revising our UK compensation packages for 2025

[morrowinemonet]

I’m currently in the middle of revising our UK compensation packages for 2025, and honestly, it’s more complex than I expected. Trying to find the right balance between salary, bonuses, and benefits without overextending the budget is a challenge. Especially when candidates expect private healthcare, generous PTO, and flexible working from day one. Anyone here have experience with designing offers that actually work in today’s UK market?

[Lamarck]

Last year, our company went through a similar restructuring, and I found that transparency was key. We did salary benchmarking using local data (Glassdoor’s okay for ballpark figures, but I’d recommend investing in something more detailed like Willis Towers Watson reports if you can). Also, we started offering smaller but highly valued perks — like home office stipends and mental health days — which surprisingly made a big impact without huge cost.

One of the biggest wins, though, was partnering with a third-party payroll provider that also offers strategic guidance. They helped us structure pay in a tax-efficient way and made sure we were compliant with UK-specific rules like salary sacrifice for pensions and cycle-to-work schemes. If you’re considering that route, check this out: https://theemployerofrecord.com/payroll-services-in-the-uk — they break down what you need to consider if you’re building packages for employees in the UK, especially if you don’t have a legal entity there. Genuinely saved us from some painful mistakes with HMRC.

[drannysome]

We’ve also noticed that offering flexibility around how people get compensated helps — like giving them a choice between a higher salary or enhanced benefits. Not everyone values the same things, and giving options made our offers more appealing. Curious if any of you use compensation calculators or tools to help candidates visualise total package value?

[Author]

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