Archive for the ‘Employee Benefits’ Category
by Joe Blattner | March 28, 2024
Competition is tough out there in the job market not only for applicants, but employers as well. To attract and retain top talent, employers should offer a strong compensation package that includes coveted benefits on top of a good salary.
But what makes a benefit coveted? There’s no fixed answer because employees’ priorities change along with the times. For example, the provision of free meals at the office is still an attractive perk, but not as much as it used to be. Nowadays, many people would rather work remotely even if it means paying for their own lunches.
If your company’s employee benefits are already outdated and need some fresh changes ASAP, take a look at these five hottest employee benefits in the job market today:
1) Flexible work arrangements
Since remote work has been normalized since the pandemic, many employees don’t want to return to the office full-time, or to work within a fixed schedule. To stay competitive, your company should consider providing several options, such as:
- a work-from-home setup for most — if not all — workdays,
- compressed workweeks whenever possible, and
- flexible operating hours.
Performance could be assessed by the quality of output and not by the time spent at work, allowing employees to enjoy better work-life balance.
2) Remote work infrastructure
Providing laptops and/or desktops for remote work is standard for most employers, but if you want your company to stand out among the rest, invest in other tools and equipment that would help employees build a conducive work setup at home, at no cost to them. There’s a big chance that some employees will not spend their own money for an ergonomic office chair or an adjustable-height desk, so it’s incumbent on your company to ensure your employees have access to these perks for free.
3) GLP-1 medication coverage
A current hot topic in recruitment is whether or not companies should offer partial or total coverage for Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) medication (like Ozempic), a class of drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes and weight loss. If your company can afford to do so, it’s a good idea to provide it as an employee benefit, especially given the prevalence of type 2 diabetes cases and obesity. With free or subsidized access to the proper medications, employees with type 2 diabetes will be able to manage their condition more easily. They will use up fewer sick days and have fewer hospital visits, leading to better attendance at work.
4) Mental health resources
Millennials and zoomers already make up the majority of the workforce, and you should know that people from these generations prioritize their mental health in a way that previous generations have not. By offering paid mental health days, employee assistance programs, counseling sessions, and stress management, your company will have a bigger chance of enticing these younger applicants. These benefits are also great for cultivating loyalty among current employees.
5) Financial wellness programs
Paying your employees competitive salaries is great, and helping them make the most out of their money is even better. By providing access to financial advisors, extending assistance with retirement planning, and facilitating workshops for effective budgeting, you’re giving your employees the tools they need to achieve financial stability. Since peace of mind comes with financial stability, your employees will become more productive and inspired, thanks to having fewer things to worry about.
These five benefits are among the most coveted among employees in the current workplace landscape. But it’s always evolving, so as an employer, your task is to keep on top of changes so that your benefits plan always aligns with what employees want.
by Joe Blattner | November 20, 2023
Despite having been around for a while now, the popularity of remote work quickly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Working from home not only allowed employers to potentially save on future costs and manage the challenges brought about by the pandemic, but also offered their employees flexibility and autonomy.
Some employees work from home primarily because they live too far from the office to commute, possibly in another state entirely. Others just prefer to work at home. This makes some employers uncomfortable, because they believe if they can see the employee working, they’re working, and productively. And if they can’t, they just aren’t sure.
If it’s possible to shift from tracking how many hours a person works to what that employee is producing (whether it’s sales figures, number of tasks completed, or something else), that should allay that concern.
If employees get the job done, employers shouldn’t care about from where they are doing it. And if it makes a valued employee happier and less likely to leave the company, so much the better.
Here are some reasons to embrace allowing employees to work from home.
- Some employees will be more productive working at home, without office distractions.
- Some will feel valued and honored by letting them work where they feel more comfortable.
- New mothers and fathers, for whom coming into the office would cause a huge hurdle.
- New employees who you want to hire because you like their expertise/value or something else, who are not going to relocate to where your business is.
However, the shift to remote work has also sparked questions on whether continuing remote staff should receive the same employee benefits as more companies fully embrace remote work. (And possibly should the compensation package remain the same, which is another article unto itself.) The lack of traditional benefits and perks for remote employees coupled with the unique needs and challenges of remote work, may mean employers need to find a balance in their offerings if they want to attract and keep top talent.
