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Employee Benefits poll: More than half (53%) employers have reported a take-up rate of between 1% and 25% for environmentally-friendly benefits, according to a survey of Employee Benefits readers.

More than a tenth (12%) of respondents said their environmentally-friendly benefits take-up rate was between 26% and 50%, and 6% said it was between 76% and 100%.

Meanwhile, no one had a take-up rate that was between 51% and 75%, and 29% said that they do not offer environmentally-friendly benefits at all.

Last month, Employee Benefits reported that employers in the UK energy sector have seen increasing interest in environmental benefits for their workforces, according to research by Aon.

Its The energy sector employee benefits study, which surveyed 38 UK organisations in the energy sector, found that respondents reported a strong take up of environmentally-friendly benefits, with 63% offering ultra-low emission or electric cars via salary sacrifice arrangements.

Terry Gostelow, principal strategy consultant in UK health and benefits at Aon, said: “Sustainability is also becoming a key factor in the energy sector’s benefits decisions, with strong uptake of initiatives such as salary sacrifice schemes for low-emission vehicles. As the workforce places greater emphasis on environmental responsibility, we expect businesses to adapt their benefits strategies to match their employees’ expectations, in order that they can remain competitive in attracting and retaining top talent.

“It was interesting to see variation in levels of investment in employee benefits. That could have a real impact on recruitment and retention for individual firms, especially for those employers at the lower end of the range.”