Workers have little interest in table football and dogs in the office

Traditional workplace benefits like holiday allowances and pensions trump quirkier ‘benefits’ like being allowed to take your dog into the office, according to a survey by Aviva.  Out of a wide range of workplace benefits, 43 percent of UK employees said they were least interested in being allowed to take their dog into the workplace. More than a third of workers (34 percent) also said they weren’t interested in office entertainment like table football and video games. And more than 1 in 4 people (26 percent) even said workplace socials like summer and Christmas parties were among the benefits they were least interested in.

Traditional workplace benefits came out on top in the survey, as 43 percent of people said they were most interested in paid holiday, 41 percent opted for their pension with 39 percent choosing flexible working as the benefit they are most keen on.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]85 percent of workers say they would choose a salary increase over an improvement in their workplace benefits[/perfectpullquote]

For most people, pay will always be the ultimate benefit, with 85 percent of workers saying they would choose a salary increase over an improvement in their workplace benefits. However, employers had a slightly different view with more than a third (38 percent) saying they would prefer to improve their benefits package for employees over increasing salaries.

Colin Williams, Managing Director of Workplace Benefits at Aviva, said: “Workplace benefits have really come under the spotlight in recent years as employers and employees realise that while salary is important, there’s more that can be offered.

“But while we hear of companies across the world experimenting with a range of benefits, some more unusual than others, it’s encouraging to see that employees still value the more traditional benefits. Offering holiday, a decent pension and access to flexible working are clearly important to employees. These types of benefits can help create the foundations of a resilient workforce and a resilient business.”

Main image: Babyfoot