No matter what type of company you work for, chances are they offer a wide range of benefits to help keep their employees healthy and happy. Private, public, or state and federal businesses are providing different types of benefits to their employees. This includes benefits such as health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and retirement plans. For those who are running a business or constructing a startup business plan, benefits and company perks are something you should have on your radar.
If you’re running a business or are an employee interested in business perks, here are a few benefits all companies should consider implementing.
Health Insurance
Health insurance is considered one of the most valuable benefits companies can provide for their employees. Depending on what type of health insurance a company chooses to offer, there are many different plans you can choose from. Standard options might include high deductible and low deductible plans, and either is a great choice depending on what works for individuals financially and medically.
There are two common types of managed care, which are Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). HMOs are prepaid healthcare plans that only allow coverage from physicians who work for or contracted with the HMO. Essentially, this means that you cannot seek care from a doctor outside of that plan and have it covered by the insurance—unless it’s an emergency.
PPOs are another healthcare plan where the healthcare provider contracts with specific hospitals and doctors you can use on their plan. This helps to create a network of providers that users can pay less to go to if they are on this plan.
Plans such as these are beneficial for employers, employees, and healthcare providers as they provide options that fit their individual needs. If you are an employee and your company does not provide health insurance, there are other options you can still apply for healthcare individually.
Life Insurance
Life insurance policies are another benefit that businesses should provide for their employees to help improve retention and company morale. This type of benefit can also help improve employee wellness at your company. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, employees are less productive when they are worried about supporting their families financially. With this benefit, you can help provide some peace of mind for your entire staff.
Life insurance is usually inexpensive for companies because group life insurance rates are priced at a lower premium than individual policies. This is because insurance companies base the risk factor on the group as a whole, rather than on an individual basis. Also, there are bundles when it comes to insurance policies, so it helps with pricing as well.
Life insurance coverage can help families better financially recover from the loss of an income by helping to cover basic living expenses including taxes, household debt, and child care expenses. However, not all companies are able to provide this type of coverage for all of their employees. This is not to say that you should be without life insurance. If your employer does not provide life insurance or does provide it but the coverage amount does not meet your needs, you should consider buying a second life insurance policy to ensure financial protection.
Disability Insurance
According to the Social Security Administration, 25 percent of 20-year-olds will need disability insurance sometime before they reach 67 years of age. However, many people are unaware of the options they have when they can no longer bring in a paycheck.
Disability insurance is an essential benefit every company should provide for their employees as a safety net, just in case anything were to physically happen to them and they were unable to work. Unlike workers’ compensation insurance, where the employee is only paid if they were hurt on the job, disability insurance covers partial wage replacement if employees become ill or hurt and can’t work, no matter where they were injured.
Unfortunately, disability insurance will not cover an employee’s entire income, but it will cover up to an average of 60 percent of their earnings. While this is not ideal, it is better than receiving no income at all.
There are two types of disability insurance, being short-term and long-term insurance. Short-term disability insurance pays out part of an employee’s income for anywhere from 9-52 weeks and kicks an elimination period of typically 7-14 days. Long-term disability takes over when short-term ends. Long-term usually pays the employee 50-60 percent of their wages and is paid over a longer period of time. This set time is often negotiated based on what your business’ plan might offer.
While some states have mandated disability insurance, there are other states where companies have the option of providing this benefit to their employees. If your state does not require companies to provide this benefit, you may want to still consider offering it. For example, women who take maternity leave are partly covered by short term disability insurance. A typical time frame for women to be out of work is anywhere from 6-8 weeks, but if there are complications with the pregnancy, delivery, or baby, they may require a longer leave.
Retirement Plans
Most business owners and leadership think that they cannot afford to support employee retirement plans and instead reinvest that money back into the business. However, more employees are looking for this benefit when considering whether or not to work for a certain business. Employers who offer this benefit have even reported higher retention rates. With employees set aside, business owners have a tendency to forget about themselves when it comes to investing in retirement plans.
If you’re a business owner or an employee, don’t ignore the chance to start investing in your 401(k) early on. The sooner you do so, the more time your account will have to grow based on investments. Depending on what protocol business owners provide and employees choose for their account, employees have the option to make risky investments, or play it safe.
Some companies even give the option to match a certain percent of the money employees add to their retirement plans. So say an employee puts away 3 percent of their salary every paycheck. Employers can either choose to match whatever employees put in their 401k or they can match a certain percent of what employees put in. Many companies will choose to match 50 cents for every dollar employees add.
Workplace Flexibility
Offering the benefit of workplace flexibility is something that employees will thank their employers for. Especially during these trying times with the Covid-19 pandemic, many employees are thanking their companies for their flexible work policies.
There are a few different options employers have when it comes to flexible working options. Many companies offer flexible scheduling to allow employees to work at their own discretion. Employees can comfortably manage their work/life balance, while also choosing which hours are best for them to complete assignments. Employers can allow employees to work remotely from their homes when they choose to.
These perks give employees the flexibility to work when they need to or when they work at their best. It allows them the ability to work around specific roadblocks in their schedule that come up from time-to-time, such as doctors appointments or family emergencies. While this perk may require some thought into how to track working hours and assignments while not in the office, this is a benefit that will be well worth it in the long run.
Final Thoughts: Benefits Are Beneficial
Employers can oftentimes have trouble deciding which benefits would work best for their companies. However, they should not be afraid to ask their staff what benefits employees would be interested in. Employee benefits will help keep your staff loyal and happy in their roles at their companies. If you are an employee, ask your business for the policies you would like to see implemented to help you put your best work forward.
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