It is more valuable to ntl to give its staff perks. They are only a very small proportion of the subscriber base after all. Perks are a cheap way to increase benefits to staff without giving pay rises, which are tremendously expensive.

We get cheap meals and stays at the hotel company I work for (which, believe me, is very well worth having, even though I only use it once or twice a year!)

It would be a lot fairer a bonus scheme, as previously suggested.

Then employees who do not get the service would have equal benefits.

We do get a bonus - but only if we meet preset targets.
We also pay the tax value on the benefits ntl pay for us to have such as private healthcare. But as for the tv services etc, no, we don't pay tax, as ntl do not have to pay for them for us (if you see what I mean).

One last thing - we don't get free tea and coffee anymore either.

:cry:

edit - why are you so against the perks th'eng? Staff retention is one of the most important aspects for any company - high turnover of staff leads to less knowledge, more expense on training & induction etc etc etc...not a good thing. Wouldn't you rather when you had to speak to CS, you were speaking to someone who'd been working at ntl for a while, had a good level of knowledge, knew how to fix things first time etc? That only comes from experience - which comes from years of practice. :)

What about people who do not take up the scheme should they not get something instead of it .

Perhaps discounted mobiles or BT

i do have to concede that it is very unfair that off net collegues get naff all, and ntl should really sort something out for them :erm:

Why they get Bonus scheme, health care, would think its easier if other employees paid full price as previously suggested;)

Not really - after all, it is just another perk.

ntl also give childcare vouchers as part of the perks.
Many associates have no children, but funnily enough, they don't want compensating for that.... :rolleyes:

The schemes you mention are not at all comparable with the freebies we're talking about here.

Bonus, health insurance, company car ... all these things are treated as 'pay' for tax purposes, either because they are pay (in the case of a bonus) or ntl has had to pay for them in order to give them to staff for 'free'.

Perks related to the business or trade of the company, that don't cost the company to give away, are not 'pay', or treated as such. They are take-it-or-leave it perks designed, as Orangebird says, to make life at ntl more comfortable. It makes the pay and conditions at ntl better without costing ntl anything significant.

Where I work, we get very cheap hotel nights, booking a room for £15 per person. That room would have been empty if I had not stayed so the company actually makes money out of me. But we don't get up in arms and demand that no-one else gets a free night if I phone the staff booking line and find the hotel I want to stay at is booked up.

The point is, these things are take-it-or-leave-it, great if you can get it, pity if you can't. They are not part of your contract so you have no right to them - unlike a bonus or insurance.

Perks are very, very common in business, even if it's only taking home all the stationery you can carry every once in a while. I don't understand the problem.

no, that's very different. childcare vouchers are only any good/wanted by those that have kids. you go and ask an off net associate if he would like to have loads of tv channels for free and cheap bb, and see what they say ........

i dont see the problem with staff discounts on services that they have with NTL its more money in there pocket and improves morale

/me thinks its a bit of jealousy from my view

I would like to work for ntl and get the packages that they get as it works out at a very good deal.

Yes we do get taxed on them (or at least me and my colleagues did). You get taxed on the 'benefit'. Not sure exactly how it works, but I've just got a P11d from Human Remains and it shows TV services as a taxable benefit :(

Therefore if you do not declare them you are in fact breaking the tax laws .

I wonder if NTL might have communicated this to their employees .

Or can we expect the same communication as usual

It has been communicated and that's why we have been issued with a P11d form.

I don't think you have to 'declare' them as such. I certainly never, this was all sorted by HR. In fact the first I knew of it was when I received the P11d