В 38% компаний сотрудники сами должны инициировать использование льгот

Benefits take-up is left to employees to initiate in 38% of organisations In over a third (38%) of organisations, employers leave employee benefits take-up to the employees to initiate themselves, according to new research from Group Risk Development (Grid). The industry body for the group risk sector surveyed 500 HR decision makers and 1,210 UK workers. When questioned why they were leaving benefit take-up to employees, 49% of respondents said that they did not want to pressurise employees to take up benefits. Almost a third (31%) said they would prefer lower take-up and choose not to communicate benefits programmes as it helps manage costs, while 17% do not have the resources to encourage take-up of benefits continually. When employees were asked whether their employer actively encourages them to take up benefits, 36% said they are left to initiate take-up themselves. Only 29% said their employers actively encourage them to use benefits, and 31% were not sure or did not know. In addition, just 18% of employees are fully aware of everything available to them, including pension, private healthcare, employee assistance programmes, health cash plans, life assurance, long-term sick pay and critical illness cover. A total of 34% were aware of only some benefits, while 10% were unaware of any. When employees were questioned about their understanding of the benefits, only 18% said that they understand all of what is available to them; 38% said they understand most of them, and 40% only understand some of them. Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for Grid, said: “It is surprisingly common for benefits uptake to be left to employees. The research shows this approach limits awareness and engagement, leaving employees unsure of the value or relevance of what is on offer. If employers don’t want their staff to overlook the benefits they offer them, we would encourage them to proactively champion their employee benefits programmes. “When responsibility for benefits uptake sits with employees, both awareness and understanding will suffer. Few staff are likely to use benefits they don’t know about or do not fully understand, creating wider knock-on effects: benefits are not simply a goodwill gesture, they support retention, productivity and form a key part of overall remuneration. If utilisation is not actively promoted, and employees don’t recognise their value, both employees and employers lose out.”