Majority of small businesses plan to overhaul their employee benefits packages

As many as 77% of UK SMEs plan to overhaul their benefits packages in order to attract and retain talent, tackle recruitment challenges and ease economic pressures.

Findings show that the main changes being considered by small and medium sized businesses are based around healthcare and wellbeing, pension improvement and lifestyle, and financial perks.

Conducted by Howden Employee Benefits in partnership with YouGov, the Employee Benefit Trends in UK SMEs report revealed the top benefit changes that SMEs are planning:

• Expanding mental health support (cited by 46%)
• Boosting access to PMI (43%)
• Enhancing pension contributions (40%)
• Adding gym memberships or lifestyle discounts (38%)
• Exploring Critical Illness Insurance (36%)
• Considering Group Life Assurance (31%)

Cheryl Brenan, Managing Director, Howden Employee Benefits, said, “SMEs are navigating a perfect storm of rising costs, recruitment pressures, and increased employee demand for healthcare, particularly mental health support.

“However, the research shows that many businesses understand that offering comprehensive benefits can be a powerful tool to improve employee wellbeing, reduce absenteeism, drive productivity and strengthen recruitment and retention of talent.

“Now that SMEs face higher Employer National Insurance (NIC) contributions and increased tax bills further to the recent budget, they can address both these challenges and the UK’s retirement shortfall by implementing salary sacrifice, if they don’t already.

“Employers can save 15% on Employer NICs on employees’ pension contributions, helping offset some additional costs whilst making a positive contribution to their employee’s retirement outcomes.  Investing in the right benefits can lay the foundation for a more productive and resilient workforce.”

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