The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) saw it’s workplace benefits spend including healthcare and protection cover soar by almost £1m in the last year.
In its annual report the regulator said its benefits bill rose by 17% to £6.7m from £5.77m as a result of “a higher than planned increase in prices from 1 January 2021 and the mix of benefits taken”.
But it said the health and protection benefits it offered staff had been useful during the pandemic as staff dealt with a range of new and different personal challenges – including illness, bereavement, childcare and other caring responsibilities.
“We promoted the use of our healthcare benefits such as our employee assistance programme, virtual GP, private medical insurance, and access to occupational health,” the FOS said.
“The virtual GP service has been welcomed by colleagues who have used the service this year as in‑person healthcare was impacted or complicated by the pandemic.”
Absence down
FOS noted its sickness absence fell to 2.1% over the year, the equivalent of 5.3 days lost per person, which was down from 3.7% or 9.6 days in 2019/20.
The Office for National Statistics has noted that social distancing, shielding and increased homeworking reduced causes of sickness absence this year, despite the pandemic.
The private medical insurance and a virtual GP scheme are available for employees who have passed probation.
The body also offers critical illness cover, income protection and life assurance, personal accident cover, and optional benefits, including travel and dental insurance, and a technology scheme.
“Despite the challenges faced by our people over the year, staff engagement increased, compared to our last survey in 2018, by 24 percentage points to 74% in 2020,” the FOS said.
“This reflects our service‑wide commitment to employee engagement – supported by our established internal communications and engagement channels and technology.”