Employers are adjusting benefits in response to financial pressures but provision and employee uptake remain inconsistent, according to Broadstone.
According to the second UK Employee Benefits Landscape report, produced in partnership with Investor in Customers, examines employer priorities and decisions amid government changes and shifts in both employer and employee taxation over the past two years.
The report found that employers responded to the 2024 Autumn Budget by updating their benefits packages with 43% introducing salary sacrifice schemes although these are now affected by the Chancellor’s 2025 thresholds. The report also highlights that around 15% of employers said at least 2%of their workforce reduced or opted out of pension contributions in the past year.
The report finds that Private Medical Insurance (PMI) is increasingly on the agenda with 11% of employers planning to introduce it within three years, up from 9% in 2023, while the proportion considering it has risen from 15% to 20%. Company-funded critical illness cover remains limited, offered by just 14% of employers although a fifth are either planning to introduce it or actively considering it.
Additionally, support for employee wellbeing is more widespread, the report shows, with 63% of organisations providing mental health or resilience training and 77% giving employees access to an employee assistance programme.
Broadstone head of DC workplace savings Damon Hopkins says: “The past two years have seen significant changes to the nation’s workplace pension provision with further reform on the way as the Government undertakes its Pensions Commission on adequacy. In the meantime, employers have had to juggle significant increases in National Insurance and economic volatility while the 2025 Autumn Budget delivered another hurdle in the form of future changes to pensions salary sacrifice arrangements. This Report examines how employers are approaching pension provision for their employees and the role they will play in the nation’s long-term saving moving forward.”
Broadstone head of health & protection Brett Hill says: “Our first Report was delivered at a time when the nation was emerging from the aftermath of the global pandemic. Fast forward two years and the UK is still grappling with the some of those consequences, in the form of significant and sustained pressures on its public healthcare system. In this Report, we assess how businesses are increasingly taking these factors into account when reviewing their health, wellbeing and protection benefits to tackle these issues and ensure productivity remains high in the workforce.”
