As a business owner your main priority is the success of your business anything else would put into question why you were doing this anyway. To make a business thrive it takes a few elements: premium goods or services, marketing, a solid business plan and quality employees. If one of those are missing or weak in anyway the business will struggle to meet the goal.
There really isn’t a set list of importance except for one, quality employees.
The reason is simple, no job can effectively grow with only one person running the show and doing everything. For one it’s ineffective because we can’t do everything a company needs ourselves, and two, there isn’t enough time in the day to accomplish the work several individuals could. Employees are the lifeline, doesn’t mean you need excess employees, but you need quality ones. Quality ones will come at a premium, so what can you do to attract them? Benefit package… that’s how.
FACT: most employees prefer to get their insurance through their employer. This means most employees searching for a job will look to the benefit package that’s offered. Sadly I’ve seen outstanding employees turn down a job that pays more for a place that offers better benefits.
Today’s economy is rough, we all get it, we’ve all felt the effects and so many businesses decided to cut employees down to part time hours or not offer benefits all together. Some businesses even hire people as Independent Contracts under a 1099 form instead of W2 forms. Simply put they tell themselves that they can’t afford to offer insurance because a better bottom line is preferred. That’s a valid argument but let me throw out some stats that may change your mind.
- Did you know that 1 in 5 people will receive a diagnosis of cancer and at age 55 that number goes from 1 in 5 to now 1 in 2. That means with 6 plus employees on staff, 1 will be diagnosed with cancer. Can you afford to lose that employee if this happens.
- Every 40 seconds in the United States, someone suffers a heart attack or stroke. If they survive their life will be forever changed. This can have a negative impact on your health.
- One of the most common reasons employees call out stems from a legal issue.
Those three stats are ridiculous, but it paints a picture that we seldom see, because of our mindset. This means having a quality benefit package can help you attract and most importantly retain key employees and other exceptional staff. You want them to be healthy but if something happens the benefits from these policies will help them stress less and hopefully leading to a quick recovery.
When Obamacare also known as the American Healthcare Act, was rolled out in 2008 we saw the Federal Government push mandates on employers. It states that any company that employs 50 or more employees must provide health insurance to their staff. For those that are not that large, they can get by without offering health insurance penalty free because those employees can use the marketplace. Lets be honest though, health insurance is a prime component in one’s benefit package, it’s not the only vital thing one should offer.
A excellent benefit package would have some or more of these products:
- Term Life
- Major Medical Health Insurance
- Health Supplementals (Aflac) that helps offset costs and offers products that fill in the gaps of their Major Medical plan. Like co-oays, paying bills etc.
- Disability Insurance (Permanent or Short Term)
- Company stock options (if available)
- Paid time off/holiday pay and more
- Retirement savings in the form of a 401K, IRA, Roth IRA or Annuity
- Health Savings Account if their major medical insurance has high deductibles and/or high annual out of pocket expenses.
- LegalShield and/or IDShield.
Now as yourself would you prefer to accept a job with as many of those as possible? Most will say yes.
If your company can’t afford to offer this kind of package doesn’t mean you can’t offer it. There is a tax law called Section 125 which grants the company and employee a payroll tax break due to premiums are paid prior to taxes (payroll deductions). The second part to this equation is its considered optional enrollment, the only stipulation is that all eligible employees must be presented to. You could also do a contribution or non-contribution option but those have restrictions too. Contribution means that the company and the employee pay in. This requires 75% participation. Non-Contribution means that the company pays 100% of it, so every employee that’s eligible must be covered with all products offered.
With many options talking to an insurance agency or insurance broker can help you lay this all out for you with your company and employees best interest will be the focus.
