FLEXIBLE BENEFITS
Sharp variations in take up of benefit options in flex plans
Vebnet has analysed the benefit selections made by staff employed in some of its largest nationally-based clients, covering almost 140,000 employees who receive flexible benefits from their employer via the Vebnet portal. The research included 74,000 males and 65,000 females. Benefit choices were analysed by gender, age group and geographical location, providing insights into some striking regional and demographic preferences.
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Key highlights
Medical and dental insurance
People working in the South East have the highest take-up rates for private medical and dental insurance.
Employees in Scotland have the lowest take-up for these benefits.
Pensions
20% more men than women have increased the amount they contribute to their pension.
Employees in the South West are the most likely to increase their pensions savings, with 17% doing so, compared with a national average of 10%.
Sickness and injury benefits
Employees aged 26 to 35 have the highest take-up of personal accident insurance.
The 36-45 age group have the highest take-up of critical illness insurance.
Take-up of critical illness insurance and personal accident insurance by employees in Northern Ireland is three times and four times the national average, respectively.
Travel insurance
Employees in Northern Ireland have the highest take-up of annual travel insurance policies.
Those in the Midlands have the lowest take-up.
Retail vouchers
Employees in the Midlands have the highest take-up of discounted shopping vouchers, equal at 9% with people in the North West and Wales and almost four times as popular than in the South East at just 2.4%.
Shopping vouchers are also most popular with the under 25s, with cheap shopping proving to be three times more popular than making extra pension savings.
Motor breakdown cover
Employees in the South West have five times the national average take-up for motor breakdown cover, with employees in the South East having the lowest.
Time off work
Just under a fifth of employees use their flexible benefit plan to vary the amount of annual leave they can take.
A third more females than males take advantage of this flexibility.
Extra time off work is most popular in the South West (23%) and least popular in Scotland (just 14%).
There is also a steady decline across age groups, with younger employees varying their annual leave much more than their older colleagues.
A final word
“Ten years ago there was very little on offer in the way of flexible benefits, but now we have an array of options which can be tailored to suit different lifestyles, allowing employees to really take advantage of the benefits and make some incredible savings. It is fascinating to see how individual preferences vary by gender, age and where we live. This underlines the importance of understanding the needs of the individual and developing employee communication strategies with a different balance and focus for each key segment of the population.” - Richard Morgan, Director of Consultancy, Vebnet.
Want to know more?
Vebnet is a “market-leading provider of reward and benefits services to the world’s most progressive employers and is part of the Standard Life Group”. To find our more visit www.vebnet.com.