have been in the news lately for helping employees with their energy bills.
The cost of living has soared in recent times and looks set to continue to rise, with threats to the global economy looming too.
It’s a complicated topic and employee benefits won’t solve everything but can provide some much-needed support in areas you may not have thought of.
Of course, any pay and compensation package is underpinned by fair and equal pay which has and always will be hugely important. Providing this is already in place, employee benefits should add that extra support which could save employees hundreds or even thousands over the course of a year, utilising things like salary sacrifice for example.
Most employers are in no doubt that they have a role to play in helping employees through crises like these. Research shows employers are increasingly taking responsibility for the mental wellbeing of their teams.
So, how can employee benefits help?
Financial Wellbeing
Financial wellbeing benefits can help employees with their finances in both the short and long term.
At caboodle, our range of financial wellbeing benefits includes Financial Planning advice, Workplace ISA’s, a financial education library and much more, all designed to help employees organise their finances, navigate tricky financial obstacles or economic downturns and plan for the future.
Lots of employee benefits help employees save money in the short to medium term, through salary sacrifice or exclusive discounts for example.
What’s equally important is education around finances and helping employees not just save in the short term but save for the long term, budget, invest and learn how to make their money work for them.
Financial wellbeing benefits help employees build sustainable financial habits, set goals and navigate financial difficulty while working to avoid it in the future by building a strong safety net.
Employee Discounts
Employee discounts are great for saving on treats, cinema tickets, gifts or days out for example.
They’re also used by employees to save on the essentials, on the typical costs like the weekly or monthly shop for example.
Inflation has seen the prices of the average food shop increase quite dramatically in many stores.
Basics like pasta and rice have risen sharply in price and many of the go-to foodstuffs used by us all to keep the price of meals low while keeping them healthy have left the price of our average food shop looking more and more expensive.
Used regularly and over the course of a year, the savings on groceries using employee discounts can really add up. The ONS estimate the average family spends £3,312 on the food shop each year. Just a 9% saving can total just under a £300 saving over the course of a year.
In this scenario, employee discounts have helped offset the cost of inflation and possibly helped save a little more too, at least for now.
And they’re not just limited to grocery shopping either and a wide-ranging employee discount scheme can help employees save in many areas of their life.
Motorsave
Motorsave not only helps employees reduce the cost of motoring but helps spread the cost over the course of a year too to help make maintenance and repairs more manageable.
The car can be one of the worst culprits for hitting you with unexpected bills at the most inconvenient times. And with rising fuel costs, motoring is becoming more expensive.
Motorsave helps employees utilise salary sacrifice to pay for essential vehicle maintenance and repairs, including MOTs and servicing. Basic rate taxpayers will save 12% through the scheme.
With the cost of everything rising, the last thing anyone needs is an unexpected repair bill.
For many, something like this could mean taking on debt or could push them into financial difficulty.
Motorsave helps employees avoid taking out expensive loans with high interest to help manage motoring costs too.
Car Benefit Scheme
The Car Benefit scheme is a great way for employees to get on the road but particularly in electric vehicles or ULEVs.
One cost that’s rising significantly is the cost of fuel. While the cost of energy is also rising and therefore the cost to charge up your electric car is too, it’s not near the cost of that to power a traditional petrol or diesel powered vehicle.
Many of us want to drive electric but are put off by the high initial cost. The Car Benefit scheme is one of the cheapest ways for employees to drive electric.
So, employees could trade in their petrol or diesel car, then through the scheme go electric, pay monthly and reduce their fuel costs.
For those with equity in their car or on a hire purchase agreement, switching to electric through the Car Benefit scheme may not only help reduce fuel costs but could also provide some extra cash in the short term as a buffer to bolster any savings or provide a vital financial safety net.
Commuting Loan
What about employees that travel or commute by public transport? Commuting loans can help employees spread the cost of season tickets for rail, bus or tram travel for example. Employees buy an annual pass instead of a monthly or weekly pass, thus reducing the cost, then paying monthly through the commuting loan all interest free.
The scheme can even be used for those who travel by car too to help reduce the cost of expensive parking passes.
Most of us have reassessed our finances in recent times and often the first place we look is our monthly outgoings.
The Commuting Loan scheme is a great way to help employees quickly reduce a monthly or weekly cost with no interest to pay.
For those who rely heavily on public transport, the scheme can be a lifeline and can help them save loads monthly and across the course of a year.
Health employee benefits
Health and wellbeing employee benefits like the Health Cash Plan, PMI, Eyecare, Dental Cover and even the Gym Scheme are all designed to help employees save money on healthcare.
Already we’ve seen the waiting list for appointments increase to unprecedented levels and the cost of seeing the dentist or going for an eyecare appointment could put many off as the cost of living rises.
This is something we of course want to avoid. Missed appointments can lead to problems further down the line.
Physical health is hugely important for our mental health which is important in helping us manage our finances.
So, health and wellbeing benefits like these help encourage employees not to ditch the appointments altogether but still reduce the costs.
Good health helps avoid sick days and needing time off work too, helping avoid any further financial difficulty.
The value of an effective employee benefits package
The right employee benefits package is invaluable to both the employer and employees. For the employer, these benefits can help support employees and reduce absenteeism, improve productivity and employee engagement through helping support employee wellbeing. For employees, while the cost of living crisis
remains a huge challenge and while employee benefits won’t provide the full answer, benefits can at least give employees options, helping reduce costs and still prioritise health without worrying about the cost.
