PERKS AT WORK: CANADIAN ORGANIZATIONS
OFFER A WIDE RANGE OF PERKS TO ATTRACT
TOP TALENT
Canadian employers are offering a variety of perks to their employ-ees
to supplement typical compensation and benefits packages and
to set themselves apart from competitors. At the top of the range
in terms of value are perks such as perquisite and car allowances,
while the most common perks include professional membership
reimbursement, mobile phones, employee parking and education
grants, according to The Conference Board of Canada's Perks at
Work report.
“Offering a variety of perks adds both monetary and psycholog-ical
value that may give an employer an advantage over their peers.
Perks can be highly valuable to prospective employees and can play
an important role in an organization’s attraction and recruitment
efforts,” said Monica Haberl, research associate at The Conference
Board of Canada. “In particular, perks may be more attractive
to younger employees who are looking for greater flexibility and
work-life balance.”
Of the Canadian organizations surveyed, 90 per cent offered
professional membership reimbursement and 86 per cent offered
mobile phones. A majority of responding organizations also
offered employee parking (76 per cent), employee education grants
(60 per cent) and car allowances (56 per cent).
The financial value of perks varies substantially based on the
type of offering and the employee position level. At the top of the
range, the average annual value of a perquisite allowance is more
than $13,300 per eligible employee. A car allowance is another
high-value perk, which averages approximately $8,250 per
employee on an annual basis. These perks tend to be offered only
to executive-level positions.
The most common perks offered to all employees tend to be
those available on location at an organization’s office, such as on-site
fitness centres and on-site childcare. Other common perks that
tend to be universally offered include education grants for employ-ees
and their dependents, public transit passes, financial planning
assistance and fitness reimbursements. These range in value from
an average of approximately $475 per year for fitness reimburse-ments
to just over $2,300 annually for employee education grants.
Perk offerings also vary across industry, sector and organization
size. Larger organizations are more likely to offer perks to their
employees than smaller employers. Public sector organizations are
more likely to provide on-site childcare, on-site fitness centres and
transit passes to some of their employees. Meanwhile, private sector
organizations are more likely to provide financial planning assis-tance,
subsidized meals or cafeterias and fitness reimbursements.
news
NejroN / 123RF Stock Photo
On-site fitness centres
are among the most
common perks offered
to employees
10 ❚ MAY 2018 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
