The employee benefits that keep your best finance people

The employee benefits that help accounting and finance firms attract and keep talent are the ones that solve problems people can't fix on their own. That means fast, confidential access to specialist healthcare for the moments that most often push experienced people out: menopause, fertility treatment, pregnancy and parenthood, and neurodiversity.

Salary and bonus get candidates to sign. Health support that works when someone needs it is what keeps them through year-end, audit season and the next counter-offer.

This guide sets out which health benefits matter most in finance, where your current employee assistance programme (EAP) and private medical insurance (PMI) leave gaps, and how to build specialist support into your total rewards offer.

Why finance talent is harder to keep

Finance is one of the most competitive industries for talent. Firms recruit from the same pool, benchmark the same salaries and copy each other's workplace perks within a year. When everyone offers a gym discount and hybrid working, those perks stop deciding anything.

The work itself adds pressure. Long hours cluster around reporting deadlines, the margin for error is small, and senior people carry client relationships and regulatory responsibility.

Many of your most experienced people reach that seniority at the same point they face fertility treatment, a new baby, menopause or a late neurodiversity diagnosis. If they can't get timely, expert help, the cost lands on you:

• Absence, often recorded under a vague reason that hides the real cause
• Presenteeism, where someone is at their desk but working well below their best
• Attrition, when a qualified person with years of client knowledge decides to step back or leave

Replacing a qualified accountant or finance manager means recruitment fees, a long notice period and months before the new hire knows your clients. Health support that keeps one of them is a small cost by comparison.

The health benefits that matter most in finance

The benefits with the clearest link to employee retention cover health needs that are common, long-running and poorly served by standard cover. Six areas stand out.

Menopause support

Menopause symptoms such as poor sleep, brain fog and anxiety can last for years. They tend to arrive when people are at their most senior. Access to menopause specialists, help preparing for GP appointments and guidance for line managers helps people stay in role instead of stepping down or leaving.

Fertility support

Fertility treatment means frequent appointments, hard decisions and a heavy emotional load, often alongside a full workload. Specialist advice on options, treatment and what to expect helps people plan around work and feel supported by their employer through it.

Pregnancy and parenthood

The return from parental leave is one of the points where finance firms lose people. Support during pregnancy, after birth and through the first years of parenting makes the return more likely to stick. It also matters to partners and adoptive parents.

Women's health

Conditions such as endometriosis and Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS) can take years to diagnose and cause regular, unexplained absence. Specialist support helps people get answers sooner and manage symptoms at work.

Men's health

Men are less likely to seek help early, and issues like prostate health, testosterone changes and mental health often go unaddressed. Confidential, easy-to-reach specialist advice lowers the barrier to asking.

Neurodiversity support

Many adults in finance, including senior people, are only now recognising that they may have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or another form of neurodivergence. NHS waiting lists for assessment are long. Support before and after diagnosis, and practical guidance on adjustments, helps neurodivergent people do their best work in detail-heavy, deadline-driven roles.

Where your EAP and PMI leave gaps

Most large finance employers already offer an EAP and PMI. Both are valuable, and neither was designed for the needs above.

An EAP gives short-term counselling and general advice. It is a good first port of call for stress or a personal crisis, but the people answering are generalists, and the support is usually limited to a handful of sessions.

PMI pays for treatment of acute conditions. Long-running needs such as menopause, routine pregnancy care and fertility treatment are often excluded or capped, and cover for neurodiversity assessment varies widely between policies. It also tends to start once someone has a referral, which leaves them on their own for the advice and decisions that come first.

A specialist health benefit sits alongside both. It fills the gap between general wellbeing support and insured treatment, and it can point people to the right part of your existing cover when they need it. Check your own policy wording against the six areas before deciding where the gaps are.

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How to build health into your total rewards offer

A health benefit helps with talent attraction and retention only if people know about it and use it. Five steps make the difference.

1. Map your current cover. List what your EAP, PMI and any other benefits include for each of the six areas of health. Note the exclusions.
2. Check your own data. Exit interviews, absence reasons and return-to-work rates after parental leave will show where you lose people. Look for patterns by age and seniority.
3. Put it in front of candidates. Name specialist health support in job adverts, offer packs and your total rewards statement. Candidates comparing two similar finance offers notice what the other firm doesn't provide.
4. Brief your line managers. Managers in finance are often the first to see someone struggling at year-end. They need to know what support exists and how to suggest it.
5. Agree how you'll measure it. Set a baseline before launch for uptake, absence and retention among people who use the benefit, then review at six and twelve months.

Frequently asked questions

What employee benefits help companies attract and retain talent in accounting and finance?

Competitive pay, flexible working and a clear progression route are the baseline. The benefits that set a firm apart are those that support people through common, long-running health needs: menopause, fertility, pregnancy and parenthood, women's health, men's health and neurodiversity. These are the moments when experienced finance professionals are most likely to reduce hours or leave.

What's the difference between workplace perks and health benefits?

Workplace perks, such as gym discounts or free lunches, are easy for competitors to match and rarely affect whether someone stays. Health benefits give people access to clinical expertise they would struggle to get quickly elsewhere, which ties them more closely to retention.

Do EAP and PMI cover menopause, fertility and neurodiversity?

Usually only in part. An EAP offers emotional support from generalists for a limited number of sessions. PMI often excludes or caps menopause, fertility and routine pregnancy care, and cover for neurodiversity assessment varies by policy. Check your policy wording for each.

How does specialist health support improve employee retention?

It gives people expert help early, before a health issue turns into long-term absence, reduced hours or a resignation. It also shows employees that their employer takes these needs seriously, which counts when they compare offers.

How should HR measure the return on a health benefit?

Set a baseline before launch, then track uptake, absence and retention among people who use the benefit. Return-to-work rates after parental leave and exit interview themes are useful measures for finance firms.

How Peppy supports finance teams

Peppy is a global employee healthcare benefit that gives your people unlimited, confidential access to specialist clinicians across six areas of health: menopause, fertility, men's health, women's health, pregnancy and parenthood, and neurodiversity. Everything is delivered through an app, so people can get help between client meetings or after a late close.

Peppy works alongside your EAP and PMI, covering the specialist needs they don't. It supports more than 250 employers in over 20 countries and more than 3 million people, and is recognised as the No. 1 menopause provider in the UK.

Talk to our team about how Peppy fits into your total rewards offer.