How digital services are making benefits like vet care possible
Workplace benefits have traditionally been designed to protect employees when something goes wrong - pensions for the future, insurance for illness, and protection benefits for moments of crisis.
These foundations remain essential. But they were never designed to support employees with the everyday pressures that now dominate working lives.
With 57% of employees citing financial stress as their biggest concern, challenges such as rising household costs, caring responsibilities and unexpected expenses are no longer peripheral issues.
For HR and reward leaders, this raises the question of whether benefits still address the realities employees actually face. Benefits that only become visible at moments of crisis can feel distant, while support that helps employees cope in the here and now is increasingly valued.
What’s changing is not just what employers can offer, but when benefits show up in employees’ lives. Digital platforms have transformed employee benefits from being difficult to administer at scale into something far more modular, optional and insight-led - allowing employers to broaden support without adding complexity or cost.
The shifting scope of employee benefits
Until recently, there were clear assumptions about what sat within an employee benefits programme. Employers focused on health protection, pensions and a limited set of wellbeing initiatives, while many aspects of everyday life were viewed as personal responsibilities rather than something the workplace could support.
Areas such as pet care, short-term financial pressures, caring responsibilities or household admin were important to employees, but historically felt either too niche, too complex or too difficult to manage at scale.
That boundary is now far more flexible. Crucially, this expansion is not being driven by larger benefits budgets, but by more cost-efficient delivery models that allow employers to offer targeted, opt-in support without committing to universal, high-cost provision. This shift requires reward leaders to rethink long-held assumptions about what benefits are for and how value should be measured.
Benefits strategies are extending into areas that support everyday life, such as pet care, complementing core provision rather than replacing it. In this context, benefits such as vet care are not an outlier, but part of a wider expansion in what employers are now able to offer.
How the scope of employee benefits is expanding
1. Lifestyle and household services
One of the clearest areas of expansion is lifestyle and household support.
This includes:
- Pet-related benefits, such as vet telehealth and preventative care
- Home support services, including utilities switching, insurance advice and repairs
- Concierge-style platforms that help employees manage everyday admin
Employees value these benefits because they feel immediately relevant, often helping save time or reduce unexpected costs. For employers, they signal recognition of employees’ lives beyond work.
Key consideration for employers: Position lifestyle benefits as flexible, opt-in support. Their strength lies in choice and relevance, not universal take-up.
2. Financial resilience beyond pensions
While pensions remain the foundation of workplace financial benefits, technology is enabling a broader focus on short-term financial resilience.
Employers are increasingly recognising that day-to-day money worries can have a direct impact on wellbeing, productivity and absence. Reflecting this shift, almost half of employees (48%) say an employer offering earned wage access is more attractive than one that doesn’t.
This includes:
- Earned wage access apps such as Aslan
- Budgeting and debt support tools
- Savings nudges and micro-investing platforms
These services help smooth cashflow between paydays and reduce reliance on high-cost credit, without increasing payroll costs.
Key consideration for employers: Financial wellbeing tools should be positioned as supportive resources, not substitutes for fair pay or core reward strategy.
3. Digital health and wellbeing services beyond traditional cover
Employer-supported health and wellbeing is extending beyond traditional insurance models, filling gaps in access, speed and specialism.
This includes:
- Menopause and fertility platforms offering home testing and digital support
- Neurodiversity assessments and coaching
- Online physiotherapy and MSK support
- Mental fitness platforms such as Mindstep that support focus, recovery, sleep and stress before challenges escalate
- Gut health testing and digital insight through services such as York Test
Employees value these services because they offer faster access to specialist support, greater discretion and privacy and they help in areas that have historically been under-recognised at work.
Key consideration for employers: Digital health services should feel part of a joined-up wellbeing strategy, not a collection of disconnected tools.
4. Family and care support
Family and caring responsibilities are an increasingly significant factor in employees’ working lives, yet support has historically been limited. Technology is now making it easier to offer practical help in this area.
This includes:
- Elder care navigation tools such as Lottie
- Childcare search and subsidy platforms
- Care coordination services
This support reduces stress and uncertainty during challenging life stages, helping employees balance work and care.
Key consideration for employers: Care benefits are most effective when aligned with flexible working policies and clear signposting, ensuring support feels accessible rather than symbolic.
Focusing on relevance over volume
As digital services expand what is possible, benefits strategies are becoming more modular and flexible. Rather than relying on a fixed set of core benefits, employers can now curate a mix of support that reflects the realities of everyday life.
Technology acts as the enabler, not the benefit itself, allowing employers to integrate, personalise and evolve their offering over time.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, Avantus
Flexible Benefits & Technology specialist providing online, highly configurable platforms to Customers and Intermediaries worldwide.
