Member Article

Three quarters of companies manage benefits online

Three quarters (75%) of UK companies now administer their employee benefits online, according to new research by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare. The survey among more than 500 HR decision makers and heads of businesses investigated the administration processes and associated advantages for companies of all sizes across the country.

The 75% who manage benefits online is made up of 44% who administer all benefits this way and a further third (32%) who do so for some benefits. The figures are even higher for companies that provide workplace eye care, with a huge 91% stating that they manage at least some, if not all, benefits online. Just a quarter (25%) of respondents said they do not handle benefits electronically.

Ease of use and efficiency were the main advantages given for administering benefits online, with cost control, environmental reasoning and communication all also placed strongly as plus points. The figures show:

What do you believe are the advantages of administering employee benefits online? • Ease of use 53% • Efficiency/time savings 52% • Cost control/helps manage budgets 37% • Eco friendly (paperless) 35% • Helps communicate our benefits 33%

Jim Lythgow, director of strategic alliances at Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, commented: ‘Healthcare and health-related benefits are frequently cited as the most popular employee benefits among staff. Eye care is an integral part of this. The fact that companies are now able to manage so many of these benefits online is an important step forward. The easier and more cost effective benefit administration becomes, the more likely it is to be offered. For health-related benefits, this is of course good news for employees, but also for their employers who will also be likely to profit from the improved health and wellbeing of their workforce.’

Eye care is available for companies in the form of eVouchers, which can be purchased, distributed and overseen through an online portal. This makes the benefit transparent in terms of who is accessing it, how much it is costing, as well as making it easy to allocate the benefit and communicate the advantages of the scheme. There are, of course, also environmental advantages in that the entire process can be paperless, right up to the individual employee presenting the voucher to their local optician on their smartphone.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare .