Setting up an employee benefit package is easier to conceive than to accomplish. To that end, we’ll explain how to assess your business needs, outline different types of employee benefits, and explain how to build a customized benefits package for your employees.
Assessing your business needs will require you to understand your employee demographics, define your budget, and consider any legal and regulatory mandates.
Before you begin assessing your business needs, you must understand who works for you. The first step is to evaluate the demographics of your employees which will require you to take the following things into account:
The following questions will help provide additional insight into your employee demographics:
While this process will give you great insight into the types of benefits your employees want, you must consider the types of benefits your budget will allow. Nonetheless, there are various ways you can control the cost of employee benefits.
Here are some tips for controlling costs:
Lastly, many contributions to employee benefit plans are tax-deductible which will reduce your overall liability while reducing costs. Additionally, 401(k) plans and health savings accounts (HSAs) offer tax benefits to your employees which will make your benefits package even more attractive.
As you do your research, it helps to categorize various employee benefits and tackle them one at a time. Here are some of the benefits to consider offering to your employees:
A good way to learn which benefits your employees are most interested in is to conduct a benefits need survey.
The internet will help you identify a host of free online survey tools to help you gather feedback from employees about what they value most in an employee benefits package. Check out tools like Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, or Typeform to name a few. Survey tools are generally intuitive and provide fast results. Such tools generally analyze survey results automatically to elevate the top benefits to focus on. Ultimately, a benefits-needs survey will allow you to balance employee needs with budget constraints.
Once you’ve decided on a budget and the types of benefits you want to offer, it’s time to build a customized benefits package for your employees. Some things to consider:
Finally, it’s important to consider the legal and regulatory considerations of how you develop your benefits package. Consider things like labor laws, tax implications, and disclosure obligations, and be careful not to discriminate against employees. You will find even more information and resources on the U.S. Department of Labor website.
An insurance agent is the best resource to help you analyze all aspects of an employee benefits package so you can make wise decisions for your employees and the company.
To learn more, contact one of our employee benefits specialists at the Leap Carpenter Kemps Insurance Agency at 209-384-0727 today!
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