The Hidden Power of Lower Utilised Employee Benefits

Discover why low-utilisation employee benefits like IVF, childcare, and income protection drive big impact on retention, loyalty, and wellbeing.

Benefits 101

Apr 04, 2025 ⋅ 6 min read

HR teams are under a lot of pressure. Limited budgets, rising expectations from talent, and a C-suite that wants impact backed by metrics. So when you’re building out a benefits package, it’s natural to prioritise the ones that tick the “most people, most of the time” box.

But if you want your benefits strategy to build loyalty, protect productivity, and future-proof your workforce, you have to think differently.

Because some of the highest-impact benefits are the ones your employees won’t use often. They’re the ones that quietly sit in the background until someone has a real need — and suddenly, that benefit becomes the reason they stay, not leave.‍

‍“Utilisation isn’t always the right way to measure the success of a benefit. Some benefits might only impact a handful of people — but for those people, it can mean everything. If we’re serious about inclusive benefits, we have to meet people where they are, even if that need isn’t common.” — Carl Chapman, VP Benefit Design & Partnerships at Ben

Here’s some examples of what that looks like in practice.

‍Fertility and reproductive health benefits

Offering fertility support — egg freezing, IVF, donor support, surrogacy navigation — can feel like a niche benefit. Most employees won’t use it. So why invest?

Because the absence of support comes with hidden costs. One in seven couples in the UK experience fertility issues. IVF takes a physical and emotional toll: constant appointments, hormonal treatments, failed cycles…all while employees try to show up at work. Many reduce hours, take sick days, or even quietly leave during treatment. Others are forced to spend tens of thousands privately, causing financial

This disproportionately affects women in their 30s and 40s. But it doesn’t stop there: LGBTQ+ employees face unique financial and medical hurdles to build families. Without support, they’re more likely to churn or disengage.

Offering benefits here isn’t just about doing the right thing; it’s about retaining high-value talent at a moment when they have big life choices to make. And for every employee who doesn’t use it? They see the offer. They see what kind of employer you are.

Workplace nursery schemes

Childcare is the number one reason working parents (especially mothers) scale back or leave the workforce. It’s not anecdotal. It’s backed by data across every sector.

Workplace nursery salary sacrifice schemes reduce the cost of registered childcare by allowing payments from gross salary. This can mean thousands saved per year. And not from your HR budget, but via tax-efficient mechanisms.

It’s one of the most financially meaningful benefits you can offer parents, yet uptake remains low in most organisations. Why? Because many employers don’t make the most of communicating it.

Offering this benefit (and making it visible) removes one of the biggest logistical and emotional barriers to returning after parental leave. And it doesn’t just keep people in their jobs; it helps them re-engage faster, with fewer compromises and more long-term commitment.

Want to close your gender career progression gap? Start here.

Income protection and critical illness cover

When an employee becomes seriously ill or injured, it’s not just a health crisis, it’s a life interruption. Suddenly, work becomes impossible. And without structured support, income often disappears just when stability is needed most.

Income protection fills that gap. It ensures an employee continues to receive a portion of their salary while they recover, allowing them to focus on getting better, not on whether they can pay their mortgage. And that continuity materially improves the odds of a full, confident return to work.

For HR leaders, this is where lower-utilisation benefits prove their worth. Income protection shortens recovery time, reduces presenteeism, and increases the likelihood that skilled, experienced employees don’t exit permanently. And when other team members see that their employer has their back, even in worst-case scenarios, it builds a level of trust that policies alone can’t buy.

These benefits don’t scale, and that’s the point.

Low-utilisation benefits aren’t supposed to serve everyone, every day. They’re designed to catch people in their most vulnerable, high-stakes moments.

That trust is a lever for everything you care about: retention, engagement, productivity, culture.

HR leaders often get told to “think strategically.” Here’s the truth: empathy is strategic. Investing in benefits that show foresight, nuance and care is how you build a workforce that stays, grows and delivers.

Because when your employees are most in need, they won’t care about your summer social. They’ll care about whether you were there when it counted.

And if you were? They won’t forget it.

Carl Chapman

Carl joined Ben after a distinguished 20-year career in the benefits industry at the likes of Mercer, Capita, AON, and others. He has worked in a client director function, working with strategic clients including American Express, Investec, Adobe, Meta, and Google.