Employee benefits like group health insurance and paid time off are two of the most important factors that people look for when accepting a job. Research shows that these things are more important to workers than getting a pay raise. Also things like having a solid retirement plan and other options are also important to most people, especially if they are getting up there in age. Other than being important to your workers, here are some other reasons why, as an employer, you should be offering benefits packages to your employees from the day that they start working for you.
Higher Incentives, More Competition
If you offer group health insurance and other benefits programs, then you are offering a better incentive for people to apply for positions within your company. This means that the competition will be higher and you’ll be able to have a better pick of higher quality workers. If you don’t offer any full-time employee benefits program then you probably won’t have very responsible people applying to work for you. People with families, responsibilities and wisdom will know that they need some sort of insurance and benefits. People with no families or that are looking for their first job in order to build experience and a resume will likely be the ones applying for a position that does not include a benefits plan.
Healthy Work/Life Balance
The reason is simple, health coverage and time off allow people to spend time with their families and take care of them. This is why employers should always offer group health insurance or individual health insurance. Being able to provide head of households with the ability to provide for their families is crucial to being able to balance out the work/life area. Research shows that workers with a healthy home life are able to be more efficient and productive in the work place. That’s why being able to take paid time off for vacations and family time actually helps them to be better workers when they come back to work, even if it happens subconsciously. Forcing people to take time off without pay with do one of two things.
- They will still take the time off but will spend the whole time worrying and trying not to spend money.
- Or they won’t take any time off and will end up burnt out, distant from their family and useless in both arenas.
Aids in Future Plans
When you offer retirement plans to your employees, it helps them to start thinking about the future. You may have some great young people working for you with bright futures and fantastic potential. You want to be able to help them to become the best person that they can in life. Their job with you now could potentially shape them into who they will become later on in life. This means that you need to help them consider the future. By offering a retirement plan you are giving them the option to think about where they want to be in 30 or 40 years and how to start saving for a high quality of life later on. You have a big responsibility if you are hiring young career men and women.
Avoids Bankruptcy
If you do not offer group health insurance or other options for insurance and one of your workers or their family members has a tragic health problem, this can bankrupt your worker. Even someone making a lot of money is not going to be able to pay out of pocket for a lot of those medical bills that show up. Medical expenses are incredibly high right now and were the leading cause of bankruptcy last year. As the employer, it’s your job to take care of your employees. It doesn’t look good for your company if an employee ends up bankrupt while working for you.
Do what you can to provide a safe environment for your workers. You cannot be held accountable if a worker turns out to be unwise with their finances. Nor will anyone blame you if someone opts out of the benefits package. However, if you don’t offer it at all, you may ruin your own reputation if something happens to a worker and they turn and blame you.