But, if your company views remote employees as an opportunity, or your employees are practically demanding to continue remote employment, inferring that they may look elsewhere if not, you might want to rethink your strategies proactively.
Why You Should Consider Offering Remote Staff Unique Benefits
Some employers may believe that working remotely is a perk in unto itself that negates the need to offer the employees other benefits. However, offering remote staff employee benefits comes with advantages that make it a worthwhile consideration and helps you stay competitive.
Let’s face it, most employees would prefer a company that offers perks over one that doesn’t. This also boosts employee morale as you make them feel valued, which in turn increases employee productivity and overall revenue for the company.
Since remote work comes with isolation from colleagues, offering remote staff certain unique employee benefits counteracts the feelings that can come with missing out on in-office interactions and activities. This contributes to employee wellness and health in the long term.
One of the most significant benefits of offering remote staff employee benefits is reducing turnover. By providing thoughtful benefit packages, you boost your remote employees’ job satisfaction, encouraging them to stay with you longer. In this case, you lower your recruitment costs and enjoy the perks of working with a well-trained team.
Benefits to Consider Offering Remote Staff
Generally, your remote staff should receive the same employee benefits without counting remote work as an advantage. That said, the benefits you offer remote workers should mirror your company culture, meet their needs, and be in line with your budget. Below are offerings you can include in your remote staff benefits package.
- Flexible work hours and paid time off. Doing so provides better work-life balance and prevents burnout.
- Wellness programs to promote a healthy lifestyle. This can include stipends for gym memberships and exercise classes as well as counseling and therapy sessions.
- Home office support: Provide remote workers with the necessary technology and resources to set up a home office. This includes reimbursement for a computer and work-related expenses such as internet connectivity charges, maintenance fees and more.
- Coworking office rent. Some companies will pay the rent of a coworking office space so that remote workers do not have to work out of their homes every day. This might also include paying commuter travel fees.
- Learning and professional development: Provide avenues and opportunities for the employee professional development to promote career growth. You can also offer a learning stipend for career-related training.
- Parental leave and childcare benefits. Some companies provide professional care giving services to cater to parents who have to juggle between working from home and caring for the kids in the same environment.
- Home delivery subscriptions: For employers who provide in-office coffee or meals, you can include home delivery subscriptions for remote workers to blend the office culture with the remote environment.
- Variable pay. Some companies adjust pay based on the cost of living where you reside. For example, employees in Tier 1 cities like Manhattan would earn more because it costs them more to live there.
As feeling a sense of connection to others in the company is critical to employee retention, some companies also provide ways to stay connected. For example, they might do a regular online get-together where employees assemble and talk about non-work-related things, such as hobbies.
One company we interviewed randomly pairs together two remote employees (or one remote employee and one non-remote employee) for 30-minute online chats called “Virtual Coffees.” They also offer reimbursement up to $15 for lunch once a week. And they try to get all their employees together once a year at an offsite event, with plenty of opportunities for mingling.
Another provides a $40 stipend per person when any three or more employees (at least one of them virtual) get together for dinner or drinks. They also offer a $75 quarterly entertainment bonus to attend concerts, shows and the like.
Conclusion
It is important for remote employees to receive employee benefits. However, the type of benefits may vary depending on the type of work, individual employee needs, budget, and company culture. By striking the right balance, you can adequately support your remote staff and make them feel valued, which ultimately boosts their job satisfaction and contributes to overall company success.
by Joe Blattner | January 29, 2021
As businesses partially or fully reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, they face the extraordinary challenge of convincing their employees it’s safe to come back to work. Covid has affected everyone in different ways, and while some employees are excited to come back, others feel overwhelmed by the prospect. Here are some ways to encourage your employees to get them to resume work.
1. Reassure Your Employees
Many employees are anxious and fearful about going back to work, fearing that they may contract the virus. You can reassure them by letting them know what plans and measures you’ve put in place to keep them safe at work. Tools like CleanRated can help. Safety measures may include:
- Implementing employee health screening procedures
- Establishing social distancing measures like restructuring workstations
- Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks, face shields, hand sanitizers, and gloves
- Providing disinfectant wipes to employees
- Having workspaces deep cleaned every day
- Developing a response plan for employee exposure
2. Embrace Flexible Working Schedules
If your employees have been working at home, coming back to work full-time can prove challenging to some. To make it easy, you can have your employees split their time working remotely and at the office during the week. You can also introduce staggered shifts, where employees have a different start, break and finish times. You may have a certain number of employees come in every day or have others come early or late. This can help ease congestion at the workplace so you can better keep your employees safe.
