Vision Express has strengthened how it communicates its group risk benefits to staff, giving reward teams in retail a practical example of how targeted employee education, rather than new spend, can lift uptake of existing life assurance, critical illness and income protection cover. No deal consideration applies, as this is a benefits communication approach rather than a transaction.

Vision Express is a UK high street optical retailer with more than 550 stores across the UK, Ireland and Jersey, and is part of EssilorLuxottica, the global eyewear and lens group.

The strategic logic separates provision from understanding. All employees at Vision Express already receive a base level of life assurance, but the firm found that many staff did not fully understand its value, including its relevance when applying for a mortgage, prompting a communication push rather than a change to the benefit itself.

Helen Wiltshire, reward manager at Vision Express, said life assurance offers reassurance regardless of role, since it is unclear what challenges lie ahead, and explained the benefit's relevance extends beyond a simple payout to practical uses such as mortgage applications.

Staff can voluntarily increase life assurance cover at preferential group rates, funded through salary sacrifice where it does not reduce pay below the National Minimum Wage, and can separately purchase critical illness cover through the benefits platform, with income protection largely restricted to managerial staff due to limited voluntary provider availability. The retailer also introduced financial wellbeing support through provider Stream in February, which has already reached 48% of staff, giving employees earned wage access, financial education and savings tools.

For the sector, the case illustrates how large retail employers are increasingly treating benefits communication and timing, such as pushing key products ahead of annual enrolment windows, as levers to increase uptake, rather than relying solely on expanding what is offered.

Source: Employee Benefits