Adrian Moreau· Global Mobility Manager, Ravenna Chemicals
Asked in Benefits & Wellbeing ·
Canadian software company, about 620 employees, mostly Toronto and Vancouver with a remote group in the Maritimes. Each person has a 750 dollar annual wellbeing allowance, claimed by uploading receipts, covering gym memberships, sports equipment, counselling beyond the plan limit and a list of other things.
Last year 29% of the total budget was claimed and 44% of employees claimed nothing at all. Finance has noticed and wants the unspent amount removed from next year's budget.
I would rather fix it than lose it. Is the low spend telling me people do not value it, or that the process is the problem? What have others done with an underused allowance?
8 helpful · 4 insightful · 4 replies · 224 views · 4 following
Accepted answer· by Kenji Novak
Almost certainly the process. We had the same shape at 34% claimed. We changed nothing about eligibility and replaced receipt upload with a prepaid card restricted by merchant category. Spend went to 81% the following year. The uncomfortable part is that finance then had to fund the full amount, which they had quietly been counting on not doing. Have that conversation before you fix it, not after.
Read in the conversation ↓
Director, Total Rewards, Meridian Health Systems
Accepted answer
Almost certainly the process. We had the same shape at 34% claimed. We changed nothing about eligibility and replaced receipt upload with a prepaid card restricted by merchant category. Spend went to 81% the following year.
The uncomfortable part is that finance then had to fund the full amount, which they had quietly been counting on not doing. Have that conversation before you fix it, not after.
Global Mobility Manager, Qasr Holdings
Look at who the 44% are before deciding. When we cut ours by salary band, non-claimers were concentrated in the lowest-paid third. They could not afford to pay 600 dollars up front and wait five weeks for reimbursement. A benefit that only works if you have spare cash is regressive whatever the policy says.
Total Rewards Manager, Northwind Logistics
A dissenting view: we scrapped ours and put the money into the core plan, raising the paramedical and mental health limits for everyone. Nobody has to claim an allowance for that to be worth something. The people who used the allowance for gym fees were unhappy for about a month. I think the money now does more good.
Yusuf DuboisCBS
People Analytics Lead, Ravenna Chemicals
The salary band cut was revealing. 71% of non-claimers are in our two lowest bands. I am proposing a card for next year and have told finance to budget at 80% utilisation. If that is refused, I will take the option of moving the money into the core plan instead.
