How Grocery Salary Sacrifice could save your employees 8% at the supermarket
The average UK family spends £560 at the supermarket every month. For employers, this marks an opportunity to better support your people and provide a benefit that will make a real difference to their lives.
By introducing a grocery salary sacrifice scheme, you could save your people 8% on their food shopping at major UK supermarkets. That’s an average saving of £535 a year (almost a free month of shopping!) And it comes at zero cost to your business.
But how does it work? Let’s take a look.
This blog will explain…
- How the scheme works
- How your employees save money
- Where your employees’ GSS card can be used
- What your employees can buy with their card
How grocery salary sacrifice works
First up, any employees who want to join the scheme will need to opt-in. If you choose Mintago as your salary sacrifice provider, your team can easily opt-in from the Mintago app — but it’s really up to you.
Next, your employees choose how much they want to sacrifice. Each employee can choose their own amount, based on how much they are likely to spend at the supermarket.
Employees get a physical and virtual bank card they can use at participating stores. It works just like a regular debit card. All cards pull funds from the same bank account, but each card has its own limit — so employees can’t spend more than they’ve agreed.
| Employees opt in and choose how much to sacrifice | You add all employee grocery funds to one salary sacrifice bank account | Employees use their corporate cards to pay for shopping |
Your employees save via National Insurance
Hang on — what does that mean? Actually, it’s fairly straightforward.
Employees in the UK pay National Insurance on any earnings above £242 a week. But a grocery salary sacrifice scheme means the money for food shopping is taken out of the employee’s pay before tax or National Insurance is calculated.
That means employees don’t pay National Insurance on any groceries bought through the scheme. So they have more money to spend on the things that matter most.
Basic rate taxpayers will save 8% and higher rate taxpayers will save 2%.
It can sound complicated, but it really doesn’t have to be. Providers like Mintago can get you set up in no time, and your employees can opt in from an app on their phones.
Given there’s zero cost to the business, we think grocery salary sacrifice is a no brainer — especially if you employ a large number of basic rate taxpayers.
Your employees’ GSS card can be used at many retailers
Employees aren’t locked into one store. They can spend at any of these supermarkets:
- Aldi
- Iceland
- Co-op
- Tesco
- M&S
- Asda
- Morrison’s
- Amazon Fresh
- Lidl
- Sainsbury’s
- Waitrose
Groceries can include many categories
More than just food. Groceries can include the following categories:
- Food
- Drinks
- Pet food
- Cleaning supplies
- Toiletries
- Alcohol
- Homeware
- Garden
- Clothes
- Appliances
- Technology
Want to know more?
Book a call with a member of the team and we’ll walk you through how grocery salary sacrifice could work for your team. We can even help you calculate how much your employees will save on their shopping!
Or read our blog about why grocery salary sacrifice is gaining popularity — and why you might feel like the last to know.