What UK employee benefits must you provide in 2026?

The full enhanced package typically runs £3,500–£10,000/year per employee model your loaded benefit cost on the Employee Cost Calculator. in addition to base salary and statutory contributions, depending on role seniority.

The mechanics matter as much as the headline rate. Three common structures:

• Statutory minimum (3% employer + 5% employee), covers the legal obligation only. Below market for professional roles.
• Fixed enhanced match (e.g. 5% employer + 5% employee), competitive in mid-market. Same contribution regardless of employee choice.
• Tiered match (e.g. up to 8%, matching what employee puts in), common in tech. Employee chooses contribution; employer matches dollar-for-dollar up to ceiling.

Salary sacrifice, the £100k cliff fix

For employees earning between £100,000 and £125,140 (the personal-allowance taper band), salary-sacrifice pension contributions are extremely valuable. Sacrificing salary into pension reduces adjusted net income below the £100,000 cliff, preserving the personal allowance and avoiding the 60% effective marginal rate.

Salary sacrifice also saves both employer and employee NIC on the sacrificed amount. A £5,000 sacrifice saves the employer £750 NIC (15%) and the employee £400 NIC (8%), roughly £1,150 of combined NIC saving on a £5,000 redirected payment.

EMI is the structural reason a UK Ltd (your own entity) beats EOR for senior hires you want to incentivise with options. Teamed Ltd, as the EOR, can’t grant EMI options to your employees, the qualifying company has to be your parent or a UK subsidiary you own.

EMI eligibility (the company)

• Gross assets under £30 million
• Fewer than 250 full-time-equivalent employees
• Carrying on a qualifying trade (excluded trades: dealing in land, leasing, financial activities)
• Independent (not 50%+ owned by another company)

EMI eligibility (the employee)

• Employee of the granting company or qualifying subsidiary
• Working at least 25 hours/week or 75% of working time
• Not holding more than 30% of company shares
• Options granted with a £250,000 individual limit and £3,000,000 company limit

The tax treatment

On exercise: usually no income tax or NIC, provided the exercise price is at least equal to the market value at grant. On disposal: capital gains tax at 10% if Business Asset Disposal Relief conditions met (lifetime £1m limit), otherwise standard CGT rates (10% basic, 20% higher).

Specific elements competitive UK employers offer:

• EAP, 24/7 confidential helpline, 4–8 counselling sessions per year, financial and legal advice
• Mental Health First Aiders, trained internal contacts, growing in scope post-2023 government guidance
• Private medical mental-health cover, therapy sessions, psychiatry consultations, sometimes inpatient cover
• Subscription apps, Headspace for Work, Calm, Spill, MyMynd
• Menstruation and menopause leave, emerging benefit, particularly in tech
• Mental health days, separate from sick leave, no fit note required
• Compassionate / bereavement leave, typically 3–5 days fully paid, separate from Parental Bereavement Leave

The cost is modest, £30–£150/year per employee for the full stack. The competitive impact is meaningful: candidate surveys repeatedly cite mental-health benefits as a top-three differentiator.

What’s included in Teamed’s standard EOR fee:

• Auto-enrolment into a qualifying UK pension scheme
• Statutory benefits administration (SMP, SPP, SSP, parental bereavement, etc.)
• Annual leave tracking
• P11D administration for employer-paid benefits
• EAP access (modest baseline EAP, scaled by team size)

What clients pass through at cost on the invoice:

• Enhanced pension contributions above 3%
• Private medical insurance premiums
• Life assurance and income protection premiums
• L&D budget
• Any salary-sacrifice schemes

The benefits package is bespoke to the client’s positioning. Teamed’s job is to make the operational mechanics frictionless, not to dictate the package.