Jennifer Paterson looks at the voluntary benefits most commonly offered to staff
Voluntary benefits schemes enable employers to offer staff access to a range of products and services, often at a discounted rate and/or with tax and/or national insurance (NI) savings. In these pages, we look at the most popular voluntary benefits, excluding pensions, typically offered to staff, along with the average levels of take-up among UK workforces. Retail and leisure discounts and vouchers are particularly popular in tough economic times, while perks with tax breaks are also valued, such as childcare vouchers and bikes-for-work schemes.
In an online survey conducted by Co-operative Employee Benefits among 2,000 employees working for its clients, mobile phones were found to be the most popular voluntary benefit among staff. The survey, conducted exclusively for Employee Benefits in October 2011, found that the benefits staff are most likely to consider taking up are will writing/legal services and concert/cinema tickets. For obvious reasons, childcare vouchers had little appeal to those who have no children, while payroll giving and bikes-for-work schemes have only niche market appeal.
Read more articles from the Employee Benefits voluntary plans and tax-efficient benefits supplement 2011