The research also found that employees consider benefits an important part of a remuneration package, with the most sought after aspect being a company pension scheme too which the employer contributes.
Income protection came third in the list of most important benefits, ahead of health insurance, even though many employers do not consider it as a relevant benefit.
Although the employees surveyed were agreed on the high importance of benefits, the results also expressed confusion as to what an ’employee benefit’ actually is. Some 3 per cent of respondents classified statutory sick pay as a benefit and 9 per cent believed their basic holiday allowance also fitted into this category.
The research showed that 81 per cent of employees would move jobs if they were offered the same salary but better benefits.
Marion Ware, head of marketing for Canada Life Group Insurance says: “These results show just how important benefits are to employees. We were concerned to see that only 34 per cent of those questioned received any form of employee benefit. Considering how willing people are to switch to jobs that offer better benefits, employers would be well advised to offer as comprehensive a range as possible.
