Flexible hours and pension contributions top benefits wish list

Engage Mutual's Employee Benefit Study also revealed that a significant minority would refuse a job if it did not include any benefits while some prefer them to a pay rise.

More than half said they would like flexible working (55%) or employer pension contributions (54%), however take-up of this option was mixed.

Just a third (34%) of respondents said they had received company contributions in the past year and almost a fifth of 18-24 year olds (19%) admitted they were eligible for a contribution towards a pension but had not taken it up.

Double this number (38%) said they did not receive any benefits at all from their employer.

Conversely, 42% wanted to receive more benefits.

The next three most popularly requested benefits were money towards everyday healthcare costs (37%), free parking and contribution towards travel costs (35%) and unlimited free meals and soft drinks during working hours (27%).

One in ten (9%) said they would turn down a job if they were not offered any benefits in addition to salary, but this was more strongly felt by men (12%).

This divide continued with women being less likely to receive employee benefits than men (40% not receiving any compared to 36% of men) and 10% of working women failing to take advantage of company-contributed pension schemes.

Just 2% of workers received money towards childcare costs in the past year while almost a fifth of over 45s (19%) would value sabbatical leave from their job.

Head of Engage Mutual Health Helen Smith said there appeared to be a draw towards benefits offering immediate support.

"Our study highlighted the significant value that working Brits are placing on employee benefits.

"Some would even turn down a job if they were not offered any benefits and 6% of employees would prefer to have more benefits than an increase in salary.

"With household budgets under pressure, it's not surprising that so-called luxuries are falling out of favour.

"Instead, there appears to be an appetite for benefits that provide more immediate help, such as cash towards everyday healthcare costs, help towards travel and parking and even food.

"But it seems that many companies are not meeting this demand," she added.