Does your small or medium-sized business offer a competitive employee benefits plan to attract and retain quality team members? If not, you are neglecting a major factor that can net you talented individuals for the long term. Did you know?
- 60% of applicants say benefits and perks are a major factor in deciding on a job offer
- 78% of employees say that they’re more likely to stay with their employer because of their benefits program
- 75% of candidates will research a company’s reputation before applying for a job opening
- Job listings which include a salary range got 75% more clicks than job listings that don’t
- 54% of hiring professionals say work flexibility encourages retention and 51% agree it attracts candidates
In the latest report on employee benefits from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, many employees enjoy benefits like paid holidays, paid vacations, paid sick leave and employer-sponsored healthcare – but by no means do all of them enjoy these benefits.
Payroll Managers offers effective benefits administration to design and maintain an employee benefit package that is attractive for your team and good for your company. Plus, we handle the administration for you, helping to ensure compliance and remove headaches while saving you money and time.
Here’s how to design an employee benefits plan.
Define Objectives for Your Employee Benefits Plan
What are your goals for creating and funding an employee benefits plan? The most common objectives include:
- Attract high-caliber applicants
- Retain high-caliber employees
- Support employee health for longevity
- Promote employee financial security
- Enhance company reputation
Defining your objectives will help you pick the benefits best suited to your business and ensure you stay on track throughout the process.
Structure a Budget for Employee Benefits
For most small and medium-sized businesses, your budget will determine the employee benefits you can offer. If this is the case, be sure you get the best and most-desired benefits for your money. Do you currently have a budget for employee benefits? If so, Payroll Managers can do a comparison to see if your package is the best one for your employees and for you. And if you’re building a new benefits package and structuring a budget for it, our benefits specialists can help you build the best possible package at the best cost.
Conduct a Benefits Use Assessment
What good are benefits if they are of little or no interest to your employees or prospects? A use assessment surveys other area industries and companies similar to yours, and obtains employee feedback at your own company, to see what benefits are most appealing and helpful.
Your employee demographic plays a large part in this process. For example:
- Baby boomers are more interested in retirement, disability insurance and life insurance
- Millennials and Gen Xers like work-from-home options, gym memberships and tuition assistance
- Ladies will be attracted to paid family leave for pregnancy and paid holidays/vacation
- Most everyone will value health insurance, but different options are more attractive for different age groups
Consider affordability (for you and your employees) as well as what appeals to the majority, what most employees like now (if you already have a benefits plan), how many different options you can provide and how it all fits into your budget. In addition, what your competitors offer is also an important consideration. While you don’t want to copycat them, their plan can still offer insight into building your own. Payroll Managers’ benefits administration specialists can help.
Consider Compliance Factors
Certain legal requirements will also come into play as you design an employee benefits plan. For example, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires companies with 50 or more employees to offer affordable healthcare to their employees. Although Florida does not, some other states require companies of certain sizes to provide paid sick leave. Failure to consider federal, state and local employment laws could cause you to incur heavy fines for non-compliance.
Design Your Company Employee Benefits Plan
After researching all the above, you should have a list of benefits that you want to include. Organize that list according to priority, cost and employee desire/benefit. You may need to reshuffle the lists until you find the best compromise for your company. Be sure to include employer contribution amounts in your deliberations. Too much taken out of take-home pay for benefits can be a detriment to what you want to achieve with your benefits plan.
Some popular employee benefits include:
- Health insurance
- Vision/dental insurance
- Disability insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Retirement benefits
- Tuition assistance/reimbursement
- Wellness programs
- Pet insurance
- Work-from-home options
It is likely a good idea to share your plan with employees before final adoption, including all the details about cost, time of employment requirements and how they can enroll and make changes. They will want to understand what is included and how it can help meet their needs. Be sure to explain how their contributions and feedback during the process helped you make these decisions. Their buy-in is crucial
Re-Evaluate Your Benefits Plan Regularly
Times change, and so do the many factors that influence employee benefits. Market trends, regulations, prices and your employee demographics can all change and render any plan dated and unattractive. A Benefits Administration specialist from Payroll Managers can help you with a comprehensive review of your current benefits plan or provide valuable assistance with creating a new one.
Contact Payroll Managers today and ask about an employee benefits review for your company.