When your employees feel you are looking out for them, they’ll look out for you too, by producing higher quality work and staying in their jobs for long time.  If a company offers good benefit packages to its employees then it proves that it values its employees and their quality of life. 

What are employee benefits?

Employee benefits and benefits in kind are non-wage compensations provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries.  Companies provide their employees and workers with large number of benefits. These benefits are an important component of a company’s remuneration package to attract and retain its employees.  Benefits also serve as incentives to employees and encourage them to work harder for the organization. They also help in increasing employee job satisfaction. The type of benefits offered to employees by companies can depend largely on the size and type of the business as well as its geographic location.

Types of employee benefits

Michael Armstrong observed in ‘A Handbook of Human Resource Management’ that benefits “are no longer merely the icing on the cake of cash remuneration but a considerable part of it.” As an employee, it’s essential from him to know about the different types of benefits he can enjoy.

Here’s a quick guide to employee benefits

·         Medical Insurance:  Medical insurance will cover costs of the physician, surgeon fees, hospital rooms, and prescription medications. It also includes covering dental and optical costs. Family can also be included.

·         Life insurance: Life insurance is important for protecting family incase you should die. The benefits will be paid to your family all at once to the designated beneficiaries of the policy.

·         Disability insurance: Disability insurance will protect your family from financial mess up if you are injured in an accident or have an illness. This benefit is not always offered by employers.

·          Retirement benefits: It is important to be aware that retirement benefits are available to you because everyone needs to put money aside for when you do get to retirement age.

·         Paid time off:  Everyone needs paid time off at some point. Most often, you have to earn time off if you want a vacation. Other types of paid time off include holidays and sick leave.

·         Fringe benefits:  These are non-cash payments that are used in different companies and may not always be added to the benefit plan. You will need to check the plan to be sure or ask about them.  Some fringe benefits are tuition assistance, flexible medical, child care spending accounts and other child-care benefits.

Advantages of employee benefits:

·         You provide a comprehensive, one-stop avenue for employees-Potential employees need to know about the conditions they commit to as well as the advantages extended to them. Through a comprehensive employee benefits program, their concerns can be addressed.

·         It is an indicator that companies institutionalize employee benefits– It is a sign of stability if a company has the resources to extend benefits to its employees. To lay-out an employee benefits program can bolster the sense of security needed by workers that look for a stable source of livelihood.

·         You set the benchmark– If your formula is effective, you can set the benchmark. Your company can be regarded as reputable in terms of excellent working conditions.

Employee benefits for small and large business

A firm offering benefits to employees can readily attract and retain satisfied employees. The 2011 Aflac Workforces Reportstudy revealed that small companies are less likely (compared to midsized or large ones) to offer employees a voice in choosing their benefits. However, large companies grant big corporation benefits, hereby attracting better employees and retain the best ones. Major companies are worried about changes to employee benefits schemes set to be introduced in 2012.  As per the statistics released by Hymans Robertson, just 55% of large businesses are confident that their company has the necessary financial clout to support the government’s pension auto enrolment scheme.

Companies with best employee benefits:

1.    Google:  Internet giant Google provides individually-tailored compensation packages. Peeyush Ranjan, managing director at Google India said, “The focus on technical innovation, the emphasis on aiming big, and the benefit of building on the world's best cloud computing infrastructure makes engineering at Google one of the most fun jobs one could have. I wish there was a place like this to work at when I came out of college."
 

2.    Makemy Trip: India’s leading online travel company MakeMy Trip.com is a preferred company for its employees. As many as 70% of the workforce are likely to get ESOPS soon . It has also been voted the best company for employee involvement and collaboration.

3.    American Express Bank: This company offers employee assistance programme and offers travel discount and flexible leave options, insurance and health coverage, paid and unpaid sabbaticals.

4.    Forbes Marshall: Forbes Marshall is engaged in offering management training programmes to its employees and is also ranked second in employee participation in corporate social responsibility activities.

5.    Cactus Communications:  Content writing and publishing company Cactus Communications has been ranked by Nasscom as one of the top 15 exciting emerging companies in 2008.

6.    Bharti Airtel: Telecommunications company, Bharti Airtel  offers varied opportunities for employees’ growth and development.

Thus, employee benefits should support the business goals of an organization by encouraging the behavior and values that it needs in employees in order to be successful.

Artika Shah