3. Provide Emotional and Mental Support
In the wake of the Covid crisis, many employees are struggling with re-entry anxiety. This refers to the dread employees may feel about returning to work during a pandemic. You need to show your employees that you care about their mental and emotional well-being. You can do this by providing mental health and wellness services to your employees at no charge to them. Cover their visits to telehealth mental health professionals or web-based meditation classes.
4. Offer Childcare Assistance
With many schools and child care centers closed, working parents are faced with hard choices regarding their children’s care. You can help your employees by offering childcare assistance in the form of virtual or in-home childcare. Knowing that their children will be taken care of can motivate your employees to come to work. You can also allow parents to have flexible work schedules if you can’t provide childcare assistance. You can work with parents to come up with flexible arrangements like shifting hours so they can come in early or late.
5. Keep Open Communication
You need to keep your communication open and transparent. Communicate clearly and often using multiple channels to avoid misinformation. When conveying safety-related messages, also include an inspiring message to keep up their spirits. Express empathy to your employees and your appreciation for their services.
Show your employees that you care about them and let them know that management is willing to listen and address any issues where possible. Provide channels to freely express their concerns, such as via the HR, manager, or a safety committee. When employees know that superiors hear their voice and their needs and concerns are met, they will be more comfortable returning to work.
6. Change Your Policies
If you don’t provide family medical leave, paid sick leave, medical insurance, or hazard pay, you might want to start doing so now. Your employees are dealing with a lot, and providing these incentives can go a long way in getting them to come back to work.
Conclusion
It’s important to acknowledge that this is a difficult time and your employees are scared of returning to work. To get them to come back to work, you need to show them that you care about their safety and that you’ve taken steps to protect them. You also need to provide them additional support like mental health services, childcare assistance, and paid sick leave.
It’s also important to make sure employees know what they are getting with your company. A total compensation statement, like those offered by COMPackage.com, can an employee see how generous the company has been in terms of the value of the many benefits (obvious, and not-so-obvious) you provide.
by Joe Blattner | October 1, 2019
Today, the ideal total compensation package is as diverse as the current workforce itself. In fact, it has to be in order for companies to attract and retain the absolute best employees.
Your employees may vary greatly in age, location (urban, suburban, rural), gender, and marital status. They also most likely vary in how they work – from home or at the office? From a computer or by phone or some other type of a machine? By travelling on sales calls or going into the office every day? These are all things to take into consideration. Not to mention, employees working for the same companies have very different job descriptions and skill sets. Why give all employees the same exact benefit package, when employees are all so different?
If you are trying to provide a one-for-all solution, you are more than likely leaving some of your employees behind. By taking the demographics of your workforce into consideration, you can remove the guesswork of a one-handed solution and offer employees a worthwhile benefits package with options.
Regardless of whether or not your company is small or large or somewhere in between, tailoring benefits to the specific needs of your employees does wonders for morale. It’s also a smart move if you aren’t able to compensate monetarily as much as your competition. To bridge the salary gap, the savviest of employers know they must make up the difference by offering an attractive total compensation package and one that make sense for the employees in question.
Think about it. Would you offer an on-site daycare facility as a part of your benefits package if a large portion of your workforce is under the age of 25? If most of your employees commute by bus, would including a parking spot be relevant or even necessary? If you have telecommuters working for you maybe they don’t get to enjoy the “complimentary” coffee you keep in steady stream in the office – why not offer your virtual assistant a monthly $10 gift card to a local cafe?
Another example would be if employees are expected to use their own vehicles for company business, a prepaid gas card would help to defray fuel expenses. Do employees work from home using their own equipment and Internet service? If so, you might want to consider providing laptops with Internet access.
The cost of providing employees with potentially expensive perks such as insurance, holiday bonuses, company cars, laptops, cell phone service, tuition reimbursement, or stock options may naturally be a great concern, but it may not be as high as factoring in the cost of recruiting and retraining new hires. Offsetting salaries with a diverse selection of fringe benefits is one of the simplest ways of compensating employees smartly.
