Why are employee benefits important?

A company's employee benefits offer is a fundamental part of its employment package. And that package can say a lot about the culture and personality of the employer, helping to:

• increase employee engagement with the business
• strengthen the employer's brand
• increase the perceived value of the package
• integrate different businesses or different parts of the business
• drive cultural change
• improve recruitment and retention.

Ways of making benefit offerings

There are typically four ways of delivering benefits:

• Core or mandatory benefits
  These are not a matter of employee choice. The type, scope and level of these benefits will vary according to the culture and positioning of the business.

• Flexible benefits
  Under flexible benefits schemes staff can choose their own benefits from a set range. Often they can choose to upgrade certain benefits in exchange for others.

• Partial flex
  Usually a partial-flex option allows an employee to add to a core or mandatory benefit, such as buying additional life assurance cover to the core benefit provided.

• Voluntary
  Employees buy optional benefits (normally through payroll deduction) where the employer's buying power has secured discounted products or services.