How to Help Your Employees’ Salary Stretch Further This Christmas
With almost four in 10 people starting their festive shopping in October or earlier (1), it's clearly never too early to start thinking about Christmas.
This is particularly true when you're an employer looking to bring tidings of joy to your employees via a financial helping hand.
That's because, as well as being a time of yuletide cheer, Christmas can also be a difficult time for many as they struggle to balance their seasonal spending with ongoing concerns about essential expenses such as utility costs (65%), rising food prices (60%), and inflation (60%)1. According to research:
- - 44% of Britons are worried about how much Christmas is going to cost
- - 34% of the UK population plan to have a scaled-back Christmas
Our cost-of-living crisis research found that although employees feel that their employers have a responsibility to help them through these turbulent financial times, just 5% are doing enough to support their financial wellbeing.
The good news is we're here to help. Thanks to our flexible, personalised, cost-effective employee benefits, you can have a positive impact on your employees' lives by helping their salaries stretch further.
This is important as employees who struggle financially report experiencing loss of sleep, poor concentration, and reduced motivation which can impact their performance at work.
Companies that go the extra mile to help employees get more out of their salary during the festive period (and beyond) will benefit from an increase in employee engagement and employee retention.
So, here is our guide to how you can spread the Christmas cheer by reducing the financial pressure this Christmas with our workplace benefits.
Deck the halls with employee benefits
Of course, rising energy and living costs also impact businesses. As a result, easing the financial pressure by giving employees annual holiday bonuses, annual salary increases, or year-end bonuses may not be an option for every company.
Luckily, there is another option that 65% of employees told us should be part of their employee compensation package to help them manage financial issues: Employee benefits.
Our research into the key employee benefits trends found that one of the most popular employee benefits for supporting staff during a challenging economic climate is salary sacrifice schemes.
'Tis the season for salary sacrifice schemes
When you're looking to maximise your employees' earnings at Christmas (or any time), salary sacrifice schemes always feature highly on Santa Claus's 'Nice' list.
By providing tax breaks on products and services that matter to employees, salary sacrifice schemes involve swapping a portion of their salary for a non-cash benefit. This reduces their income tax and National Insurance contributions and stretches their salary further.
Plus, salary sacrifice schemes let employees spread the cost of essential products and services over time, which reduces the immediate financial pressure and helps them manage their expenses more effectively.
For these reasons, adding salary sacrifice schemes to your comprehensive benefits package will help to ensure you are a desirable employer of choice to current and future employees.
Unwrap these popular salary sacrifice schemes
Whether for a religious holiday, during tough financial times, or at any time throughout the year, salary sacrifice schemes can significantly boost your employees' financial health.
Here's a sleigh-full of some of our most popular salary sacrifice schemes:
Home & tech savings
The average UK consumer spends almost £600 on Christmas-related costs. As a result, buying or replacing high-cost items might get put on hold.
Thanks to Home & Tech salary sacrifice that doesn't have to be the case. Employees can save up to 8% on thousands of home & tech items from IKEA and Currys and spread the cost, interest-free, straight from their salaries.
Whether buying for themselves or friends and family, Home & Tech can be used on top of offers, promotions, and discounts and is cost neutral for employers. Want to know more? Check out the answers to common questions here.
Cashback
The bYond prepaid shopping card stretches employees' salaries by helping them earn up to 15% cashback on everyday purchases.
Available to use at over 85 UK high-street brands, employees can make their money go further whilst shopping for household essentials, festive groceries, or the weekly food shop.
Easy to top up and use like a debit card, bYond can offset the cost of living by giving employees up to £500 cashback per year. In addition, it's free to set up with no admin, approvals, or cost to your business.
Discounts
Employees can save money on everyday purchases such as groceries, eating out, and more with Extras Discounts.
This workplace benefit stretches employees' salaries further by saving them up to 15% off physical and digital gift cards for over 100 brands, which boosts cost savings during the January sales.
Nearly half of those we spoke to1 said they planned to give family and friends gift cards this Christmas. Extras Discounts makes this possible for less spend.
Simple and straightforward to set up and use, Extras Discounts is available free of charge to your business with free marketing support.
Cheaper gym memberships
According to Forbes Fitness, improving fitness is the top New Year resolution. MyGymDiscounts makes it easier for employees to lead a healthier lifestyle with up to 25% off a gym membership.
As well as saving employees money, getting active helps boost employees' mental wellbeing, which can lead to happier, more productive workers who take fewer sick days.
Employees can choose from leading fitness brands such as PureGym, Virgin Active, David Lloyd, and more. Employers can provide access to their entire workforce for a one-off fee and, once signed up, employees can self-serve their benefit.
Cycle to work scheme
Although it can be a chilly time of year to saddle up, the benefits of cycling on mental health, physical fitness, and reduced fuel costs, make it more than worthwhile.
Plus, with Cyclescheme - the UK's leading Cycle to Work scheme - employees can also save up to 42% on a new bike, e-bike and cycling accessories.
For those who want to be more green as part of their New Year resolutions, biking or purchasing an electric bike with Cyclescheme is a great step without the huge upfront costs.
This popular salary sacrifice scheme is free to set up and also cost-positive for employers as they save 13.8% on employer NICs.
Affordable green cars
Fuel prices are still a concern for 24% of employees1 and, let's face it, replacing a car is a huge expense whether at Christmas or any other time throughout the year.
Green Car Benefit is a salary sacrifice scheme that helps employees travel more sustainably for less. Perfect for workers resolving to be greener in the New Year, employees can choose a sustainable, low-emission green car for an affordable monthly amount, deducted before Income Tax and National Insurance.
The savings continue throughout the year as the Green Car Benefit includes road tax, comprehensive car insurance, breakdown cover, MOT, replacement tyres, and servicing. Plus, it's quick, easy, and cost-neutral or positive for employers to implement.
Support employee financial management
The AI-powered super-app, syd™, supports employee wellbeing with personalised advice, backed by science, to help improve their quality of life.
As well as mental wellbeing, health wellbeing, social and sleep recommendations, this includes financial and career advice to support them through their financial challenges and towards their money-related goals.
For employees, it's like having a wellbeing mentor and financial advisor in their pocket. For employers, it's easy to implement, affordable, and accessible.
Ready to help your employees' salaries go further?
When it comes to maximising your employees' income, salary sacrifice schemes and employee benefits are the gifts that keep on giving.
To find out more about how our simple, straightforward, no-hassle workplace benefits will make a huge difference to your employees, get in touch today on 0208 159 9430, or via our contact page and one of our benefit experts will be in touch.
