
What employee benefits should your business offer?
What Employee Benefits Should Your Business Offer?
- A valued employee asks for a health plan
- You lose a potential hire to a competitor with a 401 (k)
- You'd like to maximize your own retirement savings
What are benefits that an employer might provide?
Tier II employees currently have a reduced retirement benefit, having to work until age 62 to receive benefits. Under Tier 1 benefits, employees will be eligible to retire after 25 years of service, regardless of age, or retire at age 60 with 10 years of service.
What are the best benefits to offer your employees?
Listen to employee concerns and be open to having uncomfortable conversations while being transparent. Giving your employees all the information necessary to make the best decision for themselves and their families can drive engagement, increase retention, and open the door for more communication.
What benefits should I offer my employees?
Having a conversation with your manager is often more productive in your efforts to increase your compensation. They see firsthand what you contribute to the organization and how you support your team. If you’re going to compare your compensation to other organizations, you have to make sure the business is like yours.

When Does a Company Have to Offer Benefits?
Your organization’s Human Resources Department understands the importance of recruiting and retaining the best talent. While a competitive salary certainly attracts excellent candidates to a position, the benefits a company offers as part of a compensation package can play a big part as well.
When Does the Affordable Care Act Require Companies to Offer Health Insurance to Employees?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates that employers with fifty or more full-time employees must offer health insurance to their full-time employees. If your small business has grown to fifty or more full-time employees, the Affordable Care Act applies to you.
What Kind of Benefits Can I Offer to My Employees Other Than Health Insurance?
If your organization is a small business that does not employ fifty or more full-time employees, you may still want to offer some benefits in order to attract and retain a talented team of staff. Of course, you can choose to offer full coverage health insurance, but you can also choose to offer something less.
Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) as an Alternative to Health Insurance for Employers
Many employers, especially smaller businesses, offer HRAs, or “Health Reimbursement Arrangements” to their employees. An HRA isn’t traditional health insurance coverage, rather, it is a kind of health spending account that an employer can choose to provide to their employees.
Health Share Plans as an Alternative to Health Insurance for Employers
Health share plans, also referred to as health share programs, are organizations made up of individuals who share the cost of the group members’ health care. They are often used as an alternative to health insurance. Members of the health share plan define which medical expenses are eligible for coverage.
Should Our Small Business Offer Benefits to Our Employees?
What your company provides its employees in exchange for their hard work and dedication amounts to so much more than a set amount of money for a set amount of time. The benefits your firm offers contribute to the exceptional culture of your company.
Need Help Deciding Which Employee Benefits to Offer?
Do you need guidance in deciding whether to offer health insurance to your employees, or advice as to benefits to choose? Deciding on the perfect benefits can be tricky for even the most seasoned human resource professionals and small business owners. Luckily, Benely makes the employee benefits process simple.
Why is offering benefits more expensive for small employers than for large employers?
Providing benefits costs more for small employers than for large ones, both in terms of higher prices because of lesser buying power, and due to relatively higher costs of administration.
What is a benefit package?
A benefits package, especially one that offers good health insurance coverage (including dental and vision), helps attract and retain quality employees. Businesses get the tax advantage of deducting plan contributions, including health insurance, life insurance, and pension plans.
Why is payroll important?
Since payroll is already the largest line item on most employers' balance sheets, and recruiting new employees costs time and money, you want to make sure you're able to attract and retain the best talent possible. This is particularly relevant in competitive fields where workers have multiple options.
Do employers have to offer health insurance?
Employers are not required by law to offer benefits such as health insurance coverage, pension plans, and paid vacations. These types of benefits can be quite costly for small businesses, at least at first glance, so why do employers offer them? Since payroll is already the largest line item on most employers' balance sheets, and recruiting new employees costs time and money, you want to make sure you're able to attract and retain the best talent possible. This is particularly relevant in competitive fields where workers have multiple options. Employers who can afford to offer benefits usually have a wider selection of candidates from which to choose.
Can employers afford to offer benefits?
Employers who can afford to offer benefits usually have a wider selection of candidates from which to choose. But small businesses must manage expenses and cash flow wisely, so business owners must approach these considerations cautiously and prudently.
What is a full time employee?
The ACA Definition of a Full-Time Employee is someone who works an average of 30 hours per week. Employer groups are pushing to change the definition to someone who works an average of 40 hours per week (the standard pre-ACA definition). Annual Information Reporting - Employers have sought to ease the employee tracking and IRS reporting ...
How much does a full time employee make?
