Keeping your staff sweet

Staff are more likely to receive long service awards or to be trained as first aiders at work than they are to receive childcare vouchers, according to research issued today by IRS Employment Review, published by LexisNexis Butterworths.

More than half the employers surveyed (57%) acknowledge long service with special awards. These tend to be cash awards or gifts ñ a move away from the classic clock or watch, although these still find favour with some employers.

Just under half of the surveyís respondents (46%) pay an additional allowance to staff who train as first-aiders, This is in recognition of the training time and of the extra responsibility once the employee has qualified. Typical payments tend to range between 50 and 250 per year.

Meanwhile just 16% of surveyed organisations offer employees tax-friendly childcare vouchers. However, a fifth (21%) of respondents were considering introduced them over the next 12 months.

Other key findings include:
Half the respondent organisations make deputising payments to staff standing in for senior colleagues.
One-third of organisations provide a subsidised staff canteen.
One-third of employers offer a staff discount on their own goods or services, or those of external providers.
Just 7% of organisations have implemented flexible benefits.
Nearly a quarter of respondents have made changes to benefits and allowances in the past year, while almost a third (32%) are planning to implement changes in the next 12 months.
Just three of the respondent organisations offer subsidised mortgages.

IRS Employment Review pay and benefits editor, Sheila Attwood said:

ìBenefits packages should be regularly reviewed to ensure that they meet the desired need. While some employers may enhance benefits to aid recruitment and retention or staff motivation, others remove some options or alter certain benefits for cost-effectiveness or because they are no longer appropriate to the company or its employees.

ìDespite the buzz that continues to surround the concept of flexible benefits, this IRS research indicates that the implementation of flex schemes is not the phenomenon that was widely predicted. It will be interesting to see whether those employers considering flex actually go ahead and implement the scheme over the next 12 months.î