28 Oct Most popular employee benefits identified

In a time of muted pay growth, a survey has identified the most popular employee benefits extended to UK workers.

Chief amongst these is a pension scheme, followed by healthcare provision and a salary sacrifice scheme, the Chartered Institute for Payroll Professionals (CIPP) have found.

“With pay rises few and far between the overall remuneration package is of vital importance to ensure employees feel valued,” commented Diana Bruce, Senior Policy Liason Officer at the CIPP.

“An employer may not be in a position to provide a bonus or pay rise but they can certainly help their employees by providing benefits such as a good workplace pension scheme where both the employer and employee can save on tax and National Insurance Contributions.”

With the introduction of automatic enrolment next year it is very encouraging to see a high percentage of employers already offering a pension scheme, the CIPP note. Salary sacrifice schemes continue to be a popular benefit, however the government does make the administration increasingly difficult for employers; the changes to Employer Supported Childcare in April 2011 being a prime example.

Other employee benefits which were rated highly in the survey were membership body fees, childcare and a car allowance. The results were taken from 380 people surveyed across the country in all professions and sectors.

By Max Clarke