Almost 57% of job seekers working in the U.S. count employee benefits as their top consideration before taking a job.
If you are a business owner running your corporation or companies in the U.S., then employee benefits are what you should care about.
Unlimited vacations, work from home, access to premium courses, and many other perks or benefits add to the company's uniqueness in boosting their employees' morale and increasing retention.
In this article, we will take a look at how these employee benefits matter in the companies and what kind of benefits are actually worth the investment for business and employees.
The article covers the following:
• What are Employee Benefits?
• Why are employee benefits important?
• What are the 17 benefits that are worth for your employees
What are Employee Benefits?
Employee benefits refer to the benefits that are indirectly paid to the workforce in your organization. These are also known as extra-added benefits that you provide to our employees apart from salaries and wages.
The benefits add an extra advantage to the employee for their financial betterment. Examples of employee benefits can be health insurance, stock options, or another myriad of things.
It is important to note that employee benefits depend upon the job offered to the employee.
Most of the employee benefits are country-specific and need to be considered for their employees.
In the U.S., health insurance is considered a key component of employee benefit packages, and other perks are followed accordingly.
Why are employee benefits important?
The COVID-19 pandemic left millions of Americans with acute funds shortage and financial stress in managing their expenses.
Around 69% of the employees were juggling financial stress to managing their households. All of their savings were exhausted, and the commodities' prices rose sky-high.
After considering these statistics, it became necessary for the largest segment of the workforce to access the employee benefits that can assist them in lowering the financial burden in the forms of perks and allowances.
These benefits help the employees save for retirement or meet any contingencies that may happen in the future.
Hence, if you are a business owner, you need to provide the benefits to strengthen the employees' financial well-being.
Following are a few of the points highlighting the need and importance of investing in the employees' benefits:
- Employee benefits help the employee to maintain their mental and physical health. Companies like Nike and Bumble give their entire U.S. workforce a paid week off such that they can streamline their healthcare costs.
- Employee benefits in the form of health coverages can help employees take care of themselves and be valued and motivated to work hard.
- Employee benefits are regarded as driven factors to increase the productivity level among the employees.
- Employee benefits lead to job satisfaction and loyalty among the employee.
- Employee benefits help to improve the company's reputation and brand value.
- With the help of employee benefits, the company can take advantage of recruiting a quality workforce that can go along with them for long.
It's simple: the employees will benefit you if you benefit your employees.
After all, it's a Win-Win situation for both!
What are the 17 employee benefits that are worth for your employees?
Employee benefits engage for the company's good and improvise the employees' and employers' health and wellness.
There are a lot of employee benefits to picking up that go beyond their basics and enter legendary status.
The list of 17 employee benefits that are worth the investment for your employees are as follows:
1. Financial tools to manage the unexpected contingencies
2. Workers' compensation funds and insurance
3. Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (QSEHRAs)
4. Provision for Health savings accounts (HSAs) and Flexible savings accounts (FSAs)
5. Identity theft protection for employees
6. Loan assistance for students
7. 401(k) plan
8. Perks for families
9. Enhance volunteers among employees
10. Enhance the work environment
11. Organize seasonal activities
12. Peer recognition and rewards
13. Offer flexible work options to employees
14. Career development opportunities for employees
15. Access to free snacks and lunch
16. Health and wellness of employees
17. Offer employee discounts or freebies
1. Financial tools to manage the unexpected contingencies
Financial challenges are one of the primary reasons for stress among American employees. Even the workers earning between $1,00,000 lakh to $150000 find it very difficult to manage the expenses.
Hence, by providing access to financial tools, the employees can handle their expenses and put a paycheck to work using payroll services.
It will also help them save for any contingencies that may occur in the future.
The financial tools also provide services like a reminder of card payments, bank overdraft charges, or loan repayment that can lessen their worries in keeping and managing the considerable expenses.
2. Workers' compensation funds and insurance
Accidents and unfortunate incidents cost a lot to the employees working in the company. These situations may arise in the workplace, and if your employees are not insured, it is undoubtedly a matter to worry about.
Hence, the company needs to get workers' compensation insurance to give their workers the advantage to take rest and provide them with enough time to get back on the job.
