Best Employer Ever? EABL Employees Get Sh36,000 Free Beer Every Year As Benefits

What benefits do you get at work?
According to Google, employee benefits refer to various types of non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to their normal salaries.
Usually, the benefits are things like medical insurance, pension plans, housing allowance, travel allowance and more.
However, this is not enough nowadays. In an age where employees are looking out for themselves more and more and people don’t mind switching jobs.
Companies have had to come up with new benefits that will encourage employee retention as well as attract quality talent.
Some of the new unconventional benefits include gym memberships, childcare benefits and many more.
East African Breweries however, is taking it a step further by offering all its employees beer worth Sh36, 000 for free yearly as part of the benefits package.
According to the annual report released by EABL, ‘all full time employees are eligible to receive a discretionary choice from a select product range to enable them to experience the company brands first hand.”
“The value of the products is Sh3, 000 per month. There is no cash alternative to product allowance and it is not a contractual benefit.”
At Sh3,000 a month, the product allowance amounts to Sh36,000 annually for each of the company’s 1,600 workers. The brewer has set the amount at the maximum level at which the benefit will not attract income taxes.
Normally, non-cash benefits offered to staff are not taxable unless they exceed Sh3,000 a month, according to Kenya Revenue Authority guidelines.
However these are not the only benefits employees get at EABL. The company has offered their stock-in-trade to employees for free or at a discount in an attempt to ensure employee retention.
Not only that, but banks also give loans to their employees at below-market rates.
Free alcohol is among the items that make EABL a generous employer, especially for its executives who enjoy one of the longest lists of pay packages.
In the report, the brewer said, “The EABL reward system seeks to recognize the contribution its employees make towards the success of the company while reflecting not only the value of the roles they perform but also the level to which they perform them.”