If you're on a Galaxy Fold, consider unfolding your phone or viewing it in full screen to best optimize your experience.
Your benefits portfolio plays a major role in your ability to recruit and retain high-performing employees. Voluntary benefits provide a wider range of options for today's diverse, multigenerational workforce and enhance their physical and financial well-being.
Read on to learn how to revitalize your employer-paid benefits package with the most popular voluntary benefits.
Voluntary benefits let employees choose and purchase their supplemental benefits through payroll deductions. Employees pay most or all of the costs, making them an affordable option for small businesses.
Employees benefit by taking advantage of employer-secured group rates and convenient payroll deduction payments. Voluntary benefits such as vision and dental insurance also encourage preventive medical care, promoting employee health.
The following are the most common employer-provided voluntary benefits:
While health insurance is a core offering of many benefit portfolios, it may also be provided as a voluntary benefit, with most or all costs borne by the employee.
The most recent employee benefits survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), shows 57% of employees in small firms (those with fewer than 100 employees) have access to group health insurance, and 56% have access to prescription drug plans.
Of those with access, 78% sign up. Many companies provide high-deductible plans that increase the employee's financial share of health care costs. Some companies offer supplemental medical plans to cover needs such as cancer treatment and hospitalization.
The BLS reports half of small firm employees have access to retirement savings plans And when offered, roughly 70% of employees take advantage of them.
These defined contribution plans let employees save for retirement through payroll deductions, enhancing their long-term financial security. Employees and the business may also receive tax savings with these plans.
Dental insurance is a highly coveted benefit. When offered, up to 78% of employees participate. Yet only 32% of employees at small firms have access to dental insurance.
Premiums are generally affordable, and a study by MetLife found employees ranked dental insurance as highly important for reducing financial stress.
Dental insurance contributes to employee wellness, as people without dental insurance are more likely to skip routine care, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Life insurance is available to 42% of employees at small firms with a take-up rate of 98%. In fact, MetLife found that after health insurance, employees cited life insurance as a top benefit for reducing financial stress.
Most employers who offer life insurance cover most or all of the cost, with additional coverage as a voluntary benefit.
Only 19% of employees at small firms are offered vision insurance as part of their employer benefits packages, says the BLS. And yet employees want it, with a take-up rate of 81%. Like dental care, vision care saves employees money, promotes preventive care, and enhances well-being.
Only one-third of employees at small firms have access to short-term disability insurance, and one-quarter have access to long-term disability insurance.
Take-up rates of nearly 100% testify to their popularity. Disability insurance is affordable and safeguards financial security, making it a valuable voluntary benefit.
Add voluntary benefits to your existing benefits package by incorporating them into your company's wider human resource (HR) strategy.
Your benefit package exists to build a high-performing, happy workforce so you can meet your company's goals. It's critical to tie your employee benefits closely to your company's strategic goals to ensure that they deliver measurable value.
A survey by Willis Towers Watson found employers who tailor their benefit plans to meet employees' needs are 1.6 times as likely to be satisfied with the results. It takes time to offer and administer new benefits, but you’ll find the return justifies the up-front investment.
First, find out what benefits are most important to your employees.
These steps will help you gauge need and interest levels for voluntary benefits:
You can provide many voluntary benefits at little or no cost to you. Employees will benefit from the group rates you secure. For example, an employee with a health condition might find life insurance out of reach financially, but you may be able to offer group coverage at a rate they can bear.
Consider the following to analyze costs:
You now have all the data you need to create a voluntary benefits plan to meet your goals cost effectively. When choosing your final offerings, consider the following:
Offering new benefits means additional legwork when onboarding and offboarding employees and managing open enrollment. The following steps will help you minimize the administrative burden on your HR operations.
As with all aspects of human resource management, benefit planning requires continual results measurement and adjustments.
Voluntary benefits help small businesses with limited resources because they can be provided for little or no cost to the employer other than administrative overhead.
Voluntary benefits put financial products such as life insurance within reach for employees, thanks to their employer’s group purchasing power. Employees list voluntary benefits such as dental and vision insurance as major relievers of financial stress.
Most voluntary benefits providers will help with enrollment through employee meetings, training, and other resources. Because employees pay for voluntary benefits, providers are usually eager to help with communication and onboarding.
You don't have to be Google or Facebook to offer an attractive voluntary benefits package. Since employees pay the bulk of the costs, voluntary benefits level the playing field between your business and larger firms with deeper pockets as you compete for top talent.
They also benefit your employees through greater financial security and well-being.
We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent, a Motley Fool service, does not cover all offers on the market. The Ascent has a dedicated team of editors and analysts focused on personal finance, and they follow the same set of publishing standards and editorial integrity while maintaining professional separation from the analysts and editors on other Motley Fool brands.