Employee benefits for small and medium businesses

Elect by Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) helps small and medium businesses create cost-effective benefits packages that engage current employees and attract the talented people they need for future growth.
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Competitive, affordable benefits for SMEs and their people

Small and medium businesses need to be confident that they can mitigate the risks of managing their workforces, including legal compliance, employee health and protection, as well as attracting the skills and talent needed for future growth.

But the cost of offering private medical insurance, group income protection, group life assurance, pensions and other employee benefits can really add up for small businesses.

Elect combines Mercer Marsh Benefits’ (MMB) wealth of experience as a global health and benefits provider with relationship management that understands your small business’s unique needs.

Build your benefits package now

Talk to us to find out how Elect can help your business provide simple, flexible employee benefits solutions that manage risks and show employees how much they are valued.

Elect by Mercer Marsh Benefits

A comprehensive employee benefits package

  • Tailored to your business
    Elect helps you build a benefits package that is right for your SME business and employee needs.
  • A wide choice
    We work with market-leading health and medical insurers to give you as much product and provider choice as possible.
  • Exclusive enhancements
    MMB’s close relationships with insurers mean that Elect clients get exclusive product enhancements that small and medium business wouldn’t otherwise be able to access.
  • Set-up support
    We’ll take care of setting up your health insurance and employee benefits programme and communicate what’s on offer to maximise engagement.
  • Relationship management
    Your MMB Elect relationship manager will help you to identify which core benefits and available free enhancements are best for your business.  They will continue to support you as your organisation grows and employee benefits needs change.

People and Risk Connect

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How Elect builds big benefits for small businesses

MMB negotiates with the UK’s leading health and benefits providers to offer essential employee benefits for small to medium businesses including:

  • Private Health Insurance – to enable employees and their families to side-step long waiting lists and rapidly access private healthcare.
  • Group Income Protection – to ensure employees and their families are financially supported if they become unable to work.
  • Life Insurance – to give employees the security of knowing that their family will be provided for financially if they die during their time working for you.

Elect’s SME clients also have access to free additional extras, such as:

  • Optical, Dental and Physio Care – help with everyday healthcare costs that will save employees hundreds of pounds a year.
  • Employee Assistance Programme – confidential counselling and practical advice that could be expensive to access elsewhere, covering legal, debt, childcare and eldercare.
  • Virtual GP Service – employees can see a doctor online at a time that suits them, allowing them to fit healthcare around their work and life.
  • Health Assessments – help employees better understand their physical health and detect hidden disease risks. The private cost of this is typically over £600.

Your trusted adviser

Relationship management is at the heart of Elect and our advisers know there is no one-size-fits-all package. Your relationship manager will help you create a made-to-order employee benefits programme that:

  • Is cost-effective for your organisation
  • Underpins your company culture
  • Enhances morale and advocacy
  • Helps create a working environment based on trust and engagement.

Elect’s relationship managers act as an outsourced HR department. They’ll set up your business benefits and make sure your people know what’s on offer through communications support, webinars and even benefits event days.

Our bespoke solutions

Our solutions are designed around what matters to you.

  • Building an effective employee wellbeing framework

  • Let’s talk about cost management

  • Protect your employees and business with Group Income Protection

  • Workplace pension plan

  • Look after your employees and business with Dental insurance

  • Private Medical Insurance

  • Critical Illness Insurance

  • Business and leisure travel insurance

  • Group Life Assurance for businesses

  • Health cash plans for businesses

Employee wellbeing is important for any business, regardless of size. Businesses being led by employers who want to do the right thing and make a difference in the mental, financial, physical and social wellbeing of their people, are heading in the right direction for success. After all, healthier, happier employees can lead to increased productivity.

At the heart of every successful business, is a team of dedicated employees who share the same vision. When individual needs are met, this increases productivity and helps your employees thrive. However, we understand that small to medium-sized businesses face a variety of challenges, including financial pressures and the need to manage costs effectively. Did you know that the right benefits package can help you improve finances, reduce risk and boost employee satisfaction and retention? A solution that is good for business. We are experts who understand that it is not the one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to benefits. Let us help you make your plans work harder for you.

Group Income Protection is a great employee benefit that covers the costs of long-term sickness and injury absence. With Elect, you get exclusive benefits including preferential underwriting, discounted rates and simplified administration. We help you choose the right policy based on your needs and budget. We negotiate rates with leading income protection providers, so you and your people get a great policy at a competitive price. Cover your costs in the event of long-term staff absence, such as:

  • An income for your people if they can't work due to sickness or injury
  • Cover Statutory Sick Pay costs
  • Benefit from our best-negotiated rates

We help you get the right Workplace Pension Plan and implement it – saving you money, time and admin with benefits from our best negotiated rates and meet your obligations under auto-enrolment legislation. The Elect Workplace Pension is a market-leading workplace pension solution that is simple and free to set up. It ensures you are complying with the latest regulations and the range of services and resources available mean you can tailor your Elect Workplace Pensions to meet your needs and those of your employees. See how we can help you navigate through this complex world of pensions.

