EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
IRS looks at Oracle's flex scheme
Oracle, the world's second largest software company, uses its company intranet to provide a cost-effective way of administering its new flex scheme. The latest edition of Pay and Benefits Bulletin, a fortnightly journal published by Industrial Relations Services, investigates the thinking behind the launch of the package 18 months ago and assesses the experience to date.
Its ambitious flex scheme has helped Oracle improve recruitment and retention in the competitive IT labour market. According to the IRS case study, Oracle set out in 1999 to differentiate itself from competitors in a bid to become the employer of choice by offering a benefits plan tailored to individual needs.
The scheme allows employees to access benefit information using an intranet and mix and match their package to best suit their own individual circumstances. What's more, it provides a cost-effective system of scheme administration.
What you will find in the six-page IRS case study of Oracle
why flex was introduced
a summary of the benefits available
how it works
communicating the package
scheme administration via the company's intranet
experience to date
lessons learnt.
A final word from IRS on Oracle's online system which feeds employees' benefit choices direct to the relevant supplier:
But perhaps the most significant point to emerge from our study of Oracle's flex programme is the lessons it can offer others in how to use electronic solutions — both to facilitate employee choice (by enabling staff to select benefits from the comfort of their own workstation) and to manage the complex process of scheme administration (by allowing information to be married to the payroll system and sent directly to external suppliers).
Want to know more?
Title: Oracle's software selection , Pay and Benefits Bulletin 500, July 2000.
Availability: contact Industrial Relations Services, tel: 020 7354 5858 or email the editorjeremy.baugh@irseclipse.co.uk
Web: for details of IRS publications, jump to . . . www.irseclipse.co.uk