Employee Benefits

"Employee benefits " does not only mean pensions. There are other benefits that employers can provide to attract and retain employees. In a recession it is easier to retain staff, but the recession will not last for ever.

When that happens there will be a sudden demand for experienced staff, and it is inevitable that the first people you lose will be the ones you most want to keep. An attractive benefit package may be the key to keeping those all important staff on your payroll and not that of your competitors. Establishing yourself as a caring employer also helps.

Four kinds of benefit are attractive

1) Free life assurance

2) Medical insurance, providing private medical care if needed, not necessarily just to the employee but also to their families.

3) Permanent health insurance, providing income protection during extended periods of illness

4) Critical Illness cover, providing a lump sum in case of life threatening illness. 

Employers can normally provide these benefits at a lower cost than the employees could themselves. They get the benefit of buying in bulk and frequently the employer can reduce the insurer's administration costs by doing some of that administration through their existing systems, further reducing premiums.

An additional benefit for employees is that in the group market underwriting criteria are less stringent than for individual policies. Some employees may therefore get cover that they would not be able to get otherwise except possibly at exorbitant rates.

This therefore also represents an efficient way of remunerating staff, as the value of the benefit will be more than the cost of providing it.