Aviva discovers that companies are adjusting perks based on gender

A survey initiated by Aviva found that more companies are beginning to offer a selection of benefits to different employees based on their gender.

In recent times there has been a rise in companies offering perks dependant on employee preferences. This has become even more prominent according to studies made. This Aviva survey that was conducted by Behaviour & Attitudes online panel Acumen.

Through this survey, their main findings were that 49% of the males that were involved in this study, said that they were offered to contribute part of their wages to their pension. While a lesser 39% of women said the same.

When being asked about flexible working hours, these findings suggested that this new way of working was offered to women more. With 35% of women agreeing to the fact that their employer provided them with this option. In comparison to 27 per cent of males saying this.

In addition to the benefits of the pension contribution. Men were also found to have been offered a bonus scheme, and more likely to be able to use health and income protection. With Men being 50% more likely to be offered this.

Companies such as Euromoney have been constantly tailoring these benefits to ensure that their staff are balancing their work-life balance. Some of the services that this company offers include, nursery, childminder and school searches, Talks on subjects affecting working parents, and Childcare advice sessions.

Gillian Fox, Global HR Director at Euromoney discussed the reasoning behind these unique perks, saying “Euromoney is committed to ensuring that employees can fulfil their potential and bring their whole selves to work. We are very pleased to be offering the services of Parental Choice to our employees to support our working parents. This addition to our employee benefits package complements many of our initiatives that are currently ongoing to further foster an environment of inclusion at Euromoney.”

These benefits offered seem to have been well received, as Sarah-Jane Butler, founder of Parental Choice said: “It is fantastic to see a company like Euromoney focusing on the wellbeing of their working parents. We are excited to be partnering with them as it puts the work-life balance of its employees firmly on their agenda and shows how an employer can make a real difference to its employees with caring responsibilities. Being able to support working parents is a tangible benefit that can only be positive for company and employees alike.”

When looking at the most popular perk option. Pension contributions seemed to be the most sought after. Which was closely followed by flexible hours, and bonus schemes. Although, female respondents seemed to favour flexible hours over bonus schemes.

25% of employers were said to offer no benefits. And the ones that did, 45% offered pension contributions, 30% offered flexible hours, and 24% offered bonuses.

Aviva’s spokesperson Karen Gallagher said “The findings support the widely held contention that women have fewer financial provisions than men. There’s also a very real and obvious gender divide when it comes to employee benefits, with men appearing to seek and receive more financial extras than women.”