Currys employee discounts received by some employers are more than three time bigger than those offered by other providers, research from Benefits Expert has found.
A poll of senior HR, reward and benefits professionals at last month’s Benefits Expert Summit found the biggest range of discounts received by employers was for Currys, with some companies receiving a 10 per cent discount while other voluntary benefit schemes received a discount of just 2 per cent.
The average Currys discount was 5.7 per cent, while the average Sainsbury’s discount stood at 3.9 per cent, with Tesco’s discounts averaging 3.8 per cent.
The most common Currys discount was either 5 or 6 per cent, with a half of the 40 employer representatives polled saying their staff received a discount at this level. But 17 per cent of delegates said their scheme offered an 8 per cent discount.
Sainsbury’s discounts varied from 2 per cent to 6 per cent, with 4 per cent the most common discount, received by 33 per cent of those polled.
Tesco’s discounts started higher than those for Sainsbury’s, at 3 per cent, with almost six in 10 firms receiving a 4 per cent discount.
In a panel debate at the Benefit Expert, delegates said promoting everyday discounts and core benefits was a key tool in supporting employees through the cost-of-living crisis. The focus extended beyond benefits, with an acknowledgement that a supportive work environment, flexibility, and understanding of non-financial aspects are vital for overall employee wellbeing.
Ryan Candy, senior performance and future of work manager at Sodexo highlighted that the European markets, particularly in the UK, have been hit hard, with Brexit and the conflict in Ukraine contributing to a challenging situation. Candy saw a convergence of multiple factors creating a challenging situation for employees, describing it as a “perfect storm.”
Helen McGowan, group benefits manager at Travis Perkins highlighted that many people are unaware of available government benefits, including cases of eligible individuals, like teachers, not claiming them.
She said: “A lot of people don’t realise that there are benefits out there that the government provides that they can access and are eligible for. We’ve heard cases of teachers that have been on around £60K a year that could claim benefit and apparently, there is £6K a year per employee that is just going unclaimed at the moment.”
She added: “We’re conscious that it’s probably the lower-paid people that are more immediately impacted. We put things in place to support them more immediately. In terms of what I am thinking about now, is for those kinds of mid-range colleagues who perhaps weren’t impacted immediately but are now in a situation where they’ve perhaps exhausted savings and are starting to perhaps get into debt. I don’t think we’ve seen the end of this yet.”
Rashree Chhatrisha pensions and benefits reward director at Saga agreed, adding that the day-to-day promotion of the discounts platform is “powerful”.
She said: “We work with Reward Gateway as well so it’s that continued promotion and also real-life stories on our intranet from other colleagues on how much money they have actually saved as cashback or how much money they are saving on day-to-day things.”
McGowan however said that there is consideration for not encouraging discretionary spending. She said: “We did put a stop to the emails going out that were advertising the more luxurious items. So things like holidays, Booking.com there’s a great discount on there, but we didn’t have those in our email comms and we were focusing instead on saving money.”
“The whitegoods Reward Gateway does something called smart tech which allows you to buy whitegoods from Currys and pay about salary sacrifice similar to cycle. We concentrated on those core benefits, the core discounts, the main everyday spending.”
McGowan also mentioned that at Travis Perkins a cost-of-living payment for individuals below a specific salary threshold was implemented last year.
Before the panel discussion, attendees were asked about their own financial support options, revealing that only 38 per cent provide one-off cost-of-living payments, while 62 per cent offer a financial wellbeing app.
Attendees were tasked with ranking financial support options for supporting employee financial resilience, and the order of effectiveness was determined as follows: financial education/coaching sessions, discount offers, discounted or employer-paid financial advice, financial wellbeing app, and then one-off cost of living payments.
Gemma Robinson people and culture director Aioi Nissay Dowa Europe explained that while employee benefits are crucial, they’re not the only factor in ensuring employee wellbeing. She emphasises the importance of genuinely caring for employees, listening to their needs, and understanding the non-financial aspects of wellbeing.
Robinson said the focus is on creating a supportive work environment by considering factors like flexibility, work-life balance, and staying attuned to the changing needs of the workforce. It’s not just about offering benefits but actively engaging and adapting to meet the holistic well-being needs of employees.
Chhatrisha added: “We don’t want to raise expectations that this is going to happen for the next 5 years but still recognise that we may not come out of this cost-of-living.
“It’s that broader promotion of everything that we do. It’s that whole holistic approach rather than focusing on family finance, wage stream or cost-of-living payments.”
