Research has revealed that an increasing number of organisations are offering dental insurance as an employee benefit.

According to the latest annual Reward Management Survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), dental insurance is now the third most popular employee benefit and the number of organisations offering it will increase by 57 per cent this year.

Charles Cotton, CIPD reward adviser says: “As research from Citizens Advice and the British Dental Association has shown, more and more individuals find it increasingly hard to see a NHS dentist. CIPD research finds many employers are stepping in and providing dental insurance to their staff.

“There are many drivers for offering such benefits. Some organisations will introduce benefits like dental insurance because they are concerned about absence rates and the time needed off work to travel to a dentist and others will do so to support the employer brand in attracting, retaining and engaging staff.

“These findings suggest that more organisations are responding to the needs of employees and this is a must in their bid to attract, retain and motivate talent.”

Findings from the 2007 Reward Management survey include:

• 14 per cent of organisations offer dental insurance as a benefit and this will rise to 22 per cent this year




• 15 per cent of manufacturing and production organisations surveyed already offer dental insurance and this will rise to 23 per cent this year




• 18 per cent of private sector service organisations surveyed already offer dental insurance and this will rise to 27 per cent this year




• 5 per cent of voluntary sector service organisations surveyed already offer dental insurance and this will rise to 11 per cent this year




• 7 per cent of public sector organisations surveyed already offer dental insurance and this will rise to 11 per cent this year.