Employee benefits play a crucial role in motivating employees and giving them a reason for sticking around at any organization. This has put employers under considerable pressure, since not only are they competing with other businesses but also trying to match the employee benefits that they are offering. The type of employee benefits that you offer to the employees will play a major part in whether an employee will continue working with you or move on to greener pastures.
There are 2 main types of employee benefits, which should be provided by law to all employees. This is offered as compensation for the work that the employees do for the business and examples of these benefits are:
- Social security
- Worker’s compensation
- Health care insurance coverage
- Retirement benefits
That is why we will provide you with a brief introduction into the types of employee benefits that you can expect from employers by the law:
Social Security Taxes
Every employer has to pay for Social Security taxes for their employees, at the same rate that that was paid by the employees.
Unemployed Insurance
Organizations have to provide their employees with unemployment insurance taxes. The organization will also be required to register with the state’s workforce agency.
Disability Insurance
Each business has to provide their employees with partial wage replacement insurance coverage in the event that the employee is unable to come to work due to work-related injury or sickness.
Leave Benefits
Companies are not required by the law to offer their employees with leave benefits, but they are given to employees today in order to stay competitive. The leave benefit will also include the following:
- Personal leave
- Sick leave
- Holiday/vacation
- Funeral/bereavement leaves
Family and Medical Leave
According to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) all businesses who have employees have to provide 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leaves during any 12-month period for the following reasons:
- Child birth, placement for adoption, or foster care for a child
- Care of an immediate family member (spouse, child, parent) who has a serious health condition
- Care of the employee’s own serious health condition
The FMLA requires businesses to provide all group health benefits to be maintained while the employee is on leave. The FMLA has made it mandatory that all private employers who have got more than 50 employees should offer the maximum benefits to their employees.
Organizations are not required by law to provide their employees with these benefits, but in order to stay competitive in the market they have to offer such incentives to all employees. It is therefore, likely that an increasing number of organizations will be offering their employees with these benefits.
