A fifth of UK employees 'do not understand' what wellbeing benefits they are entitled to, according to research from Friends Life.
Schemes such as telephone help lines and health information may be going under-used, despite companies funding them, the insurer warned.
Friends Life said it also means many people will not appreciate they may access to a financial safety net such as life cover or income protection.
The research, which polled 829 people, also found less than half of workers (45%) rated their company as effective in telling them about the benefits that are available. Almost one in 10 (8%) said there were no communications at all.
The research also found just over a quarter of workers (28%) are happy with their employer's wellbeing services.
However, 13% said they would rather their company spent money on increasing wages rather than benefits and 10% thought they would never use the benefits available to them.
David Williams, director of group protection at Friends Life said: "If employers are offering protection benefits like critical illness cover or income protection they should be shouting from the rooftops about it. These are incredibly valuable benefits that can help employees feel more secure knowing that they have some financial back up should the worst happen.
"We are all aware that people's personal budgets have been squeezed in recent years so it's understandable that some would prefer a pay rise over something like income protection. But this could, in part, come down to communication."
Williams continued: "Our research found that less than a third of employees are happy with the wellbeing package being offered to them. But if a large number of people don't actually know what they're entitled to, it's not surprising their unhappy with it. If businesses improve the way they tell employees about the benefits that are available, we may well see staff awareness and appreciation of these benefits increase."
