# Make The Most Of Your Work Perks

An episode of [A Little Bit Richer](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1706157445), 28 Sep 2023, 8:20.

Audio: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2e9a850c-e6b9-48c2-afec-a8f8010f70f4/61b6e292-1c73-49e1-81ce-b075010b275f/bcf477e9-56d4-4516-8930-b0890096f129/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=aee4b1cb-b4f6-4283-99aa-b075010cd6b0

Jobs can reward you with much more than just a good salary and great colleagues. You might be sitting on all sorts of benefits without realising it. They could help you save money, boost your lifestyle, build up your professional skills, take work or personal challenges in your stride and more. But they won’t be much help if you don’t know what they are or how to find out about them. That’s why Rebecca Moore from Liaise, an organisation that helps people thrive, is joining us for this episode. She and our host Kia Commodore will help you dig into your workplace benefits. They’ll chat through ones you might already have, what to look for when you’re job hunting, when it makes sense to find a better deal on your own – and much more. Kia and her guests share their own personal thoughts and opinions in this podcast. These might be different from Legal & General’s take on things. They give financial guidance for a UK audience that’s relevant at the time of recording. It’s general best practice, not the kind of personalised advice you’d get from a financial adviser. You can play the podcast and find other useful content on Legal & General’s website: https://www.legalandgeneral.com/podcasts/a-little-bit-richer See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Kia: Kia here, and this episode we're chatting about all things work.
[0:04] Kia: It's so easy to think that workplace benefits start and end with
[0:08] Kia: your salary, but if you're lucky, sometimes there's much more
[0:11] Kia: to it than that. You might be sitting on a
[0:13] Kia: huge pile of benefits that you had no idea about.
[0:16] Kia: This is getting a bit clickbaity, so I'm going to
[0:18] Kia: jump right into the episode. Joining me is Rebecca Moore
[0:20] Kia: from Liaise, a healthcare and specialist support service. So let's
[0:23] Kia: do it. I feel like I'm missing out here. What are some
[0:26] Kia: of the common benefits you might get if you're working
[0:29] Kia: for a company, Rebecca?
[0:30] Rebecca Moore: Workplace benefits go beyond salary, so you should really do
[0:33] Rebecca Moore: your research into what's on offer. Things to look out for,
[0:36] Rebecca Moore: things like health insurance, pension schemes, paid leave. Some companies
[0:41] Rebecca Moore: go the extra mile to offer extra perks like flexible
[0:45] Rebecca Moore: working programs, opportunities for professional development and wellbeing programs. So
[0:49] Rebecca Moore: you've got your employee assistance programs and even flexible pay
[0:53] Rebecca Moore: and things like that.
[0:54] Kia: Should our listeners be looking at more than just a
[0:56] Kia: salary when they change jobs, because people are looking at
[0:59] Kia: different jobs - is it just the money? Or if not,
[1:03] Kia: what other things should people be looking at?
[1:05] Rebecca Moore: Yeah, absolutely, salary's just one piece of the puzzle. That's
[1:07] Rebecca Moore: not the be all and end all, especially in this
[1:09] Rebecca Moore: day and age where we can feel the pinch in
[1:11] Rebecca Moore: lots of different areas. When evaluating job offers, you need
[1:14] Rebecca Moore: to look at the other things that are on offer as well.
[1:16] Rebecca Moore: Things like healthcare coverage, life assurance, staff discounts. These all
[1:21] Rebecca Moore: compound towards your financial wellbeing, so you should make sure
[1:24] Rebecca Moore: you're taking advantage of all those things and research what
[1:26] Rebecca Moore: the company's got o n offer for you, because you can
[1:28] Rebecca Moore: absolutely save a lot of money over time. Even things
[1:31] Rebecca Moore: like free car parking, it all adds up.
[1:34] Kia: That's a big one. It definitely does help.
[1:35] Rebecca Moore: Yeah, yeah.
[1:36] Kia: So when it comes to factoring in benefits, what would
[1:41] Kia: you say would be important? I know for me, when
[1:43] Kia: I was working and had one of my first jobs,
[1:46] Kia: healthcare was not something that I knew was important to me,
[1:48] Kia: but having access to people who could help me, doctors
[1:53] Kia: on tap, and being able to access things like counselling
[1:56] Kia: or things that I didn't realize were good benefits, but
[1:58] Kia: what should people really have a look and consider? What would be
[2:00] Kia: some key ones that you'd say, make sure that a
[2:03] Kia: company has X, Y, and Z. What would you say?
