Equal benefit access

EMPLOYEE benefits are designed to protect workers’ rights, support their well-being and promote long-term financial stability. Accessing these benefits can be tricky though - especially for frontline employees who do not have computers or access to email and other infrastructure that desk-based teams take for granted.

- CAROLINE VAN DER MERWE

Deskless workers

Employee benefits were designed with workers in offices in mind. HR tech often overlooks frontline workers in industries like mining, security, agriculture, construction, cleaning and logistics. Deskless workers - the people cleaning your office, making the coffee you grab on the go, securing your home or removing your rubbish - make up 72% of the workforce. Unlike office workers, they don’t have email access, stable shifts or HR on standby. This makes it difficult for them to access the benefits they are entitled to.

A leave application, for example, is easy enough for someone to complete on their laptop. But for the fast food restaurant cashier in your local mall, this isn’t so simple. They may need to fill in a paper form, hunt down multiple signatures and wait days for approval may not get.