EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
SMEs retaining core benefits but policies being tweaked to cut costs - Mercer
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain committed to their benefits packages but are transferring more cost on to the employee, says Mercer.
The data was drawn from mercer-elect, a specialist service provided by Mercer allowing SMEs to offer staff employee benefits that are only usually available to larger companies. It is used by over 1,500 SMEs employing thousands of staff across the UK. Mercer has analysed the data to monitor the trends in SME benefit provision in the UK.
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Donna Biggs, Principal at Mercer, said: “Pay and benefits play a large role in the attraction and retention of staff but both elements are under pressure as SMEs seek to keep costs down. Our data is showing how SMEs are responding. They are keeping their core benefits but chiseling at them to help trim costs. In a business environment where pay rises are below the rate of inflation – if they exist at all – this ensures that they can still provide an attractive working environment and compete for talent while reducing operating costs.”
According to Mercer's data, private medical insurance (PMI) excesses, group income protection (GIP) deferred periods – the time that a company will cover sick leave before passing the employee onto an insurer - and some group life (GL) policy elements are bearing the brunt of the cuts.
Want to know more?
Read more about the research at http://uk.mercer.com/press-releases/Core-employee-benefits-remain.
Mercer is a “global leader in human resource consulting and related services”. Mercer’s 20,000 employees are based in more than 40 countries. For more information visit http://uk.mercer.com.