Three-quarters of employees don’t understand their benefits package, according to a new report.

The YouGov survey, commissioned by financial services company Oval, questioned 4,180 UK employees and results found that the least understood benefits were dental, income protection, childcare vouchers and critical illness cover.

Communication is thought to be partly to blame, with employers not fully explaining the rewards packages that are available to staff.

Chris Metz, head of employee benefits at Oval Financial Services Ltd, said: “Providing a bells-and-whistles reward package is just not enough. A company needs to know exactly what their employees really want, otherwise they are just throwing away millions of pounds with little return on their investment. Many companies are still getting it wrong.”

The survey also found that over 70 per cent of employees don’t understand how creative benefits like bikes for work and leisure vouchers apply to them, while 64 per cent thought health club memberships were not important.

Employees demonstrated that a total reward statement, provided by employers, would help them to gain a better understanding of their benefits.