The company should also hold policy cover page replacement for the injured employee and bear the medical expenses and vocational rehabilitation.
Investing for your worker's safety and security is the most innovative investment that a company can look forward to.
3. Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (QSEHRAs)
The Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (QSEHRAs) is a unique arrangement that provides an affordable way to help your employees with their Health Care costs.
If you are a company that is looking forward to an alternative to the Group Health Insurance plans, then you can opt for QSEHRAs.
This helps you win points for your team and allows eligible employees to be reimbursed for their qualified medical expenses.
4. Provision for Health savings accounts (HSAs) and Flexible savings accounts (FSAs)
Under the HSAs and FSAs accounts, the companies can provide their employees a tax-free way to pay for their Health Care expenses.
Both of these accounts have different functions where Employees and FSAS organize hSAs is organized by employers.
These accounts are considered an addition to the health insurance plan or viewed as a standalone benefit.
If your company invests in these accounts, then the company saves a lot of money because they get exempted from the payroll taxes for the employee contribution.
5. Identity theft protection for employees
Since the companies and employees are prone to security breaches, there are chances that hackers might steal important information about your employees and their well-being.
Hence, companies need to invest in their employees' cyber security.
With this, you can offer employees free enrollment in the credit monitoring program and include it as a voluntary benefit.
6. Loan assistance for students
If your company wishes to retain the millennials working for you, then assisting them to pay off the student loan is the best benefit you can offer them.
Students who find it challenging to repay the loans can now be eligible to pay off nearly three years yearly.
As per the survey, around 86% of the workers are more likely to commit to the organization that offers such benefits.
If your company wants to retain this young blood, then loan assistance is something you need to vouch for.
7. 401(k) plan
Most U.S. corporations go forward with the 401 (k) retirement plan for their employees that funnels their paychecks into the retirement accounts.
It is known to be one of the most popular employer-sponsored retirement plans in the U.S.
If the company contributes to employees' retirement accounts, they get deductions in taxes and claim various tax credits too.
8. Perks for families
Every employee works to serve their family in meeting their needs and privileges. Since managing work and family sounds intimidating, companies can take the advantage to offer perks to family members that include children, parents, partners, and employees too.
The company can consider implementing the following perks for families:
- Provide benefits related to child health care
- Strengthen the parental leave packages beyond the legal requirements
- Host picnic or kids day out such that parents and kids can enjoy themselves
- Provide referrals to trusted and eldercare options
9. Enhance volunteers among employees
Beyond work commitments, employees should be encouraged to showcase their support towards the community. Most of the employees have a passion for doing something for society. Hence, providing them the opportunity to volunteer in specific events promotes the culture of giving back to humanity.
Volunteers can be enhanced in the form of joining startups that promote good causes for matching with employee charitable contributions.
10. Enhance the work environment
The work environment plays a vital role in making the employees feel comfortable while walking in the organization.
Hence, the companies in the U.S. make a lot of investment in making their work environment friendly for their employees so that they can work peacefully.
Using scented candles, decorating the walls with local art, or paying for a Spotify subscription service can make the employees delighted while working.
Though these are minimal steps, it creates a significant impact.
11. Organize seasonal activities
Companies can excite their employees to enhance their contribution quickly and affordably by organizing seasonal activities.
The activities can be themed based on the months and season, like organizing a fantasy football league or introducing summer Fridays for everyone to start their weekend a few hours only.
The companies can also organize activities like master-chef or annual functions to motivate the employee throughout the year.
12. Peer recognition and rewards
Every employee works in the organization to give their best!
Therefore, it becomes essential for the companies to recognize their hard work and contributions by identifying their potential and rewarding them for their top performances.
Peer recognition and rewards act as the biggest motivator for the employees and the employee in maintaining cordial relations.
Employees also feel worthy for their contributions that overall boost their self-confidence.
The company can implement peer recognition and rewards in the following ways:
- Organize monthly events where different departments can get a chance to meet each other and get recognized for their milestones
- Provide cash incentives perks or offer a gift to the outstanding performer
13. Offer flexible work options to employees
Stress and employee burnout are the two primary reasons contributing to annual turnover. Due to the high-packed schedule filled with deadlines and meetings, the employees find it challenging to manage the work and meet the expectations of the employers.
