5 Advantages Of Offering Voluntary Employee Benefits

There are certain types of benefits that you have little choice but to offer your employees, such as worker’s compensation. Other benefits, however, are voluntary. Vision insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, and disability insurance are all chosen by the employer.

You can decide if you want to offer any or all of these coverages to your employees—and many businesses, especially small businesses, don’t.

On the other hand, offering voluntary employee benefits has several key advantages that are worth considering as your business and staff continue to grow.

1. Great businesses offer great benefits—and job seekers know it.

If you want to attract and retain the best talent in your field, you have to offer them the benefits that go along with it. Employees aren’t just looking for a high salary. They want to know that they—and their families—are taken care of.

Offering a great benefits package can be the difference between a new employee who is eager to sign on with your company and one who will take another offer instead. Even new graduates have learned that a high salary isn’t everything. They want to know about the voluntary benefits offered by the company before they decide if they’re going to choose to work for you.

2. Employees know that they matter.

Employees are conscious of which benefits are offered because you are required to offer them and which ones are offered because you recognize that they are quality, valued members of your team.

When you offer a great benefits package, employees are more likely to give their all to your company, digging in and giving you their best efforts in exchange for the acknowledgment that they are important and looked after.

3. Employees are better able to keep working when they have the benefits they need.

Imagine trying to work through a toothache or squinting at a monitor with the knowledge that your vision has deteriorated, but you can’t afford to go to the eye doctor yet.

Providing these key benefits makes it easier for your employees to make the appointments they need to stay healthy and functional, which makes them more effective workers throughout the course of their employment.

4. Dental health is strongly linked to several physical health concerns.

Healthy teeth and gums can help prevent a number of other health problems that could keep your employees out of the office long-term, including heart disease, diabetes, and a higher risk of preterm birth when women are pregnant.

Offering dental insurance helps encourage even the most reluctant patient to take their yearly trip to the dentist’s chair, which means that their dentist will help address these problems before they get started.

5. Your employees might not have other options.

Sure, offering a high enough salary means that your employees often have the funds to cover insurance needs on their own. Some plans, however, are only available as group options through employers. Others may be difficult for employees to get on their own: an employee with a family history of a specific disease that occurs in their fifties, for example, might have a hard time getting a good life insurance policy with reasonable rates. Grouping them with the rest of the people in the office, however, will ensure that they can get the coverage they need.

Voluntary benefits might add some expense to your insurance payments, but they’re well worth that expense when they help make it possible for you to attract and retain the top talent in your industry, encourage your employees to feel like they’re a valued part of the team, and make it possible for employees to get the coverage they need no matter what life throws their way.

If you’re ready to put together a voluntary employee benefits package that will make you one of the most desired employers in your field, contact us today to learn more about what we can offer.