At its core are three core elements:

  1. The pension itself. Using our experience and expertise, we have undertaken a review of the market before selecting Aviva as the provider of the Elect Workplace Pension. This means you have the peace of mind that your company pension meets all the regulatory requirements and makes you compliant with your legal obligations.
  2. A default investment strategy from the Mercer SmartPath™ investment solution. Get the advantage of our specialisation in investment strategy and portfolio construction with the Mercer SmartPath™ default fun. Members benefit from an investment strategy that allows them to access their retirement income in the way they want to.
  3. The Elect Workplace Pension also provides you with a range of optional extra services to help you engage and support your people in getting the most from your pension. These services, tools and resources mean you can tailor your Elect Workplace Pension to meet your budget and the specific needs of you and your employees.

We acknowledge that there are potential conflicts of interest in recommending an investment solution for which other parts of our business will be remunerated. As such, we recommend you read the important information here for details on how we manage these and more information on the default investment strategy in general.

Dental insurance is a great employee benefit that can cover the costs of dental treatments. Elect’s Dental Plans offer cover on the NHS and private practices for routine and major restorative treatments. The cover is valid with all dental practices in the UK and there is no pre-joining exam. With Elect, you also get exclusive rates with some of UK’s leading providers, Cigna and Bupa.

Offering a comprehensive dental plan for your staff is a valued benefit that can take away costly dental charges such as routine and emergency treatments and can prevent problems in the future and time spent off work.

We have negotiated a bespoke offering with leading Private Medical Insurance (PMI) providers and can help you choose the right level of coverage according to your budget and needs. With Elect, you get exclusive business health insurance with benefits such as health screening, dental, optical and prescription, at no additional cost. We also offer exclusive pricing and simple underwriting terms that avoid the requirement of signing a group declaration of health, making switching to an Elect plan simple.

Already have Private Health Insurance? We’re happy to review that for free, and some of our providers will even agree to beat your renewal price too.

Help to skip NHS waiting lists and get your people healthy and back to work. Take care of your employees and cover the cost of private treatment, and benefit from our competitive rates, negotiated with trusted insurers.

We can help your people cover the costs for unexpected treatment should they be diagnosed with a critical illness such as stroke, eligible cancers or another condition from a pre-determined list of illness.

Critical Illness Insurance is a highly valued employee benefit that can provide financial support to you or your staff through a difficult time. Cover can be provided for some of the most common conditions or can be extended to cover a more comprehensive list of conditions. The aim is to ease any financial implications these conditions may have on your employee’s life.

We have conducted a tender of the whole market and have chosen our selected critical illness providers - Unum, Canada Life and L&G. These insurers are providing Elect with exclusive and enhanced terms, conditions, pricing and added-value benefits, which provides your people with a bespoke policy at a competitive price.

We help you get the right Business and Leisure Travel Insurance, allowing you and your staff to concentrate on the job. Cover includes travel arrangements, medical, legal or personal emergencies.

Business and leisure travel insurance is a valuable coverage for companies with staff who travel frequently. Delayed or cancelled flights can mean your employees don’t get to where they need to be – this could mean lost time and money for your business. It is the employer’s responsibility to look after employees who are travelling for work and should they get ill or injured whilst on a job, business travel insurance covers travel, medical and legal costs as well as personal emergencies.

Think you need a business and leisure travel insurance? We help you choose the right policy based on your needs and budget. We have negotiated rates with a leading travel insurance provider so you and your people get a great policy at a competitive price. Cover even includes leisure trips and eligible winter sports.

Should the worst happen, and an employee dies, Group Life Assurance pays out a tax-free lump sum to their loved ones. This benefit would need to be paid via an appropriate Trust and the scheme registered with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Employee Life Insurance is a highly valued employee benefit that shows you care - and it can increase your attractiveness as an employer. With Elect, you get negotiated rates, discounts on premiums and stability in pricing with a 3-year rate guarantee.

Our experts will guide you through the different options to match your requirements and budget. Attract and retain people with Group Life Assurance, a highly valued employee benefit.

A health cash plan is a cost-effective way of providing healthcare for your employees. Unlike insurance policies that cover unforeseen and unpredictable events, health cash plans help cover the cost of routine healthcare such as dental, optical, physiotherapy costs and more. It also covers specialist and consultation fees.

Speak to a GP over the phone 24/7, including a private prescription medication delivery service.

A new wellbeing benefits entitlement that covers treatments like sports massage, reiki and hypnotherapy that helps employees feel good about themselves.

An unlimited number of children can be added to an employee’s plan, sharing annual limits between them. And there’s no age restriction on child cover. Employees can also cover their partner and up to four adult dependents, with no age restrictions for either.

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Octopus EV solution is a pure electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme, with a choice of all EVs in the UK market today.
Boostworks gives individuals access to thousands of cashback offers and discounts at top retailers and brands.
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A free to use independent mortgage brokerage with expertise in the employee benefits sector.
Employees can save up to and above £5,684 per year by utilising this benefit, so it is hugely relevant as the cost of living rises to unprecedented levels.

Talk to us

Get in touch to learn more about how Elect can help your business.