In essence, offering a diversified benefits package gives you the luxury of not only attracting talent, but also keeping the top talent in your field happy to be on board. Providing options and showing individualized attention can be priceless. And with the right software, it doesn’t have to be difficult, either. COMPackage offers customers a comprehensive list of over 60 benefit ideas as a natural part of their total compensation software subscription.
Getting the Word Out
After revamping benefits packages to meet the unique and changing needs of your employees, it is imperative to then ensure they are fully aware of their total compensation. It is often astounding for employees to find out how much their employer pays for their total compensation, but sometimes it’s also a shock to the employer, when they start adding it all up.
Many employees are completely unaware of the extent or contents of their work benefits. Are key employees being lured away and accepting other positions offering a higher base salary? They may not be so quick to make a move if they had all the facts about their benefits package.
Employees and potential recruits need to know the full costs associated with having them on staff. Knowing this gives them a better idea of their true compensation and it also allows for essential employee feedback. Encouraging employees to provide feedback regarding which types of compensation are most important to them gives you a definitive edge when it comes to yet another important aspect of any successful business – employee retention.
But how can you give them all of this information without spending a ridiculous amount of time compiling data or an exorbitant amount of money outsourcing the task to a third party?
The answer is using total compensation statement software for creating employee compensation reports and detailed benefits statements. Benefits statements will give your employees a clear and concise picture conveying exactly how much they are really being compensated for their services.
What interesting ways does your company provide benefits? We would love to hear your ideas for diversifying benefits in the comments below.
by Joe Blattner | August 21, 2019
If you’re like most business owners or HR Managers, you know that communicating with employees about their salary and benefits is always a touchy subject. It’s best to plan accordingly and ensure that the timing is appropriate. But when is a good time to tell employees what their salary, health benefits, sick time, vacation time, and countless other perks are worth? Well, the answer is…it depends.
There are several different occasions and times of the year when your organization may be best suited for giving employees their . Given that a detailed summary of employee benefits is a boost to morale, the Holiday Season or New Year can be a great time to give employees the gift of a complete rewards statement. Although an annual benefits report is sometimes adequate, there are many other times throughout the year when a total compensation statement can help attract, retain, and positively impact your employees.
Hiring
First impressions are always important, and the way you welcome a new employee to your company is no exception. That’s why hiring can be an excellent time to present a total compensation statement. Letting a new or potential employee know just what you’re prepared to provide, even beyond their regular salary, is a great way to get that new relationship off to a solid start. In addition, employees who are comparing other offers can fully see what your company is offering them, and if the competition doesn’t provide a total compensation statement, your company is going to be viewed as the better choice.
Promotions or Raises
Another good time to discuss benefits is during a promotion or request for a promotion. Oftentimes in such discussions, the focus is solely on the actual wages offered or sought. However, it is wise to also emphasize the other benefits an employee is receiving outside their paycheck, such as paid sick time, free parking, a laptop, cell phone, or several other perks. Even intangibles like flexible scheduling can and should be part of the discussion, since they contribute to the overall employee welfare, contentment, and productivity.
Reviews
Annual or semi-annual performance reviews are also an excellent time to bring up total compensation. While discussing what the employee has done for the company, you can also showcase the full dimensions of what your company is providing. A comprehensive total compensation statement can boost morale and employee loyalty, and makes an excellent accompaniment to any words of encouragement that you may offer during a review.
Significant Life Events
There are some events in life that have a direct correlation to employee benefits. Occasions such as marriage or divorce, starting a family, illness or approaching retirement can be opportune times to present a total compensation statement. Since an employee may become eligible for additional benefits at these times, taking the initiative to let them know what they qualify for and what they receive is a great way to show that you’re truly looking out for your team.
Remember, the full measure of benefits your employees receive far exceeds their actual wages. This is good news, so share it freely!
by Joe Blattner | May 5, 2019
A good compensation package attracts and retains top talent, so it’s crucial for companies to provide the best they can offer. It’s why employee benefits statements are so crucial — they serve as a measurement of just how much a company is willing to invest in its people.
But if your company is working within a fixed budget, how can you provide enticing benefits without overspending? How can you go beyond government-mandated benefits and deliver something extra?
