Employee benefits system 'needs to improve'

China's employee benefits system is still underdeveloped, with a majority of employees hoping to see improvements in their packages, a research report said on Wednesday.

The China Employee Benefits Index 2012 - the country's first index gauging the well-being of employees - stands at 65.37, indicating that the benefits system is at a basic level.

The index was launched by Ping An Annuity Insurance Company of China and the Industrial Relations Research Center of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

The index took into account factors like coverage and penetration of benefits packages, and employees' satisfaction levels.

According to the report, a score under 60 indicates a preliminary stage, while a score ranging from 80 to 100 indicates a sound system. The figure regarding the benefits' coverage is only at 61.33, indicating that coverage is limited.

The report said that employees are still focusing on basic benefit items.

For example, 62.3 percent of the employees surveyed said that they hope their housing provident funds can be improved, while 60.3 percent believe that their supplementary commercial insurance should see improvements.

However, companies are not adequately motivated to invest in employee benefit plans due to their own financial situations and a lack of policy support.

Only 42.5 percent of the companies' representatives polled indicated that employers plan to allocate more resources to employee benefits packages.

The report said that the financial industry offers the best employee benefits, while advertising, media and the print industry offer the worst.

Also, foreign-funded companies have the best employee benefits systems, but private companies rank low on the list.

"The government should offer policy support measures to small and medium-sized high-tech firms to encourage them to offer better employee benefits systems to retain talent," said Yang Yansui, director of the Research Center of Employment and Social Security at Tsinghua University.

China is currently undergoing an economic transition process, which means that more attention is being paid to people's well-being. Therefore, it's an important task for the government to improve people's living conditions, experts said.

"Sophisticated employee benefits systems are playing an increasingly important role in attracting talent, motivating staff and improving companies' efficiency," said Du Yongmao, CEO of Ping An Annuity Insurance Company.

Better benefits packages may be the key to retaining talent at a time when there is a slowdown in the growth of salaries.

Chinese companies expect an average salary increase of 9.3 percent next year, consulting firm Towers Watson said in a recent report.

huyuanyuan@chinadaily.com.cn