You have fewer than 25 full-time employees. Your average employee salary is about $50,000 per year or less. You pay at least 50% of your full-time employees' health insurance premium costs. According to the ACA Guidelines, a full-time employee works an average of at least 30 hours per week, or 130 hours per month.
What is minimum value health insurance?
Minimum value coverage is designed to pay at least 60% of the total cost of medical services for a standard population. Benefits include substantial coverage of physician and inpatient hospital services.
Do you have to offer health insurance if you have 50 employees?
The Affordable Care Act. If you have 50 or more full and full-time equivalent employees on average during the prior year, you are required by the ACA to offer employee health benefits or pay a tax penalty. Although employers under this threshold are not required to offer employee health benefits, there is an incentive to do so because meeting ...
Why is it important for employers to maintain employee health?
It can also support employee productivity and retention because employees will remain loyal to an employer offering benefits and protecting their health. Employers can still maintain some control over the types of group health plans they offer, including supplemental insurance like dental, life, and disability benefits.
What is part time benefits?
Part-time benefits are flexible and can be offered to employees who complete a certain amount of time on the job, so long as this is managed fairly across the entire employee population.
How many hours are considered part time?
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which dictates federal wage-and-hour laws around the nation, does not define part-time or full-time hours, but it does define overtime hours as being over 40 hours per pay period (on a weekly pay schedule). The US Bureau of Labor Statistics defines part-time employees as people who work one to 34 hours each week. Anything over 34 hours would then be considered full-time. Current APA guidelines dictate that employers who have 50 or more full-time or equivalent employees must provide Affordable Health Care coverage to meet the minimum guidelines. The ACA does define employees who are working at least 30 hours each week or 130 hours per month to be considered full-time. Employees who work fewer hours are considered part-time under ACA laws.
What does the Affordable Care Act say about health insurance?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as "Obamacare," mandates that employers offer group health insurance benefits to full time or the equivalent employees, and at least 95% of their workers, so this leaves things to their discretion for the remaining percentage.
How many hours can you work to get group health benefits?
It's also important to understand that while an employer may decide whether or not to offer group health benefits to part-time employees, many plan administrators have health care options for employees who work as few as 20 hours in a pay period. It can be beneficial to offer them low-cost benefits under group rates.
Does FLSA cover overtime?
The FLSA also requires the payment of overtime at the same rate that full-time workers earn it. Unemployment benefits are available to both full-time ...
Can part time employees get full time benefits?
The cost factor of offering part-time employee benefits must be determined when choosing group plans, but most plan administrators have reasonable options. Many of the benefits, such as voluntary plans and supplemental insurance, can be offered as full employee-paid or at a half rate of full-time employee plans.
What are the benefits of an employee?
Employee benefits include non-wage compensation in addition to regular salary. Various types of employee benefits typically include medical insurance, dental and vision coverage, life insurance and retirement planning, but there can be many more types of benefits and perks that employers choose to provide to their employees.
When will the benefits package be available for 2021?
February 22, 2021. Most employers offer employee benefits packages, which can include basic health coverage and retirement planning. In addition to basic health coverage, employers offer a variety of other perks, depending on the nature of their companies. It can be worthwhile to find out what your employer offers in terms of benefits packages, ...
What are the options for retirement?
Several common retirement options employers offer include 401 (k) and IRA plans, 403 (b) retirement plans (especially if you're employed with a nonprofit), simplified employee pension (SEP) plans and more.
What is disability insurance?
Some employers may offer temporary disability insurance plans that provide income support to employees who have suffered an injury or illness outside of work. While disability benefits can vary between employers, many offer some form of short-term disability coverage in the event you're injured on the job.
How long does life insurance last?
Usually, the life insurance term lasts for as long as the employee works for their employer. Other life insurance plans may be available depending on the employer, but group-term plans typically cost less than individual insurance policies.
Why do people invest in companies?
Investing in your company means you can benefit from its growth and profitability while increasing your personal net worth.
Does PTO increase with time off?
Typically, the amount of PTO increases by a set number of hours, which employees accrue each pay period . The number of hours accrued each period can vary between employers and is often determined by the length of time an employee has worked for their employer.
How many hours can an hourly employee work?
The Affordable Care Act and the IRS define a full-time employee as one who works at least 30 hours a week or 130 hours a month on average. Employees who will be working full-time should ...
How long is the administrative period for unemployment?
Administrative period. During this time (no more than 90 days), the employer calculates an employee’s eligibility, discusses the employee’s status with them, and enrolls the employee in a benefit plan, if necessary.
Can you offer benefits to an hourly employee if they are not an ALE?
If the company is not an ALE, offering benefits to hourly employees is based on the company policy and carrier requirements.
