Almost half UK employers are touting statutory requirements or basic rights as workplace benefits in their job adverts, according to analysis by employee benefits platform Rippl.
The company looked at employers’ recruitment advertising on the largest job listing sites and found that 46% of them were touting “benefits” such as annual leave, statutory sick pay and pensions.
A company pension was present in 124,600 job adverts, while 20 days’ holiday was mentioned in just over 2,000 (the minimum requirement after bank holidays). Statutory sick pay was mentioned 253 times, even though it is illegal not to pay this.
Rippl also found employers offering perks such as free or on-site parking (more than 150,000 mentions), which some candidates might already expect from an employer.
One of the most underwhelming benefits on offer was “free tea”, which featured 1,078 times, and one job even offered “free water”. Free fruit appeared 675 times.
More unusual perks included free pizza, raffles, and beanbag chairs.
Chris Brown, Rippl’s CEO, said: “While complementary fruit or Friday office pizza are nice to have, these perks do little to attract or retain top talent in today’s competitive job market, nor do they help nurture a meaningful relationship between an employer and its employees.
“These companies are offering the bare minimum, and employees can see straight through it.”
He added that offerings such as flexible working and genuine wellbeing support would be more likely to resonate with potential workers.
“In doing so, companies can create a positive, purposeful and attractive workplace culture that fosters employee engagement, productivity, and retention,” he said.
Last month, research by the TUC found that a number of job boards included roles that were paying below the statutory UK minimum wage.
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