The answer is in low-cost but high-impact benefits. Some of the perks employees appreciate the most are affordable enough not to dent your budget. Here are some examples:
Flexible schedules
Work-life balance is a goal for many employees, so help them achieve that by giving them a flexible schedule. There are several ways to accomplish this, such as authorizing a couple of work-from-home days every week, implementing staggered hours instead of a fixed login time, or allowing people to offset shorter hours in one workday with longer hours in another workday.
You’re not giving money to your employees when you offer them flexible schedules. You’re giving them time, which, to many, is far more valuable.
Paid vacation leave
The US doesn’t require employers to grant paid vacation leave to employees. But all work and no play makes Jan a disgruntled worker, so it’s better to allot a fixed number of paid vacation days which your employees can use whenever they want to as long as they give advanced notice.
To avoid going over budget, don’t make unused days convertible to cash. Forfeit them at the end of the year and reset the counter at the start of the new one. Or you might choose to give an extended rollover period, for example for a period of three months.
Financial planning assistance
According to a 2016 survey by Magnify Money, more than half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Given how large this statistic is, chances are that many of your employees are living this way, even if they’ve been working for years.
Help them out by teaching them how to fish. Offering financial planning assistance won’t cost your company a lot, but it can make a world of difference for your employees who are struggling to budget their money wisely.
Corporate rates on insurance plans
Individual rates are higher than corporate rates, so your employees will appreciate it if they can get a discount through your company on life, accident, auto and other kinds of insurance.
Also, automatic payroll deductions make payments faster and easier. This added convenience is a benefit worthy of being included in employee benefits statements.
Merchant discounts
Where do your employees get their morning coffee? Where do they work out after they leave the office? Most likely, it’s that cafe around the corner and the gym a couple of blocks away, respectively.
Thus, approach nearby commercial establishments to see if you can get discounts for your employees. A lot of businesses will be happy to oblige if it means more customers.
These examples clearly show that although monetary compensation is of primary importance for many people, the little things do add up and make a difference. But your employees won’t get to appreciate the full effect of these perks unless you lay it out for them in employee benefits statements from companies like COMPackage.com. Only then will they see the total value of the compensation they’re receiving. If you’ve been looking for a way to boost staff morale, employee benefits statements are the way to go. After all, you can’t appreciate what you don’t know you have.
by Joe Blattner | October 2, 2017
How important is it to your organization to have “identity protection” show up in your employees’ total compensation reports? In the past few years, concerns over identity theft have slowly been making their way into benefit options as companies look differently at protecting their employees from data hacks. With the massive security breach at Equifax Inc., which, according to USA.gov affected 143 million consumers, even more companies are likely to add identify theft protection to their complement of employee benefits as early as 2018.
Current estimates are that about 35 percent of companies now offer some sort of identity theft protection. The reasons are straightforward. Security breaches expose an individual’s personal data – driver’s license, bank account, and social security numbers – to relentless hackers. The Insurance Information Institute notes that in the last seven years, identity thieves have amassed $107 billion from stolen identities. Many hackers take the data to sell it, such as bundling credit numbers to sell in groups to willing buyers, or keep the best data to use for themselves and use it to steal from unsuspecting individuals. From law offices to Dropbox, hacks pose a serious threat to employee well-being, and company benefits are a critical avenue for companies to respond. And companies must respond because the costs of identify hacks are high.
For employees, the costs extend far beyond recovering overcoming any direct financial losses. It can take months of phone calls, emails, and correspondence to contact creditors and repair credit reports. Most of those calls must be made during working hours, so many victims of identity theft are either distracted at work or need to take some time off. The amount of time an employee must consume during normal working hours to straighten out this mess that’s of no cause of their own are way more hours of company time than any company would want to lose. But, the employee has no choice. So, if you won’t give it to them, they may feel forced to take it anyhow.
Other victims find that having their identity stolen is traumatic, which means they must also recover from the emotional stress. For these reasons, identity theft can lower employee productivity.
For companies, however, the benefit to the bottom line begins with their employee’s well-being. While the jury is still out on the effectiveness of anti-identity theft protection, studies show that employees gain peace of mind from the benefit, and with peace of mind comes increased productivity – and profitability. Identity-theft protection offers peace of mind to companies, too, because most hackers make their way into corporate accounts through employee’s personal records. Shutting down employee identify theft also protects the company.
The best news for employees and employers is that the benefit is not only low-cost to employees since it is non-taxable benefit, but companies can usually get the employee coverage from issuing companies either free-of-charge or at a steep discount. There is a great likelihood that companies can successfully negotiate a preferred rate from a quality service.
