Post-Covid, employee wellbeing is imperative. Businesses nowadays have to be flexible and fair with members of their current workforce and future recruits. Treating your employees well is key to retaining your staff and combating The Great Resignation. This phrase was coined to reflect the economic trend of last year which saw floods of workers quitting their jobs. This highlights the significance of looking after your workforce and in turn gaining their loyalty. A great place to start with this is by having employee benefits in place.

 

The way workers view employee benefits has also changed since covid. There is greater value in them and a greater reliance on them than ever before. The benefits offer stability and a safety net for individuals. In the UK mandatory employee benefits include workplace pensions, holiday pay, maternity/paternity pay, and sick pay. Below is a brief explanation of how it works and the entitlement:

 

Workplace pension

 

Employers must follow legislation and auto-enrol their employees into pension schemes. Employers must also pay a minimum of 3% of their employees’ earnings into the pension; however, they do have the option to pay more than this.

 

Holiday pay

 

Workers are entitled to 28 days of paid holiday each year including bank holidays, which is the equivalent of 5.6 weeks.

 

Maternity/Paternity pay

 

Pregnant employees and employees who have adopted a child are legally entitled to 26 weeks of ordinary maternity leave and then 26 weeks of additional maternity leave. There is also a paternity leave entitlement of 2 weeks and statutory paternity pay.

 

Sick pay

 

Employers must provide a minimum level of statutory sick pay. You are entitled to this on the fourth consecutive day that you are off sick from an illness or accident.

 

There are, however, a number of supplementary benefits that employers provide to offer more of an incentive for recruitment and retention purposes. These can include such things as: 

 

• Private health insurance

• Dental insurance

• Gym membership

• Cycle-to-work schemes

• Employee rewards/ discounts

• Flexible working, remote/ hybrid

• Childcare allowances

• Company car

 

As long as companies comply with the mandatory employee benefits, they can choose any additional ones they might want to offer to encourage their workforce. It’s important to consider, as mentioned previously, that employee benefits are more highly sought after than ever before due to the impact of Covid. The pandemic highlighted the fracture points and instability of some aspects of the modern work culture. Employees now want to know that their employer will look after them. Therefore, benefits will help appease your current workforce and also help you recruit for the future.