Employee benefits are important to companies of all sizes. They are a means of attracting new hires and retaining valuable talent. As for small businesses, they tend to be rather familiar with group health insurance and retirement plans. But what about voluntary benefits?
As a business owner yourself, do you understand the ins and outs of voluntary benefits? If not, educating yourself would benefit both you and your employees. There is a lot to voluntary benefits that make them an attractive way to enhance your company’s overall benefits package.
Below are the basics of voluntary benefits, compliments of Dallas-based BenefitMall. As a general agency, BenefitMall gives thousands of brokers access to more than a hundred carriers and their products.
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What They Are
The first thing to know about voluntary benefits is what they actually are. Voluntary benefits are employee benefits arranged by the employer but paid for primarily through payroll deductions. Employers may or may not contribute financially. When they do, their contributions are typically small.
BenefitMall says that critical illness coverage that includes cancer treatment is a voluntary benefit many larger companies are now considering. Other examples of voluntary benefits include supplemental dental and vision coverage and pet insurance.
Why Employees Participate
At first glance, it would seem that voluntary benefits that employees pay for themselves hardly constitute benefits. But that’s really not the case. More often than not, employees pay less through voluntary benefit programs than they would if they secured the same benefits on their own.
Take vision and dental insurance. Employees can certainly purchase that coverage individually. But going through their employer’s voluntary benefits program gives them access to lower group pricing. They actually save money by going through the employer.
Size Usually Doesn’t Matter
Small businesses may shy away from voluntary benefits due to a false impression that their companies are not big enough to qualify. That is really not the case. Though there are exceptions to the rule, most voluntary benefit offerings are not contingent on company size. Whether a company has 100 or 1000 employees, the same benefits are accessible.
Most Are Very Affordable
Small business owners should know that most voluntary benefits are quite affordable. Something like pet insurance offers employees access to discounted veterinary care, prescription medications, and pet supplies in exchange for a modest annual premium. In many cases, combined discounts offset premium costs quite a bit. In the end, employees do not pay very much at all.
They Can Help with Retention
Believe it or not, voluntary benefits can help with employee retention. According to a survey taken in 2021 in relation to the Great Resignation, some 75% of surveyed employees said that voluntary benefits would positively impact a decision to stay with their current employers.
This is an interesting concept given the fact that the lion’s share of voluntary benefits can be obtained on the individual market. Employees do not have to go through their employers. And yet, they prefer to. For one reason or another, they view voluntary benefits as a workplace enhancement.
You could make the case that some voluntary benefits save small businesses money in the long run. Dental insurance is often cited as an example here. As the thinking goes, good dental health contributes to good overall health, thereby reducing health insurance costs among employees who don’t get ill as often.
Voluntary benefits may be an unknown entity to you. But as a small business owner, you could benefit from looking into them. A nice basket of voluntary benefits could represent the best way for you to enhance your benefits package moving forward.
