EMPLOYEE HEALTH
How well are employee benefits in the public sector measuring up? By Shaeera Essop
Public sector employees deliver a range of important services to South Africans, from municipal services to education to utilities. Employee benefits are a critical aspect of the employee value proposition, says Shaeera Essop, Strategic Client Engagement Manager at Momentum Corporate; however, Momentum’s research suggests employee benefits provision in the sector could do with some fresh thinking.
According to Essop, while most employees in the sector have access to the more traditional employee benefits, such as retirement benefits and medical aid, there is a growing need for new types of benefits. Employees also expect more support from their employer when it comes to financial education
and empowerment. More than half of the 657 respondents in the research were women over the age of 35, middle-class and welleducated, with children at home. The sample was spread across a range of public sector workplaces, with 25% of respondents working for state-owned enterprises, 24% for municipalities, 22% for universities and 12% for provincial or national government. Around 80% of respondents received a retirement benefit and medical scheme membership as part of their employment contract. Other benefits respondents could access through their employer included funeral cover (42%), disability cover (28%) and life cover (26%).
Access to less traditional employee benefits deemed important Access to less traditional employee benefits such as a pension-backed home loan or wellness and rewards programmes was a lot lower, at only 18% and 17% respectively. However, respondents felt that these benefits were important, with wellness and rewards programmes topping the list of benefits they believed their employer should be offering. Other benefits which respondents wanted their employer to offer included critical illness, savings for emergencies and value-added benefits. “Employees today expect a lot more than the traditional retirement and insurance benefits. Younger employees in particular expect benefits to deliver more immediate value. It’s not surprising to observe
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