Top tips to deliver high-impact benefits to low earners

With tight budgets, higher operating costs, National Insurance increases, and rising ill-health costs, employers must rethink traditional workplace benefits. REBA’s content writer Sarah Haselwood considers how organisations can deliver low-cost, high-impact health and financial support to low-earning workers. 

In the perfect world employers would offer the same benefits to all employees, regardless of job level or earnings. However, delivering inclusive benefits, particularly to low earners, presents significant challenges for employers operating under tight budgets.

Employer challenges

The REBA report, Affordable access: Inclusive benefits for frontline and shift workers, in partnership with Personal Group, shows that employers face an array of rising operating expenses. Increased National Insurance contributions, higher minimum wage requirements, and escalating private medical insurance (PMI) premiums driven by complex health diagnostics are all placing pressure on benefits budgets.

More than half (52%) of small and medium enterprises cite a lack of capital as a primary barrier to offering health and wellbeing benefits, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Shift patterns, high workloads, deskless work, or location changes may also affect benefit delivery for all, including low earners. These factors may also hinder staff from accessing healthcare support.

Cost-effective solutions 

Employers can introduce initiatives that benefit everyone, including low earners.

Offering voluntary benefits via payroll deduction, such as health cash plans, life insurance, and income protection, allows low earners to access group-rate pricing for everyday health services without placing high costs on the employer.

For communication, employers can use on-site, face-to-face conversations to equip line managers to support early and signpost free state resources (such as Access to Work or WorkWell), maximising benefit usage at little extra cost.

Data is also essential for understanding the workforce. Employers can combine internal metrics (absence rates, benefit usage, employee feedback) with external benchmarking data and national statistics such as ONS datasets. They can identify at-risk groups through specific roles, demographics, or sectors facing higher risks of musculoskeletal or mental health issues to target interventions effectively. 

For more insights and recommended actions, read the full REBA report, Affordable access: Inclusive benefits for frontline and shift workers.  