Gift Cards for employees: cost or investment?

Gift Cards for employees: cost or investment?

Gift cards for employees: cost for the company or investment in its competitiveness on the market?

 

The quick answer is: both. Technically and in terms of accounting, gift cards are a cost to an enterprise, while from a modern and wise human resources perspective, gift cards are an investment in the future of our company.

Gift cards are one of many direct instruments of modern incentive policy for companies, taking care of employee well-being, employee motivation and attitude to the workplace, while indirectly affecting the competitiveness of companies on the labor market and their image as an employer.

This criterion has become equally important with others, because of the so-called employee market development – once employment was associated with employee submission to the company and unequal relations, while nowadays in healthy and mature organizations there should be a balance in mutual relationship: the company employs an employee because it values his competences, skills and personality, while the employee decides to choose a given company because, apart from competitive remuneration, it also values the employer’s reputation, work environment, atmosphere and people. An important element complementing the whole are non-wage benefits offered to employees, such as gift cards for well-known brands.

Gift cards are usually bought by enterprises as comprehensive packages, so-called cafeteria systems – remuneration systems that allow employees to choose from a range of benefits offered within a certain financial limit. An example of a cafeteria offer: tickets to the gym, swimming pool, fitness, prepaid cards, tickets for sporting and cultural events or just gift cards and vouchers for stores of known chains and brands.

In order to motivate companies to use this solution and its popularization and to facilitate financial settlements, the fiscal system of many countries, including Poland, has provided tax and social security (ZUS) incentives related to the use of this solution. Specific categories and type of gift cards aimed at employee development can be even exempted from taxation. In Poland, this limit amounts to PLN 1000 per employee per year and is regulated by the company social benefits system (ZFŚŚ).

There are many employee benefit agencies on the market (B2B channel) which, apart from an attractive substantive offer (interesting brands in portfolio) also offer comprehensive support in the settlement of gift card costs – they know which cards fall within the scope of benefits covered by the social benefits fund, how to qualify them as costs and bill them.

Amilon also offers a wide range of gift cards in its portfolio – around 200 partner brands around the world – which are used to reward and motivate employees. Gift cards are available in various denominations and conditions of use. We help in choosing them for your company and employees. We remain at your disposal for the contact and consultancy.

 

Article written by Karol Ziółkowski, Business Development Manager Poland @  Amilon Warsaw

Employee benefits market in Poland

Employee Benefits in Poland Amilon Gift Cards

 Employee benefits market in Poland

Last year, the value of employers’ investments in non-wage benefits in Poland, which help to attract and retain employees, increased to PLN 12 bln, almost by 1 bln year to year. On average, nine out of ten employees in Poland receive non-wage benefits from employers. The growing competition for job candidates means that the number of companies that invest in benefits, as well as the average value of benefits for one employee, is growing.

What types of benefits?

Non-wage benefits are an important element influencing the employee’s decision to take up a job in a given company, as well as a factor building loyalty and motivation for everyday work as well as a positive attitude towards the employer. In Poland, companies most often finance a basic healthcare package, a sport card entitling to unlimited gym entries or cafeteria platforms offering vouchers as well as gift and discount cards for stationary and online stores of well-known global and local brands.

Average benefit value

The development of the benefits market is influenced by the growing average value of expenses per employee, which reached almost PLN 2K (EUR 440) last year. The average was increased by investments of large companies, which account for almost two-thirds of the domestic benefits market. The value of the entire investment portfolio in this area in Poland reached PLN 12 billion in 2019.

Benefits addressers

Employers offer benefits to more and more employees groups’ – not only specialists and managers, but also physical workers. Benefits, including medical care, group insurance, sports card or vouchers to the cinema or shops (cafeteria programs) are so common that for some candidates they are an obvious element of remuneration. Willing to impress candidates, employers are increasingly reaching for less-typical benefits, such as vouchers for legal advisory or personal development.

In the current situation on the labor market, benefits are a justified business investment that helps attract and retain employees. Expenditure on non-wage benefits is growing, among others because their scope is expanding – employers are already investing not only in medical care and gym vouchers, but they are constantly offering new extras such as vouchers and gift cards, thus providing employees with the freedom to choose and match the offer with their lifestyle, habits and tastes.

The increase of the benefits budget is also generated by enlarging the scope of its recipients. Non-wage benefits appear in industries and professional groups in which they were not popular until recently – e.g. in supermarkets chains – and are reaching out to ever lower positions. In the coming years, the benefits market will continue to grow and companies will individualize their offer to better adapt it to the needs of employees.

Amilon in Poland

Amilon has a long-term strategy of not only becoming part of the above trends, but to start complementing or even defining them in the areas where we feel to have a competitive advantage. Such sphere is our offer and its digitalization, thus accelerating the entire process of generating and delivering vouchers, but also the role of a reliable business expert and technology provider for partners in the area of ​​discount cards and vouchers.

Amilon has already started cooperation with the first partners on the Polish market. Currently, the portfolio offered locally includes vouchers and cards of brands such as Amazon, Zalando, Global Hotel Card, MediaMarkt, Empik, Mango, IKEA (here we have exclusive rights in Poland), and we are already finalizing talks with H&M, Decathlon and Flixbus and delicious.pl. We will develop our portfolio in accordance with the market demand for brands sought by our clients.

– Article by Karol Ziółkowski, Business Development Manager Poland, for Amilon Warsaw

We are hiring! Apply now and join Amilon

Amilon is hiring for international business developement

Amilon is hiring!

We started in 2007 in Italy digitalizing gift cards and vouchers, and we are now leaders in the distribution of gift cards all over Europe. We collaborate both with companies and agencies all over the world, that implement gift cards in their corporative programs or resell them to other companies to incentivize employees and customers or creating effective loyalty programs. Moreover, we are the first technological partner and unique processor of digital codes for over 170 international and local brands, retailers and merchants all over the world, that chose us to develope and enact effetive Branded Money strategies aimed to increment drive to store and engagement through gift cards, vouchers and recharges.

Now we are present in more than 20 countries all over the world, including: Spain, Portugal, Germany, Holland, Belgium, DACH, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Austria, South Africa, United Kingdom, Turkey, Malesia, Poland, Sweden, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Norway and Canada.

If you like the challenge, you speak French or Polish and German just apply!

Only 7 years ago we were a very small company with ambitions and desire to innovate the market. Now we are almost 70 people with an international team full of energy!

We would like to collaborate with smart sales people, autonomous digital nomads eager to work in a French, Polish or German co-working space or from our offices in Milan and/or Madrid.

What we look for:

  • Polish mother tongue + German and English
  • German mother tongue + Polish and English
  • French mother tongue + English
  • Challenges lovers, no comfort zone devotees, people looking forward to generate business
  • Sales driven attitude
  • Italian is a plus

Send us an email to sales@amilon.eu and start a new adventure with us!