Employee Benefits in Your Workplace

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Want to attract more candidates to your job openings? The answer to that are the benefits that your company may offer. You can have your workplace standout with benefits and perks that other workplaces might not offer and that will have a person want to work for your company instead of the other places they’ve applied to. For example, you allow pets at work, anyone that owns a pet will be wanting to accept the job offer at your company than elsewhere. Another reason why offering benefits to your employees can be important is because you are showing them that you care about their future and overall health. Employees will then feel like appreciated and are likely to stay with the business long term. Perks and benefits are a great way to how much you care for your employees.

Deciding which benefits you’d like to offer can be difficult, especially if you own a small business. You don’t want to offer expensive packages only to fire your employees in the future if your business does crash. You want to make sure you offer only what you can afford but also remain competitive. Options can be to seek low cost benefits or cost-share with your employees. Below are different perks and benefit ideas to get your business in the right direction:

1. Flexible Schedules

Instead of having a solid start and end time for your employees, you can give them an option to come into work at the time they desire as long as they are able to complete the number of hours you are paying them for and good work is still performed. This can be helpful for reasons such as employees with multiple doctor appointments, parents with children, and any other personal commitments. You are showing your employees that you do care for them and are thinking about their personal lives.

2. Health Insurance

Not only is offering health insurance simple, but most of the time it’s the determining factor for potential employees. Making sure your employees are healthy can boost their productivity during work and are less likely to get tired and burnout. Also extending coverage to family and dependents can cause less stress for your employees. Health insurance is one of the most popular perks above vacation and paid time off benefits according to a Glassdoor study. If you want to find out more on exactly what amount you should cover, help from a medical carrier and your finance department will be great.

3. Paid Time Off, Vacations, and Paid Holidays

If your job is stressful or demanding, disconnecting from work will allow your employees the chance to relax, rest, and come back into work with a fresh mind ready to get back in business. Offering sick days can refrain from employees coming into work ill and can prevent getting others sick and spreading germs. A lot of employees take advantage of these days not only when they get sick, but if another family member or a loved one needs their care. In a lot of businesses if an employer has been with the company for more than 5 years, then an extra week of vacation or PTO can be given to increase loyalty with the company as well as employee retention.

4. Retirement Benefits

Retirement benefits not only impacts the present lives of employees but their future as well. This benefit is also tax-free because Congress encourages businesses to provide this perk to employees. Offering this may also enhance productivity and motivation if the plan is based on profits. There are different types of retirement plans such as 401(k), SIMPLE plan, and Simplified Employee Pension (SEP). A tax credit of 50% for the first $1000 when starting to implement a retirement plan is provided by The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.

5. Life Insurance

This benefit delivers calmness for any employee who can be concerned about their family and how their family will be able to live financially in the event that he or she passes. It gives a financial cushion to the employee’s family if the death is not due his fault. Life insurance is offered in almost all large businesses in the US to all their full-time workers. Offering this benefit is simple and unexpensive. If it seems like too much you also have the option of paying part of the policy and have the employees pay the rest.

6. Gym Membership/Wellness Program

There are many times where employers will either pay for the employees’ gym membership or have an onsite gym which promotes health and fitness. If you decide to have an onsite fitness center, include a shower facility so that employees can get a workout in before clocking into work or during their lunch break.

The list of benefits to offer employees is endless. Ranging from educational opportunities, tuition reimbursements, employee recognition programs, and many others. All these benefits make your employees feel appreciated, valued and wanting to work for a business that makes them feel secured. Finding the benefits that best fit with your business to create a positive business profitability can be a challenge for small businesses. Consider benefits that employees truly value and look for cost-effective ways to offer those perks to them. Once you find that, everything will start to fall into place, your business will be successful, employees will feel satisfied, and employee turnover will be reduced.