Industry body warns employers don’t communicate their benefits enough

GRiD, an industry body for the group risk protection sector (employer-sponsored life assurance, income protection and critical illness), revealed the research of 500 HR decision makers this month.

It found 22 percent of employers only communicate their benefits package to employees once a year, while other employers surveyed use specific events as a prompt: for instance, 36 percent will communicate benefits when there’s a change in T&Cs and 29 percent will do so at performance reviews.

GRiD warns this isn’t enough. It’s spokesperson, Katharine Moxham, said: “It’s understandable that employers use key events to communicate their benefits, but what an employer sees as a key event may not coincide with what an employee sees as a key event.”

The industry body said illness, disability, injury, death, bereavement, are all largely unpredictable in nature, so can affect an employee at any time. The support that can be offered by employee benefits, such as group risk, can be necessary any day of the year.

It also said that some benefits can be utilised daily, at no extra cost, so it makes sense to communicate them regularly and encourage their use. For example, many group risk benefits come with an employee assistance programme, early intervention support for health and wellbeing, access to counselling and legal support for issues such as neighbour disputes and parking fines. Frequent communication of such benefits encourages utilisation and gives more value to both employer and employee.

Moxham added: “Few employee benefits can be utilised every day, even if a claim is never made, at no extra cost to the employer or employee. To capture employees’ attention at a time when they can make use of them, it’s important that they’re communicated regularly. Once a few employees get value they soon start telling colleagues, engagement then snowballs, as does the value.”