[2:05] Rebecca Moore: I think when you talk about that, about those benefits to
[2:07] Rebecca Moore: do with healthcare and counselling, most companies offer something called
[2:11] Rebecca Moore: an employee assistance program. It's probably one of the main
[2:13] Rebecca Moore: benefits that people tend to offer. On that, you normally
[2:16] Rebecca Moore: get a few free counselling sessions, and it's good to
[2:19] Rebecca Moore: have access to those things, because sometimes the NHS can
[2:21] Rebecca Moore: be a bit slow. You want to talk to someone
[2:22] Rebecca Moore: straight away. Normally with your EAP, you've got someone on
[2:25] Rebecca Moore: hand 24/ 7 that you can call them, have a
[2:28] Rebecca Moore: chat - it's not just about mental health and things like that,
[2:31] Rebecca Moore: but also financial counselling. Sometimes they put you in touch
[2:35] Rebecca Moore: with people that might give you just a bit more
[2:37] Rebecca Moore: of an insight into where you need to go, pinpoint you in
[2:39] Rebecca Moore: the right direction. You can even call them to ask for...
[2:41] Rebecca Moore: like if you've got something going on at home, like
[2:43] Rebecca Moore: legal problems or something, you could maybe get some advice
[2:46] Rebecca Moore: and they'll point you in the right direction there. So
[2:48] Rebecca Moore: that's really a good thing to have for employees.
[2:51] Kia: I think that's a key one. I think even just sitting
[2:53] Kia: down with your manager at work and saying, " What is
[2:56] Kia: available to me?" I know I've definitely done this a
[2:58] Kia: fair few times and said, " There's so much out there,
[3:01] Kia: what exactly is available to me as an employee?" And
[3:04] Kia: then you can have a look at that list and
[3:06] Kia: figure out what's going to work for you.
[3:08] Rebecca Moore: There's some other ones which are really good to have
[3:10] Rebecca Moore: where you can have access to a GP online where
[3:13] Rebecca Moore: you can ask them questions. It's difficult to get a
[3:15] Rebecca Moore: GP appointment when you want one sometimes, so it's good
[3:17] Rebecca Moore: to have that on hand where if you're just a bit
[3:19] Rebecca Moore: worried about something, you can have a little chat with
[3:21] Rebecca Moore: them. But that's a really good benefit to have. Not
[3:23] Rebecca Moore: all companies would offer that, but it's definitely something to
[3:26] Rebecca Moore: look out and ask for.
[3:27] Kia: I completely agree. Let's talk about a few other benefits.
[3:30] Kia: We covered some of the main big ones, but what
[3:32] Kia: maybe perhaps smaller ones are available to employees maybe when
[3:36] Kia: it comes to their finances or things that they can
[3:38] Kia: have a look at to make maybe the financial burden
[3:40] Kia: a little bit easier if they're feeling that pressure?
[3:43] Rebecca Moore: Something very high up on the employee benefits agenda at
[3:46] Rebecca Moore: the moment, and something that I'm definitely looking at for
[3:48] Rebecca Moore: my colleagues at my company, is having access to flexible pay.
[3:52] Rebecca Moore: And I think probably for the younger generation as well,
[3:56] Rebecca Moore: having access to your earned wages before payday, can sometimes
[3:59] Rebecca Moore: ease that financial burden. If you've had something emergency come
[4:02] Rebecca Moore: up that you need a bit of extra cash for,
[4:05] Rebecca Moore: it's good to be able to access your earned wages
[4:07] Rebecca Moore: before payday, and it stops you going to things like
[4:09] Rebecca Moore: loan sharks and things like that where they're going to
[4:11] Rebecca Moore: give you massive interest rates, so that's a good benefit
[4:15] Rebecca Moore: to look out for. For the company I work for
[4:17] Rebecca Moore: at the moment, we've introduced something called Wage Dream where
[4:19] Rebecca Moore: colleagues can go onto an app - they have good visibility
[4:22] Rebecca Moore: of the wages that they've earned so far, and also
[4:25] Rebecca Moore: if they do overtime or something like that, they can
[4:27] Rebecca Moore: have access to that money quicker than having to wait
[4:29] Rebecca Moore: till payday. So if they wanted to go out next week,
[4:32] Rebecca Moore: maybe they'll pick up a few extra hours this week
[4:34] Rebecca Moore: and then they can access those funds to get that
[4:36] Rebecca Moore: money quicker without having to wait.
[4:38] Kia: I think that's a good thing to have access to,
[4:39] Kia: especially as an employee. It's a good oversight and it
[4:42] Kia: feeds into that money management. We tend to focus on
[4:45] Kia: budgeting when it comes to the final stage once it
[4:48] Kia: gets paid into your account and what am I going
[4:50] Kia: to budget my money for? But if you know during
[4:52] Kia: the month how much you've currently earned, and maybe I'm
[4:55] Kia: going to do a few more hours, like you said,
[4:56] Kia: to be able to have a bit of extra money, it's a good way
[4:59] Kia: to keep on top of your money. I think that's
[5:00] Kia: a good point you made there.
[5:01] Rebecca Moore: Yeah. One good thing about these apps as well is
[5:03] Rebecca Moore: sometimes they allow you to put money away before you
[5:06] Rebecca Moore: get the money into your bank account. So you don't
[5:08] Rebecca Moore: really notice it as much when you're trying to save
[5:11] Rebecca Moore: that 50 pounds or 10 pounds you might put away
[5:13] Rebecca Moore: every month that you won't even realize that's come out.
