Does a Small Business Have to Offer Benefits
Potential employees look at more than just the starting pay when choosing a place to work. Many employees often seek benefits, such as dental, healthcare, vision, and retirement plans. Those benefits can come with a cost, and if you’re a small business, offering benefits to your employees may feel like something you can’t afford. So how do you attract potential employees and garner their loyalty? What benefits should you and can you offer to help an employee want to stay?
Knowing what benefits to include in your company is a common question for small business owners. Below are some tips and ways you can still include benefits to your employees without breaking the bank.
Assessing Your Business
Do you have over fifty employees, or does your business employ a smaller group of people? Health insurance is probably one of the most sought out benefits when people apply for a job. Your business size will affect the tax fine or breaks you receive regarding health insurance and whether you offer it or not. Talk to your accountant about the cost it would take to offer your employees health insurance vs. the cost it could cause if you don’t. Much like running a CRM for small business, keeping track of your employees and the types of benefits out there is the first step to making the right choice.
Choosing the Right Option
You’ve assessed the costs, and now you have to decide. Will health insurance be included in your benefits program to employees, and if not, what will you offer in return? Many small businesses offer a form of HSA card to employees if they can’t provide health insurance. This allows employees to set aside pre-tax funds from each check to go toward medical expenses. HSA programs are a great option to offer if you can’t provide full health insurance benefits. They allow the employees to have something they can use when a doctor visit comes up. Not only is it convenient, but employees can use it for dental and vision as well. Employees also get the benefit of an HSA earning non-taxable interest, adding more funds to your employee’s card.
Offering Paid Time Off
Your employee will inevitably get sick at some point and time or need to take a day or two off. Part of enticing good employees to work for your company will include the type of paid time you allow. Offering additional paid time off the longer an employee works with the company is also a great incentive for your employees to stay. Fostering a positive environment by showing your employees you want to invest in them and allowing them to take paid time off creates an atmosphere of trust.
Allowing employees to recoup mentally and to take a few days off here and there, is healthy. It takes the pressure off the job and helps the employee know the company takes care of them. Flexible PTO can be more attractive than a high paycheck too, especially for employees with families and outside responsibilities. Having a job that cares and makes its employees a priority creates loyalty. Loyal employees work hard for the company.
Offering benefits helps employees feel valued in a company. Investing in your employees will garner higher productivity and foster a happier work environment. Deciding on what benefits to offer can be a difficult choice but not an impossible one. Once you tally and track your company employee number, you can decide if offering regular health insurance is feasible for your small business. If it’s not, all is not lost. There are other options out there to help your employee pay for medical expenses, such as HAS cards. Remember, benefits are more than health, dental, and vision coverage. Applicants will be seeking out jobs that provide PTO and sick days. Even if you can’t afford a health insurance plan, offering employees flexible time off and paid vacation gives them a great incentive to stay. The options are endless, and you can choose whatever works best for your small business.