It should come as no surprise that the fastest growing benefit option is identity theft protection. So, companies moving too slowly with ramping up their identify theft protection benefit risk losing their competitive edge in recruiting and retaining valuable employees.
by Joe Blattner | April 26, 2017
You can promote employment opportunities on corporate talent networks. You can use assessment science to put the right prospects in the right places. And you can invest in technology that delivers an exceptional candidate experience.
But at the end of the day, there’s still one recruitment tool that outshines all others: employee benefits.
It’s no secret that employees who are happy and healthy are more productive–and offering high-quality employee benefits leads to both.
Here’s a look at five ways offering quality employee benefits helps improve employee work base and attract top talent.
1) Increase your appeal
Skilled dedicated workers are the lifeblood of every successful business. They can also be difficult to attract.
The best employees have options, so it’s important to make yourself more appealing by offering more than just the bare minimum of baseline pay, two weeks’ vacation and standard health plans.
Offering exceptional benefit packages increases your appeal. According to a survey conducted by Glassdoor, benefits and perks play a major role in helping people decide whether or not to accept a job offer.
Creating a benefits program that is better than the rest improves your ability to attract top talent–especially if you can show candidates employee benefits reports that demonstrate exactly what they will receive after accepting an offer.
2) Reduce the rate of turnover
Employee turnover is a normal part of doing business, but it still hurts.
Turnover increases recruitment costs, reduces productivity and affects other employees, teams and the entire business. It’s one of those costs that doesn’t necessarily show up in most employee benefits reports.
Minimizing your turnover rate is a smart move–and offering high-quality employee benefits is one way you can reduce your rate of turnover.
According to a study conducted by Glassdoor, four out of five employees want quality benefits more than they want pay raises.
Give current employees what they want and they’ll be less likely to leave.
3) Morale
Low morale comes at a high cost. It leads to turnover, low productivity, more employees calling in sick and even dangerous work environments.
There are a lot of ways to lower morale and just as many ways to improve it–including offering quality employee benefits.
High-quality employee benefits accomplish two things: They keep your employees healthier, which keeps them at work. And they demonstrate to employees that they are valued.
With that in mind, you can’t really afford not to offer high-quality benefits.
4) Healthy employees
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Foundation, absent employees cost U.S. employers more than $225 billion annually.
Employees who are sick and not in the office can’t help your company achieve its goals.
Health insurance helps keep employees healthy–and it helps them recover more quickly from illness and injury.
5) Increased productivity
The CDC Foundation says that people going to work sick account for almost two-thirds of all costs associated with employee absenteeism.
Sick employees aren’t productive and they put their colleagues at risk. So why do they continue to show up? Maybe because many workers (nearly four out of 10) don’t have employee benefits that include paid sick time.
This might save you money in the short-term, but over time it can cost you a lot more in productivity.
What do your employee benefits reports say about you?
Do your employee benefits reports show a company that differentiates itself from the competition, cares about keeping employees and works to keep them happy?
If so, you probably have happy, healthy, productive employees. Now, make sure they know what you’re providing! Connect with Compackage.com to generate low cost, easy-to-use employee benefits reports.
by Joe Blattner | December 28, 2016
In 2014, the Affordable Care Act made 10 “Essential Healthcare Benefits” (EHB) mandatory, no matter the size of the company you work for or your healthcare provider. These requirements are set to come online in 2017.
Importantly, healthcare plans must be balanced among the 10 categories, namely,
- Outpatient care (care you get without being admitted to a hospital)
- Trips to the emergency room
- Treatment in the hospital for inpatient care
- Care before and after your baby is born
- Mental health and substance use disorder services
- Prescription drugs
- Services and devices to help you recover if you are injured, or have a disability or chronic condition
- Lab tests
- Preventive services
- Pediatric services
Your insurer can substitute benefits within each category, but cannot substitute one of the main categories, and it can change coverage, such as a benefit’s duration. Finally, under the EHB, your plan cannot discriminate against you because of your age, disability or your expected length of life. Here is some greater detail about the services that must be included.
Ambulatory patient services. These are the services that you likely use the most, since they cover your regular doctor’s visits. Most plans, regardless of your company’s size, usually cover this service.
