Time for change - Why annual leave purchase schemes make a difference

An annual leave purchase scheme is a simple, flexible employee benefit which your staff will really appreciate. The scheme works through salary sacrifice, with employees agreeing to a reduction in pay in exchange for receiving additional holiday. Not only do you provide employees with means of purchasing extra leave, you also enable them to enjoy tax and National Insurance (NI) savings.

Employee work/life balance

There are opportunities and obstacles to allowing staff further annual leave. Managers and senior members of staff may have to think about deadlines, orders and contract fulfilment. It may be crucial to have more staff in work during certain periods more than others.

However, making that all-important work/life balance more achievable for your employees will enhance the positive relationship between their work and home life. A workforce that is well rested are more likely to be productive, have a higher morale, need less sick days and increase your employee retention.

Although annual leave is generally expected to be used for self care and rest, often it is not. Those with parental responsibilities often need to use their annual leave to cover childcare during the holidays, or during a child’s sickness. By enabling employees to purchase additional annual leave, you will be providing flexibility and affirming a family friendly feel to your company’s culture.

Reduces annual salary bill and NI contributions

As an employer, you will save money via NI contributions for each member on the scheme. In addition, you won’t be paying an employee’s full salary. Therefore the cost of running a scheme is often offset by the savings that you make and, with Wider Plan, you’re also saved the hassle of operating the scheme too.

Example: an employee sacrificing £287.50 from their gross pay over the year would bring you NI savings of approximately £39.68 (which offsets our pricing and brings you additional funds which you could invest into other benefits).

You can also use the scheme as an alternative to pay rises and redundancies, making sure that you are using an innovative way to make company savings whilst still offering employees a fresh employee benefit.

You’re in control

When deciding whether to implement an annual leave purchase scheme, departments may need to weigh up the benefit and cost of running a scheme in-house against using an external provider. Running a scheme in-house is often preferential to keep costs down and remain in control.

We believe in offering the best of both worlds; a fully managed service in compliance with your organisations needs and preferences. Our service includes implementation, marketing, account management and customer service support as standard, protecting you from the day to day responsibilities of running the scheme. Our “can-do” approach means that your journey with Wider Plan is flexible, and we personalise all aspects of our service where possible.

In line with our ethical approach to business, our costs are completely transparent. With all costing clearly detailed ahead of time, you remain in complete control of your expenditure.

To find out more, please contact us on 0800 612 9015 or complete an enquiry form.