If you have clients struggling to retain or attract staff in the current economic climate, they are not alone.

According to Ipsos, more than half of 16 to 34-year-olds considered quitting their jobs or were actively looking for a new role in the three months to mid-February 2022.

In addition, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures say there are a record 1.3 million job vacancies in Britain as employers struggle to find skilled and qualified staff to fill their roles.

In a competitive job market, it’s not just salaries that can attract talent. Increasingly, employers are offering a range of perks to woo potential hires – including many financial benefits. Read on to find out more.

Financial perks can be a great way to attract and retain staff

Built In report the results of a Met Life employee benefits study which revealed more than two-thirds (69%) of workers said that having a wider array of benefits would increase their loyalty to their employers.

While remote and flexible working are two of the common approaches in 2022, offering financial perks can also help to retain and attract talent. Options that clients might want to consider include:

• Death in service benefit – this is life cover payable to an employee’s nominated beneficiaries if they die while working for your client’s business
• Matching contributions to a workplace pension or making contributions above and beyond the mandated amount
• Offering “salary sacrifice” schemes to enable employees to exchange some of their gross pay for benefits such as additional pension contributions, electric cars, or childcare vouchers
• Healthcare cash plans, which provide financial assistance towards things like physiotherapy, dental work, and optical care
• Long-term sick pay
• Financial advice seminars/webinars or one-to-one sessions with a financial planner
• “Perks” such as schemes that offer retail or entertainment discounts.

Offering these benefits can not only increase staff retention but can also be useful when hiring new talent. A wide range of perks can be attractive to potential new starters – especially if they are comparing your client’s business with others.

Gaelle Blake, head of permanent appointments at Hays UK&I, told the Telegraph: “We’re certainly seeing companies getting more creative in what they can offer prospective staff when trying to recruit in a competitive market.”

Financial perks can also be good for your clients’ businesses

In many cases, offering a good range of financial perks can be a win-win for both your clients and their employees. That’s because many such benefits can be offset against tax, making them a tax-efficient way to add value.

For example, if clients offer death in service benefit it means an employee’s beneficiaries will receive a tax-free lump sum if they die while in your client’s employment.

As an employer, a death in service policy will usually be considered a business expense. So, offering this perk will typically reduce your client’s liability to Corporation Tax.

It’s worth noting also that HMRC does not usually consider death in service to be a benefit in kind for an employee. Consequently, as well as being tax-efficient for a business owner, employees won’t pay tax on the premiums.

Another excellent way to retain and attract staff is through salary sacrifice.

Under a pension salary sacrifice scheme, an employee gives up part of their gross pay and, in return, the employer makes an equivalent contribution to their pension. Again, this can be a win-win for both the business owner and the employee:

• An employee reduces their Income Tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs)
• The business benefits as they also save on employer NICs. Some businesses even choose to channel the NICs savings into the employee’s pension as an additional benefit.

We can help devise an attractive benefits package for your client’s business

If you have clients looking to put attractive financial perks in place to help support their recruitment and staff retention goals, we can help.

As well as helping many business owners to take control of their own personal finances, we can also work with them to structure their business finances in the most tax-efficient way.

Adding employee benefits can be a cost-effective way to retain and attract talent – and can be highly tax-efficient too.

If you have clients who would benefit from our advice, or you are interested in how you can work more closely with BlueSKY, please get in touch.

Email info@blueskyifas.co.uk or call us on 0118 987 6655.