A growing number of UK workers are giving a short-term boost to their salaries by contracting out of their company's employee benefits, Unum has found.
Research from the provider found 38% of companies have witnessed a growing trend over the past two years for employees to sacrifice benefits, such as income protection, life insurance or pension contributions, for a cash lump sum.
Furthermore, almost one in five (18%) companies has witnessed a decrease in the amount employees are contributing into their pension schemes.
Unum noted that these emergency short-term measures, whilst providing a quick cash boost, could spell more serious long-term financial problems for many workers who are sacrificing financial protection.
The need to take a long-term view was highlighted by findings that 36% of employees only expect to be paid their full salary for a month at most, and many for no time at all, if they were absent due to long-term sickness or injury. Yet 33% say they would "survive" less than a month on a weekly statutory sick pay of £79.15.
Marco Forato, Unum's Chief Marketing Officer, said: "We're witnessing several concerning trends that would point to many employees currently taking a very short-term view of their financial situation.
"Although there's no denying that a lot of people are struggling financially as a result of the recession, workers should only opt out of long-term financial benefits as a last resort."
