Employee Benefits Every Small Business Must Have

Employee benefits are perks offered by an employer either voluntarily or mandated by law. Many small business owners mistakenly believe they cannot afford to offer their employees benefits. While this strategy might boost your bottom line in the short term, it can hamper your long-term prosperity. 

About 69 percent of employees say their finances stress them. And 80 percent of them prefer getting new or additional benefits to getting a raise. An excellent employee benefits package can help you get and keep quality workers. Unlike big corporations, small businesses must designate funds carefully. This means you should prioritize your benefits package to boost your employee’s wellbeing. 

The law requires all employers to:

●      Grant their employees time off to vote, for jury duty or to perform military service.

●      Comply with employee compensation requirements. 

●      Remit taxes for themselves and their employees while providing retirement and disability benefits. Social Security and Medicare deductions are included here too. 

●      Pay unemployment taxes to assist unemployed workers.

●      Where state-run disability programs exist, employers must contribute. With this funding, for instance, programs can offer new benefits for disabled veterans, as an example.

●      Comply with labor laws such as allowing employees to have medical and family leave.

There are certain benefits all good workers feel they must have, and at the top of that list are the two benefits outlined below. 

Medical or healthcare insurance

This is the most sought after perk. It covers hospital visits, surgeries and medication. Depending on the insurance provider and the packages offered, there are several options for setting up a health care plan. With traditional health plans, premiums are higher but come with a wider selection of doctors. Managed-care plans have lower premiums, however, but a smaller range of doctors.

With health benefits, consider offering alternatives like flexible spending or health savings accounts.

Retirement saving plan

401(k)s, simplified employee pensions, and savings incentive match plans are some of the retirement saving options available to employees. They enable employees to save for retirement. 

Other notable benefits include commuter, fringe, work-life balance, and paid time off. This includes leave, sick days, public holidays and vacation: 

Looking to set up an employee benefits package? Explore the tips below:

●      Consider what benefits your employees would value the most. The benefits package can be as basic or as grand as you like. 

●      Determine your budget. This will depend on what you want to offer your workers

●      Get a benefits provider with a mix of the perks you want. Shop around and ask questions. If they have free trials, try them out.

●    Consider not only benefits that will be innately useful and cover the essentials, but things that are “nice” to have as well. There’s a lot to be said for employee benefits that offer fun to the worker, and as the old saying goes, “All work and no play…”.

●      Consider adding other perks to the package, such as paid time off and work-life benefits. Fringe benefits such as repayment of student loans, performance bonuses, employee discounts, etc. can be beneficial to both parties. Some are provided pre-tax, and others can be written off as business expenses which are tax deductible. Explore more on employee incentives and share schemes.

It is up to you to decide what to offer your employees. By providing the benefits they value, your workers will be content, committed to the company’s goals and less likely to quit.