Examples Of Employee Benefits

Understanding common employee benefits is just as important as looking at the salary. Benefits that fit your lifestyle and needs can lead to greater satisfaction with the position and company. Whether you are trying to decide between a few job offers or looking for a new position, understanding common types of employee benefits like health insurance, retirement, and fringe benefits can help you choose the best fit for your needs.

Examples of Employee Benefits

Along with a competitive salary, having access to a complete benefits package is a large part of why employees stay with companies. While there are federal and state mandated benefits, employers can provide unique benefits to attract and keep employees. Here are a few examples of common employee benefit offerings.

Insurance Packages

When you’re deciding whether to accept a new job or stay with your current employer, it’s important to carefully review the health insurance benefits they provide. If you (or a family member) have specific health needs, ensuring medical insurance aligns with those needs is essential. Employer-provided insurance options can also play an important role in planning for your future, especially if you’re thinking about starting a family, looking at life insurance options, considering long-term care insurance, or battling a chronic disease. Here are the most common types of health benefits employers offer.

Medical Insurance

Health insurance is one of the most significant parts of a benefits package. Most large companies will offer medical, dental, and vision plans to accommodate the needs of their employees.

Some factors to consider are the types of plans offered, what expenses are covered, and how much you’ll pay for deductibles and co-insurance. Another thing to note is whether an employer offers assistance with out-of-pocket costs by contributing to a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Savings Account (FSA) on your behalf.

Some employers offer a multitude of choices in medical insurance options, knowing the difference between a HSA versus a copay plan can help you better evaluate potential employer benefits packages to ensure you find the right options to fit your unique needs.

Dental Insurance

Dental coverage can be just as important as medical insurance. Most employers include dental insurance in their employee benefits package. Depending on the plan offered by the company, dental insurance often includes routine exams and cleanings, as well as procedures like root canals and fillings.

Vision Insurance

If you wear glasses or contact lenses, having vision insurance is a valuable benefit. Even if you don’t struggle with vision problems now, it’s important to understand vision insurance. Having access to vision care can help detect early signs of other health and vision conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, glaucoma, and cataracts. Vision insurance typically covers eye exams and routine checkups and helps offset the cost of prescription lenses or glasses.

Disability & Life Insurance

Although it’s not always something that’s top of mind, having affordable options for life insurance, disability insurance, and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance is another valuable benefit that’s often included in an employee benefits package.

Life insurance policies will vary, but they all include premiums, or the regular payments you have to make, beneficiaries, and the cash value of the policy. Life insurance can be used to help beneficiaries pay off debts and meet financial needs, it is therefore often used for long-term financial planning and purchased often by spouses, new parents, business partners, etc.

You can also often opt into short-term and long-term disability insurance plans designed to give you a portion of your income if you become disabled or have other health-related complications that take you out of the workplace for an extended amount of time. Accidental death and dismemberment insurance (AD&D) is also sometimes offered as part of a benefits package and will give your beneficiaries a lump sum if you die or have severe injuries in an accident.

Retirement

When you’re just starting out in your career, retirement can seem a long while away. However, starting to save early can make the transition to retirement easier and less stressful. These are the most common retirement plans offered by employers.

401K

A 401(k) is an employer-sponsored retirement plan where employees can contribute a percentage of their salary to retirement accounts. They can have part of their paycheck automatically deducted and added to their 401(k) account. Contributions to a 401(K) are pre-tax, meaning that the money gets deposited into your 401(k) account before it is taxed. This means every dollar you deposit will reduce your taxable income an equal amount.

One thing to consider is whether your company matches contributions to your 401(k) up to a certain amount or percentage. If they do, find out when you’d become eligible and familiarize yourself with the company’s vesting schedule, or how long you have to work for them before you have full ownership of employer contributions.

Incentives like this are a great way to build your retirement fund as some employers match up to 6% of an employee’s eligible contributions. A 401(k) is a common payroll deduction benefit that employees can choose to participate in.

IRAs

An IRA, which stands for Individual Retirement Account, is a retirement account in which contributions may be tax deductible. The most common types of IRAs are Roth and Traditional IRAs. Each has different rules for contributions, withdrawals, and tax benefits.

You can also contribute to a 401(k) and an IRA to maximize your contributions.

Time Off

Paid Time Off (PTO)

Another notable part of a complete benefits package is paid leave. While it’s common for companies to offer paid vacation, sick, holiday, and/or personal days, it’s helpful to note how these days accumulate, how many can be used at once, and if they roll over.

Family Leave

Family leave policies can differ depending on the employer and state. If an employer offers paid family leave, employees will typically have access to anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks of paid leave within one year of the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Extras

Lastly, additional perks to look for are tuition assistance or reimbursement, employee assistance programs, legal benefits, and employee discounts. Some employers even offer pet insurance, free parking, and other perks programs that offer discounts on gym memberships, cell phone plans, and more. These fringe benefits can help employees save on everyday purchases that add up to a significant amount of money over time.

Summary

Benefits packages have become a pivotal part of the employee hiring and retainment strategy. A robust benefits package can save you a lot of money and sometimes make up for salary shortcomings. There are many employee benefits to look at and evaluate when deciding to take a job or stay with a company. When assessing employee benefits and your next employment move, consider which benefits you and your family need most, and those that will help you plan for the future.

A+FCU Can Help You Understand Benefits & Plan For The Future

A+FCU has many options to help you plan for the future by using direct deposit and payroll deduction to automatically send money to your savings account. We have helpful tools to help you understand your savings and plan for big life events like retirement, buying a car, starting a family, and more. Contact us to learn how A+FCU can help you navigate your financial security.