With the exception of pensions, over a third of employers never communicate with their staff about core financial employee benefits, and another quarter do so less than once a year.
Research carried out for Unum found management is more likely to tell staff about ‘soft perks' than financial and health benefits.
Most (62%) tell staff about benefits such as subsidised gym membership annually or multiple times a year, despite the fact these are seen as least valued by employees.
The most common way of communicating most benefits was new joiner packs - yet this only occurs once in an employee's time at their organisation.
However, over half of employers are planning to review their benefits packages this year. Unum indicated that for the majority of businesses, there is still money - though not a great deal - in the benefits budget. Over 30% confirmed some increase in money available.
Linda Smith, HR Director at Unum said: "With the introduction of pension auto-enrolment resulting in widespread benefit reviews, we need to use benefits budgets wisely to make sure the benefits we're offering are right.
"Income Protection, as an example, makes sense for employees as a core benefit, since an individual is three times more likely to be ill for six months or more than to die during their working life, and employees need to be protected financially during that time.
"For employers, it makes clear business sense, helping with the management and costs of long-term absence, and getting employees back to work as soon as they are ready."
