In over a third (38%) of businesses, employee benefits take-up is left to the employees to initiate themselves

In over a third of businesses (38%), employers leave employee benefits take-up to the employees to initiate themselves, according to research from GRiD, the industry body for the group risk sector.

When these businesses were questioned about why they were leaving benefit take-up to employees:

• Nearly half (49%) said that they didn’t want to pressurise employees to take up benefits
• 31% said they would prefer lower take-up as that helps manage costs
• and 17% said they don’t have the resources to encourage take-up of benefits continually

Employee research corroborates employer findings

When employees themselves were asked whether their employer actively encourages them to take up the benefits they are offered, the findings paint a similar picture. Thirty-six percent 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 didn’t know, suggesting a lack of clear communication.

Employee awareness of employee benefits

In addition, just 18% of employees whose company offers benefits are fully aware of everything available to them, including company pension, private healthcare, employee assistance programmes, cash plans, life assurance, long-term sick pay and critical illness cover. Thirty-four per cent said they were aware of only some benefits, while 10% were unaware of any.

Employee understanding of employee benefits

When employees were questioned about their understanding of the employee benefits that they are offered, only 18% of employees said that they understand all of the employee benefits available to them; 38% said they understand most of them, but a significant proportion of staff (40%) only understand ‘some’ of them.

Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD, said: “It is surprisingly common for employee benefits uptake to be left to employees. Worryingly, 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.”

Lower engagement does not always equal reduced costs

Many employers (31%) are assuming that choosing not to communicate their employee benefits programmes will reduce take-up and therefore cut costs, but that thinking is flawed.

For example, many of these benefits support health and wellbeing, so when take-up is actively encouraged, it can lead to a healthier, more present and productive workforce. In addition, the support within some employee benefits, including group risk – employer-sponsored life assurance, income protection and critical illness – is available at no additional cost to either the employee or the employer, so it does not place any additional financial strain on the business.

Without this support, health conditions are more likely to escalate, and that can be where costs spiral, with employees needing more intensive support, taking longer absences, and potentially leading to higher claims.

Katharine Moxham concluded: “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.”