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With businesses looking to save money, employee benefits need to account for every pound spent on them

With electric vehicles surging in popularity, it makes sense to help your employees make the most of the benefits

Here are Zest’s top Christmas benefit recommendations to help support employees as they celebrate during this year’s festivities

With growing demands from workers, companies have a greater choice than ever of benefits they can offer to help keep talent

The freeze in lifetime allowance means many more individuals could be face large bills

As announced in April’s budget, the pension Lifetime Allowance (LTA) will be frozen at its current level of £1,073,100 until April 2026. Latest reports have suggested that as a direct result, more than 1.6 million pension savers will reach the limit and be hit with a tax charge of 55% in retirement.

The move towards electric vehicles (EVs) has steadily been gaining momentum but, with recent events around panic buying fuel, and a heightened spotlight on climate change, more people and businesses will undoubtedly be drawn to this alternative.

The Covid-19 pandemic presented employers with the most significant changes to the world of work that we have seen in over a generation. Many entered lockdown with a sense of trepidation but employers and employees took on the challenge and saw improved productivity and reduced overheads, while employees enjoyed spending former travel time with family, on recreation and on other pursuits.

The principles behind why a cycle-to-work scheme is an essential offering are already widely accepted, alongside the obvious mutual tax efficiencies and opportunities to get fitter, but it’s now also worthwhile organisations revisit and refresh this benefit with an eye on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy.

The pandemic has had a far-reaching impact on UK households, not only restricting our freedoms but also influencing our use of credit, debt levels and savings, as well as our general financial resilience.

With the 2020/21 P11D submission deadline of 6 July approaching fast, employers must ensure their forms are correct before they are sent to HMRC.

Providing death in service benefits through a registered pension scheme can have adverse tax consequences where the deceased is a high earner. Certain lump sums paid out on the death of a scheme member are tested against the deceased member's lifetime allowance (LTA). A tax charge is payable by the estate if the allowance is exceeded.

The end of another tax year is a good time for reflection for both employers and employees in relation to their benefit packages. Employers may be wondering what employees want in the current climate. Employees are likely to be concerned about the amount of tax they are paying on their benefits and looking at ways to reduce their liability.

This past year has been tough for many employees, with some having to take pay cuts, reduced hours or having to go on furlough. Although there may be light at the end of the tunnel for some, employees and employers will be feeling the repercussions from last year for some time.

Lockdown has taught us that society’s impact on the environment is undeniable. We’ve seen a significant increase in wildlife and a decrease in pollution. After realising that change is within reach, employees are more focussed than ever on how we can look after our planet, and both consumers and employees want to see more ethically-conscious organisations. If employers don't take these expectations seriously, they run the risk of future irrelevancy.

A panel of employers and experts discussed practical (and free) ways employers can help engage lower paid employees to  improve their  financial wellbeing at REBA's Employee Wellbeing Congress.

Nathan Long senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, speaking at REBA's Employee Wellbeing Congress, considered how employers can support employees' financial wellbeing by helping them build short-term cash savings.