| EMPLOYEE BENEFITS No sign of surge in use of flex There will be a very slow, but steady, growth in the number of flexible benefit schemes on offer over the coming year, according to a survey by Employee Benefits magazine. The 282-employer survey found that flex remains a minority pursuit in the UK: less than one in ten participants operate a flex plan. Of the remaining organisations, 13 are currently designing a flex scheme and a further 73 have one under consideration. But how many of these will carry their ideas through to full implementation is questionable, says Employee Benefits. As many as 56 employers in the sample had considered flex at some point, but ended up rejecting the idea. Voluntary benefits popular among employers The survey suggests that voluntary benefits can be an ideal first step towards a flexible benefits package. By merely facilitating discounts for employees, employers can avoid the hassle of running fully-fledged benefits, the report says. Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents offer discounted products and services to employees. Healthcare cash plans are by far the most common benefits in the voluntary package. Meanwhile, voluntary benefits that were offered by about one in ten employers surveyed include:
Want to know more? Title: Flexible benefits , Employee Benefits, March 2002. Survey sample: The survey was based on information supplied by 282 typical UK organisations in November 2001. Just 9% of respondents (25 employers) have flex schemes. Availability: Contact Employee Benefits subscriptions department in London, tel: 020 7970 4000 or email employee-benefits@centaur.co.uk. To read a summary of the article online visit the magazine’ s web site at www.employeebenefits.co.uk. Registered users (it's free to register) click on Archive of articles and then select Research . The online version is dated March 2002. Posted 27 March 2002
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