Back to school tech: How home technology salary sacrifice can support working parents

The start of the school year can bring huge financial pressure for many families. Beyond the usual expenses of uniforms and stationery, there is a growing need for personal tech to support home and classroom learning.

Parents in the UK now face average annual school-related costs of over £1,000 for primary children and nearly £2,300 for secondary pupils. These costs are rising more quickly than both inflation and wage growth and one reason behind this is the expectation for students to have access to digital devices and internet-ready spaces at home.

Further research found that 76% of schools expect children to have access to their own laptop or tablet. In response, 23% of UK parents will spend an average of £511.40 per child on tech to prepare for the new school year.

As an employer, you are in a strong position to help with this expense. By offering a cost-neutral home technology salary sacrifice scheme, you can support your team without increasing payroll costs or affecting your bottom line.

A smarter way to help staff: What is the Home & Tech scheme?

When it comes to employee benefits, flexibility and practicality go a long way. The BHN Extras Home & Tech Scheme enables employees to spread the cost of products like laptops, desks, printers, and tablets over a set repayment period.

It’s a cost-neutral scheme for you as an employer. Whilst you’ll purchase the chosen home or tech item up front, you’ll recover every penny back from your employee’s gross salary within 12 months. This means that instead of your employee struggling to find the funds to buy their tech outright, or take out a traditional, interest-incurring loan, they’re able to make monthly, interest-free payments over time.

For employers, the scheme is straightforward to manage. Once you’re signed up, there’s a minimal amount of approval and payroll admin, and plenty of free marketing support available to help you promote the scheme. You’ll retain control by setting eligibility criteria and spending limits. 

59% of employers agree that the financial benefits of spending money on employee health and wellbeing outweigh the costs. Offering practical, supportive benefits like the Home & Tech scheme can make a significant difference to employee retention and morale.

Join BHN Extras to enrol in the Home & Tech salary sacrifice scheme for free today

How home technology salary sacrifice supports working parents

According to a 2024 survey by Parentkind, 27% of parents named technology as a top school cost concern. Giving employees a simple, affordable way to access home technology can reduce financial stress at one of the busiest times of the year, helping them feel more supported at work and at home.

With the option to spread costs interest-free through salary sacrifice, parents can buy high-value items like laptops, printers, desks, and headphones without needing to worry about the impact on their other financial commitments. This allows them to get their children ready for school while managing household budgets and bills more easily.

Not only is the cost divided into manageable payments, but there are savings to be had from the reduction in their tax and National Insurance costs (because repayments are taken from the gross salary, rather than the net salary). This saving reduces the cost of these essential pieces of tech or homeware by up to 8%, which could lower that average £511.40 expense to around £470. 

The scheme is designed to support hybrid working and home learning setups. The Parentkind survey also discovered that nearly one in four primary school children does not have a space to complete homework at home. With Home & Tech Scheme, cost no longer needs to be a barrier to creating quiet, functional spaces at home where children can focus on assignments and revision.

A further benefit of offering a home technology salary sacrifice scheme is that it can be used to get items that are discounted or on offer, letting your employees make savings on top of savings!

Why employers should offer a home and technology salary sacrifice scheme

In today’s competitive job market, practical benefits can go further than pay rises when it comes to attracting and retaining staff. In fact, a research study found that 83% of employees would be more likely to stay with an employer that provides financial wellbeing programs, and 60% of job seekers would consider financial wellbeing as a deciding factor when accepting a job offer. Offering a home technology salary sacrifice scheme is one of the most direct ways to meet that need, whilst also supporting broader organisational goals around inclusion and employee engagement.

Home & Tech Scheme is accessed through the BHN Extras employee benefits platform. The platform itself is free to join and comes with some additional benefits included as standard. Any salary sacrifice scheme you opt into is free to implement and allows you to retain full control over spending limits, employee eligibility and application windows. Upfront costs of home and tech items are fully repaid by employees within 12 months, making this a completely cost neutral employee benefit. 

Join BHN Extras to enrol in the Home & Tech salary sacrifice scheme for free today

What can be bought through the BHN Extras Home & Tech scheme?

Every family’s needs are different, but one thing most working parents have in common is the need for reliable, flexible technology at home. Whether it’s for school, work, or everyday life, having the right equipment makes a huge difference.

One of the biggest strengths of the BHN Extras Home & Tech Scheme is the variety of products available. Employees can choose from thousands of items from two popular UK retailers: Currys and IKEA. This flexibility allows working parents to pick products to suit their family's specific needs.

From Currys, employees can buy:

• Laptops, tablets and Chromebooks for schoolwork and revision
• Printers for coursework and take-home packs
• Headphones, webcams and routers to improve connectivity and concentration
• A second screen to support dual-use home offices and study areas

From IKEA, employees can get:

• Desks, chairs and monitor stands to create a quiet and ergonomic study area
• Shelving units, storage and organisers to help keep learning materials tidy
• Lighting and cable tidies to improve focus and reduce clutter

How the Home & Tech scheme works: Simple for you, helpful for them

The Home & Tech scheme is simple to set up and run. It’s built to work for employers of all sizes, with support from the BHN Extras team throughout.

By offering discounts on technology and home items as a benefit, your employees can save up to 8% on the latest products and spread the cost-interest free! Plus, there’s no credit checks or hidden costs.

Here’s how it works:

• You sign up to the scheme and choose your rollout criteria, including eligibility and spending caps.
• Your employees create their free BHN Extras account and submit a request for the amount they would like to spend at Currys and/or IKEA.
• You review their request and make the payment. Your employee receives a redemption code to use on their chosen item(s) in-store or online.
• Repayments are made from gross salary, reducing tax and National Insurance.

The result is a cost-neutral benefit that makes a real difference to working families. It’s fully HMRC compliant and flexible enough to work across sectors, locations and workforce sizes.

Join BHN Extras to enrol in the Home & Tech salary sacrifice scheme for free today

How to get started with BHN Extras Home & Tech

Launching the BHN Extras Home & Tech Scheme is quick, low-effort, and fully supported from day one. Whatever size team you have, you can get the scheme up and running without disrupting your existing systems or benefits strategy.

The process is simple:

1. Join the BHN Extras employee benefits platform for free, where you’ll find a range of free, financial wellbeing employee benefits offered as standard.
2. Receive tailored setup support as you opt into Home & Tech scheme and set up your payroll integration and spending parameters. 
3. Launch the scheme to employees using the marketing materials provided by the platform.
4. Manage with ease using the employer portal to view uptake and complete quick admin tasks such as approving requests.

There’s no long-term commitment or upfront cost. You stay in control of how the scheme is offered, and your employees get access to thousands of home and tech items from retailers they already know and trust.

Find out more about how Extras works or join BHN Extras for free today.