Laboratory services. The new law requires that healthcare insurers cover preventive tests like Pap smears for women and prostate exams for men. However, your insurance coverage can bill other types of diagnostic, so check to see what is covered on Employee Compensation Reports.
Prescription drugs. The EHB mandates that all healthcare plans now cover some prescription drugs. All plans must now cover at the minimum one drug in every category and class of medications approved for use in the United States. And, when you pay for prescriptions the cost must be applied to your annual out of pocket expenses.
Maternity and Newborn Care. This new requirement entitles all mothers and babies healthcare before and after the baby is born since prenatal care is preventive care, so it must be given at no additional cost.
Emergency services. Your coverage extends to trips to the emergency room. EHB allows you to get emergency services even out of network with no extra fees. And, your plan can no longer require that you get preauthorization before you seek emergency services.
Hospitalization. This new requirement means your healthcare insurance must cover inpatient treatment for any serious medical concern. It does not mean, however, that you are exempt from paying a copay which can be quite expensive if you are still under your annual out of pocket limit.
Mental health and substance use disorder services. Perhaps this is one of the most extensive additions required by the EHB that is laid out in the Employee Compensation Reports. Your healthcare plan must include behavioral health care, substance abuse, and mental health coverage on par with that of the plan’s physical health benefits.
Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices. Your plan likely already covers rehabilitation therapies like pain relief or learning to walk again, and cover equipment like wheelchairs. However, now habilitative services must also be covered, which are therapies that help with long-term disabilities like Parkinson’s disease.
Preventive and wellness services. These services include things like vaccinations, counseling and screenings that help to prevent more serious illnesses.
Pediatric services (including oral and vision care). Under EHB, now all children under the age of 19 can get dental and vision services, including one pair of glasses every year.
It’s important for employees to know what benefits they receive. Savvy employers use Employee Compensation Reports, like those from COMPackage.com, to highlight the total compensation an employee receives. After all, you can’t appreciate what you are getting if it’s not clearly spelled out. No one knows what changes the new administration will make, but such changes take time, so the aforementioned may be valid for a while to come.
by Joe Blattner | November 30, 2016
Employees love seeing the full value of their benefits because they demonstrate how much their employers value them. But when employees do not know what benefits they actually have, or what the value is, it can lead to confusion and ultimately dissatisfaction with their employment. The solution: clearly written employee benefit packages statements shared annually.
Why are benefits so crucial to employee well-being?
Employee benefit packages include compensation along with other types of pay and incentives, including work-life benefits like paid leave, performance and recognition, development and career opportunities and other types of non-financial rewards. Generally speaking, since most employee benefits are not equity-based, they include the types of things that can make one feel more valued by one’s employer, and often one’s co-workers, too.
As an employee, your benefits can increase your quality of life and make your job more fulfilling. When all employees have great benefits that help with work-life balance, for example, they are more productive, easier to retain and take fewer days off. Of course, communicating these benefits in the hiring stage serves as a great recruitment tool.
Why do employees need to see their benefit statements on a regular basis?
All employees should receive their own personalized benefit statements at least once a year, because as they move through different lifecycles, from the birth of children to the desire for more education, to concerns about disability as they mature – their needs change and so will what they want from their benefits.
For example, work-life benefits are increasingly important to employee well-being. These benefits address overall quality of life for an employee and their position in their family and community as well as on the job.
The best employee policies and programs are designed to ensure that every employee is happy at home and at work and therefore include things like workplace flexibility programs, help with caring for dependents, paid time off, financial support with savings and other life issues, and programs that involve employees with the community, like charitable functions.
And, as employees move through their careers, they might also want more individualized benefits and services. These can include performance milestones, educational opportunities like graduate or professional degree tuition reimbursement or job-specific certifications and on-the-job training – all of which are linked to career advancement. They need an easy way to see and keep track of their benefits.
Can your employee benefits statement end the confusion?
At those moments when an employee is not feeling good about his or her job or an economic downturn has them worried about the future, seeing the full complement of their benefits in one clear statement can end any confusion they might have about their employer’s commitment to them.
You want employees to be content and productive in their jobs, and that’s what they want as well. This is why you they will appreciate your clearly communicated employee benefit packages statements. They can see what benefits they have, and the total value of their overall package. As many of us have short memories, it’s important to remind employees of these benefits on an annual basis.
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Category: Employee Benefits