Providing security services, including security guarding, front-of-house and reception employees, means Atlas Security is a people-oriented business. We operate in a highly competitive and mature market, where the introduction of employee benefits above statutory requirements can be a common challenge. With an aspiration to sit at the front of our industry and set a benchmark and example to others, we have created an offering for our people that stands out from the crowd, but there is still much more we can do as a company and as an industry.
With a workforce of largely lower-income earners, benefits – especially health benefits – are arguably extremely important. There are also parts of the market where customers appreciate the shared value of a happier, healthier workforce, and crucially, are willing to pay for better looked after staff.
Since our launch in December 2021, Atlas Security has been dedicated to promoting the importance of creating benefits packages that bridge gaps between what security officers have and what they need to be happy in their work. A good example is the HSF health plan, which gives support to cover everyday healthcare such as dental and optical care and physiotherapy, as well as giving cash pay-outs in the event of hospitalisation, or when employees have babies or want fertility investigations.
It also provides supplementary support, such as a 24-hour GP telephone advice service, webcam based face-to-face doctor consultations, counselling, and a legal helpline, all of which is especially useful in an industry where long hours and shift work is the norm. Unlike private medical insurance (PMI), premiums are not based on age and claims history, so it is a practical, cost-effective benefit for employers and employees.
Hopefully, benefits strategies and healthcare policies like this will become the norm for security officers and other contractor employees in the facilities management industry.
Thankfully, employment law is on their side: for example, when employees are TUPE’d to new employers when contracts move suppliers, their benefits are protected, so over time this should lead to increased use of benefit schemes in our industry.
Supporting the health and wellbeing of employees is essential, not only to the individuals, but also to the professionalism of our industry; it is key to how we attract, look after, and retain the most talented people.
Gary Stanton is managing director of Atlas Security