As a result, their productivity goes down.
By offering flexible work options, the employees won't feel pressure and will maintain their work-life balance.
The companies can also offer shifts and frequent breaks to build flexibility in the workplace. By streamlining the organizational structure, the employees and employers can communicate better to convey parts from their ends.
14. Career development opportunities for employees
Investing in upskilling the knowledge of the employees and enhancing their career development can benefit the business in multiple ways.
It will help expand the employee skills set and provide you access to innovative solutions and strategies.
The company can enhance the career development opportunities for employees in the following ways:
- Pain for the membership to professional organizations and training courses
- Launching a mentoring program to pair juniors and senior employees
- Hosting webinars and workshops from external experts that can guide the employee
15. Access to free snacks and lunch
Food is the secret of energy, and hence, proper food and nutrition are important for the employee to boost their productivity in the organization.
A company should invest in an excellent cafeteria to provide free and healthy snacks to the employees that can entirely boost their happiness.
Some companies also sponsor birthday treats for their employees or share food coupon codes that can be easily accessible from nearby stores.
16. Health and wellness of employees
Around 69% of the companies operating in the U.S. offer employee mental, emotional, and psychological wellness programs.
If you prioritize employee wellness, it can help you save a lot of money in maintaining health care costs.
It will not only help to increase productivity but also load you with tax incentives.
The company can enhance health and wellness programs for employees in the following ways:
- Talking to local gyms and yoga studios for team discounts
- Offer monthly exercise classes to build energy among employees
- Organize challenges related to fitness and distribute prices who meet their goals.
- Offer mental health treatment plans as part of a larger program aimed at promoting overall wellness.
17. Offer employee discounts or freebies
An employee feels happiest when they get freebies from the organization.
Branded swags, discount codes from favorite fashion and food outlets, or sharing about the products and services with your team increases the pride among the employees.
Employees feel empowered to be a part of your organization, and hence, this benefit is worth the investment for the employers.
Merchandises to the new hires or group movie passes for employees are a few of the ways that can please your employee.
By implementing these 17 employee benefits, your employees remain engaged and satisfied, ultimately helping the business unlock more of the benefits.
"Working for your employees is directly proportional to working for yourself."
How can Deskera Help You?
Deskera People allows you to conveniently manage leave, attendance, payroll, and other expenses. Generating pay slips for your employees is now easy as the platform also digitizes and automates HR processes.
Bottom Line
Investing in employee benefits showcases a lot about you and the company culture: the mission, the vision, the value you provide, and the rewards you offer.
By shelling out a little of the time and money, the companies are in a position to serve a team with the best.
They are in a position to overcome the challenges faced by the employee and give them mental peace by offering extra financial security to them.
"Don't treat these benefits as expenses,
Treat these benefits as assets."
Key Takeaways
You just need to roll these employee benefits into action and then watch out for the thank-yous and talented that follows:
Following are the key takeaways of the article:
- Employee benefits refer to the benefits that are indirectly paid to the workforce working in the organization.
- The employee benefits act as an added advantage for their financial betterment.
- The employees need to consider employee benefits as It helps the employee save for retirement and meet any kind of contingencies.
- Employee benefits can help the employees maintain their mental health and are considered driving factors to increase the productivity level among the employees.
- There are over 17 employee benefits offered by the company to improvise employees' and employers' health and wellness.
- These employee benefits are genuinely worth the investment for their employees.
- A list of these benefits includes:
1. Financial tools to manage the unexpected contingencies
2. Workers' compensation funds and insurance
3. Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (QSEHRAs)
4. Provision for Health savings accounts (HSAs) and Flexible savings accounts (FSAs)
5. Identity theft protection for employees
6. Loan assistance for students
7. 401(k) plan
8. Perks for families
9. Enhance volunteers among employees
10. Enhance the work environment
11. Organize seasonal activities
12. Peer recognition and rewards
13. Offer flexible work options to employees
14. Career development opportunities for employees
15. Access to free snacks and lunch
16. Health and wellness of employees
17. Offer employee discounts or freebies
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Deskera Content Team
Deskera Content Team
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