Employee Benefits Compliance: The Essential Benefits Checklist
If you’re looking for ways to attract top talent and keep your employees satisfied while working for your company, offering employee benefits is a necessity for your business. In order to identify the types of benefits employees are looking for, we have an essential employee benefits compliance checklist for you.
Health Benefits
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), employers are required to cover certain health benefits under their insurance plans. These essential health benefits include:
- Ambulatory patient and emergency services
- Hospitalization, such as surgery and overnight stays
- Pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care
- Mental health and substance use disorder services, counseling and psychotherapy
- Prescription drugs
- Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices to help people with injuries, disabilities, or chronic conditions
- Laboratory services
- Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
- Pediatric services, including oral and vision
Plans must also offer dental coverage for children, but benefits for adults remain optional. State requirements may impact specific services, but comparing plans can help identify any deficiencies.
Financial Benefits
While most employees are stressed about their finances, some enterprising companies are taking financial wellness to the next level by offering financial benefits. Some examples include:
- Strategic bonuses based on anniversaries, referrals, or performance
- Extended holidays and paid time off
- Progressive business ownership shareholding
- Possibility to economize on supplies
- Corporate income sharing plans
As the focus shifts to financial wellness, benefits are a more effective way to keep employees satisfied and motivated. Employers that provide the right incentives are benefiting from productivity, efficiency and hard work.
Retirement Benefits
While some business owners think they can’t afford to fund a retirement plan, companies that do offer this benefit report increased employee retention and happier, more efficient workers. Some of the different ways companies offer retirement options include:
- Saving Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE)
- Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA)
- Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan
- KEOGH plan – for self-employed individuals
One of the main benefits that employees enjoy in regards to retirement plans is that savings are tax-free until funds are withdrawn. Note that If funds are withdrawn before retirement age, the amount is fully taxable and subject to a penalty.
Career Benefits
Career benefits don’t necessarily require an investment upfront, but they can help improve employee satisfaction and keep workers motivated. Some examples of career benefits include:
- Promotional opportunities
- Professional growth and development
- Self-realization opportunities
- Inclusion in business management
- Responsibility for future endeavors
- Practice with leadership skills
- Possibility of awards and recognition
With more and more employees expecting to grow with a company and further their careers, offering plans to get them to their individual goals can be beneficial to all parties involved. Taking the time to outline a positive career path can help to build relationships, improve morale, and get the most out of your workforce.
Childcare Benefits
The main purpose of childcare benefits is to help new parents return to the workforce by making the transition as easy as possible. Some examples of childcare benefits include:
- On-site daycare facilities, or priority placement at local daycares
- Special compensation for childcare costs
- Extra paid time off for parental leave
- Flexible work hours
- Allowing children in the workplace when necessary
Childcare benefits can reduce absences related to family problems, and help to avoid employee turnover. Parents that have childcare options and benefits are often less stressed than parents that don’t have essential benefits, which can positively impact productivity, efficiency, and the workload of other employees.
Cultural Environment
The modern workplace is made up of people from different backgrounds, race, age, ethnicity, religion or genders. Recognizing diversity in the workplace can create a better environment for all employees, and promote innovations, ideas and company growth.
Some of the ways that companies can offer benefits that encompass different cultures include:
- Devotion to ecological and social objectives
- Benefits compliance with employees morals and methods
- Acceptance of preferred work styles
- Opportunity to work in a desired location or culture
- Enhancing globalization
Employers must be seen to be celebrating their employees’ diversity to avoid workplace issues, like harassment, hostility or conflict. By creating written policies, providing sensitivity training, and communicating company standards, employees can feel more comfortable in their roles and enjoy their work environment.
Human Resource Planning with Paypro
With more than 27 years of operational experience, our team at Paypro has seen it all. We’re ready to set up a meeting, understand your business, and come up with custom integrations and automations that will help you adapt your business to fit your organizational goals. Our goal is to help you outline your employee benefits compliance, keep your employees satisfied, and make you more successful.
About The Author
Ingrid is the Content Marketing Manager at Paypro, managing both inbound and outbound marketing initiatives for the company. She has 15+ years’ of extensive marketing communications experience, leveraging brand awareness and strategic partnerships to increase sales revenue for a diverse group of B2B brands.