Employers, particularly small companies, often struggle to provide services that their employers need, such as health care or compensated overtime.
Over the last year, changes in regulatory laws have made it much more difficult for companies to decide what compensation they should and can provide to their workers.
However, benefits do not need to be challenging to choose and administer – and offering them is advantageous to both employees and their employers.
When assessing work opportunities, applicants put a high value on the incentives that an employer can provide.
According to Cezanne HR’s report, there have been changes in employee attitudes towards healthcare workplace benefits.
We discuss these changes here but first, what exactly are these benefits?
Employer-Sponsored Benefits: What Are They?
Employer-sponsored benefits are non-cash benefits that employers provide to their workers.
Federal and state legislation require that workplaces offer benefits such as Social Security, worker’s compensation, and health insurance for businesses with fifty or more workers.
The majority, on the other hand, are subject to the employer’s discretion.
Happier and more comfortable employees perform better on tasks. According to University of Warwick studies, happy employees perform 12% better at work, while stressed, frustrated workers perform 10% worse.
Employers who provide benefits to full-time workers show that they are invested in their employees’ health and lives outside of work. Employee benefits give them the boost they need to succeed in their work.
One of the easiest but most powerful ways to reward and retain talent is to include health benefits as an employee bonus. Health benefits can also help form a healthy company atmosphere by increasing productivity, raising morale, and reducing absenteeism.
What are the Current Attitudes of Employees Towards Healthcare Benefits?
In 2021 based on Cezanne’s research, there were marked changes in attitudes toward employment benefits among employees in the UK.
For instance, after ranking eighth-most valuable benefit in 2018, ‘enhanced leave’ has moved up to the first position in 2021. Socials, on the other hand, ranked second in 2018 but now ranks ninth.
Flexible working hours were rated as an indispensable employee incentive in 2021, possibly reflecting the fact that certain employees choose to work from home or need to adjust their work schedules to meet other commitments.
Employees valued and took advantage of opportunities in 2018, such as travel loans, social events, and so on, that revolved around being physically present at the workplace.
In the face of lockdowns and remote work, priorities have shifted in 2021, as one might expect. Benefits that help employees cope with current pressures, such as flexible working hours and more holiday time, are also on the wish list.
Opportunities for personal development, such as job advancement, are also in higher demand. Workplace socials and gym memberships, which were once common, have been put on hold, at least temporarily.
According to Bupa data from a HR Magazine article in 2014, there was already some shame in the workplace when it comes to mental health, where 47% of corporate leaders say they walk on eggshells around workers who have had a mental health problem.
Employers must do more to support their employees’ health and wellbeing, particularly young workers aged 18-30 since 77% of employees within this demographic have experienced mental health challenges.
The message to employers is straightforward; benefits must respond to evolving workplace conditions.
What makes healthcare such an Important employee benefit?
Apart from the pandemic putting health at the forefront of people’s minds, healthcare workplace insurance is valuable because of the is incredible costs of out-of-pocket payment for medical services.
Since 1997, when it was 54.9 billion British pounds, healthcare spending in the United Kingdom has steadily increased.
In 2018, the UK’s healthcare budget totalled 214 billion British pounds. This was a 16.6 billion pound rise over the prior year’s healthcare budget.
It’s the same all over the world; even low-resource countries like Thailand have struggled to keep costs low while improving efficiency.
People worldwide are gradually turning to insurance for peace of mind in the event that they become sick or injured. As a result, it’s no surprise that workers prize having health care through their employer.
When an organisation is searching for new hires, it’s a good idea to consider what high-performing employees want. If you don’t have healthcare benefits, you risk losing your customers to a rival particularly during this pandemic era.
People are going to want to provide security and safety for their family and part of that aspect would come in form of healthcare benefits.
Employees will take great comfort in knowing that their health requirements are people looked and cared after.