[5:15] Rebecca Moore: When you look in your saving pot, then it grows
[5:18] Rebecca Moore: quite quickly. You don't even notice it.
[5:19] Kia: I think that's great. Exactly. Anything that we can do to make
[5:22] Kia: everything feel a little bit easier, but we're still planning
[5:24] Kia: for our finances, is a win in my books. That's
[5:27] Kia: what I think, for sure. So Rebecca, are there any
[5:29] Kia: traps to be aware of when it comes to taking
[5:31] Kia: advantage of workplace benefits? Like for example, is there something
[5:35] Kia: that's likely to be cheaper elsewhere?
[5:37] Rebecca Moore: Yeah, that's a good question actually. While workplace benefits do
[5:40] Rebecca Moore: offer convenience, it's important to compare cost and coverage. I'd
[5:43] Rebecca Moore: definitely say that. So maybe healthcare benefits might not cover
[5:47] Rebecca Moore: everything, and you might need to just assess if it's cost-
[5:50] Rebecca Moore: effective, compared to maybe getting private cover. And then just
[5:54] Rebecca Moore: make sure you're looking at potential tax implications for benefits
[5:57] Rebecca Moore: like healthcare, because sometimes that might add onto that. It
[6:01] Rebecca Moore: might not make it beneficial for you. So it's worthwhile
[6:04] Rebecca Moore: doing your research around those points.
[6:06] Kia: Completely agree. I think it's worthwhile just understanding and knowing
[6:09] Kia: what could come up, and just having a good overview
[6:12] Kia: over everything.
[6:12] Rebecca Moore: Yeah. Some companies do things like cycle to work schemes,
[6:16] Rebecca Moore: parking's paid for, or the development programs for professional development.
[6:20] Rebecca Moore: Maybe they've got apprenticeships you can go on and advance
[6:23] Rebecca Moore: your career that way, and then obviously you are not
[6:25] Rebecca Moore: having to pay for those things yourself, and that will
[6:28] Rebecca Moore: be better financially for you in the long run, because
[6:29] Rebecca Moore: you've managed to get a qualification. Also, you need to
[6:33] Rebecca Moore: look at flexible working arrangements, other things they have an
[6:36] Rebecca Moore: offer, like the employee assistance programs, maybe they've got an
[6:40] Rebecca Moore: app where you can go on and get discounts from
[6:43] Rebecca Moore: high street stores and things, and all those little bits
[6:45] Rebecca Moore: mount up.
[6:46] Kia: They all mount up. And I think what you mentioned about
[6:48] Kia: the employee development program, I definitely did that at one of my
[6:51] Kia: jobs. I used that and took advantage of it to
[6:54] Kia: another language, which is always useful. It's something I always
[6:56] Kia: wanted to do, and it's even better when my employee
[6:58] Kia: wants to pay me to learn a language.
[7:00] Rebecca Moore: Yeah, absolutely.
[7:00] Kia: So that's a very key point you made there.
[7:01] Rebecca Moore: That's a great benefit.
[7:03] Kia: So for anyone listening, if you have listened to this
[7:06] Kia: podcast before, you'll know what's coming next. So Rebecca, I'm
[7:09] Kia: going to ask you a question. What are the three
[7:12] Kia: easy ways that people can use when it comes to
[7:14] Kia: workplace benefits to help them get a little bit richer?
[7:19] Rebecca Moore: Number one, I'd definitely say maximize pension contributions, especially the
[7:23] Rebecca Moore: employer matched ones. Number two, utilize your wellbeing programs, gym
[7:27] Rebecca Moore: discounts, things like that. It all adds up and contributes
[7:31] Rebecca Moore: to your health overall. So definitely go for that. And
[7:33] Rebecca Moore: then number three, explore your employee share purchase plans. They're
[7:37] Rebecca Moore: a really smart investment opportunity, and I think I would
[7:40] Rebecca Moore: definitely encourage that.
[7:41] Kia: I completely echo that. I've definitely taken advantages of all
[7:44] Kia: of those that you've mentioned when I've been in different jobs before.
[7:48] Kia: So thank you so much, Rebecca. These have been some
[7:50] Kia: amazing gems that you've given to all of our listeners here,
[7:53] Kia: and it's been incredible. So thank you so much. Some
[7:56] Kia: great tips for saving money there, and you're going to
[7:58] Kia: need them, because next week I'm talking about a big one.
[8:01] Kia: It's something that's on a lot of people's minds a
[8:03] Kia: lot of the time, and that's a buying a house.
[8:06] Kia: Is it a pipe dream if you're a Gen Z or millennial?
[8:08] Kia: Come back next week to find out. And if this
[8:10] Kia: podcast has connected with you, then you know the score
[8:12] Kia: by now - hit follow, tell your friends, and keep on
[8:15] Kia: getting to grips with your money.

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