A Towry Law spokesman notes that: "Employee benefits costs typically represent about 7% of total payroll. This is a huge investment and any comparable expenditure would be under constant review from financial directors. However, for some reason, this level of scrutiny does not always apply to employee benefits."

So, with organisational belt-tightening and the need to get the most out of HR budgets ranking high on the corporate agenda (subscription required for each), it seems only timely to offer some pointers toward XpertHR's extensive offering of content designed to help you make the most of your employee benefits offering.

Some useful starting points include (subscription required for each):

• Essential benchmarking and best practice data from the annual IRS benefits and allowances survey: Part one: Overview, Part two: Health-related benefits, Part three: Travel and subsistence benefits, and Part four: Childcare;
• Detailed guidance on how to manage basic pay and benefits;
• Best practice on communicating your reward and benefits offering; and
• Frequently asked questions (FAQs) on pay and benefits.

As ever with XpertHR, this is really on the tip of the iceberg in terms of benefits content, so try our powerful search engine for more.

• Has your organisation recently carried out an annual pay review? If so, and if it has now been settled, please get in touch so that we can add your organisation's pay award to the IRS database.