News & Tips • The Top 10 Commonly Offered Employee Benefits

By law, employers are required to provide social security taxes, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, medical insurance, and other programs dependent on the size of the company. These statistics are based on the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey and a study conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here are the top ten most common employee benefits:

Health insurance benefits

This is often the most important thing an employer can offer a full time employee from the eyes of the negotiation table. The typical plan covers around 82% of the cost for individual coverage and 70% of civilian companies offered medical insurance to employees in 2016.

Life Insurance

Many of these plans offer the amount of the employee’s salary at no charge to the employee. 59% of civilian companies offered life insurance policies in 2016.

Dental Insurance

Dental insurance is less common than health and life insurance; however, it is often much cheaper for employers and employees alike. Commonly, dental plans have an 80/20 percent split, employer and employee.

Retirement Accounts

401(k)s and 403(b)s are programs that forprofits and nonprofits can offer respectively. Many employers match their employee contributions, but these can vary. One common practice is to match 50% of an employee’s contributions up to 6% (in that case contributing 3% to the Employee’s 6%).

FSAs and HSAs

While Health Savings Accounts are only accompanied by High Deductible Healthcare Plans and Flexible Spending Accounts do not have rollover clauses for their funds, they otherwise work similarly to each other. Each program allows employees to put away money for a medical emergency into an earmarked, and sometimes tax advantaged, savings account.

Paid Vacation and Sick Time

Nearly every company in America provides these benefits to their workers, with 10 business days of paid time off (PTO) being standard. It is up to the employer whether each employee receives sick pay separate from vacation pay. Once an employee has been with the organization for an extended period of time, it is common to allow additional paid time off to accrue.

Paid Holidays

Government employees enjoy several national holidays off such as MLK day and President’s day while private sector employers have more discretion to require their work force to work. Offering more federal and state holidays off can be a great incentive.

Paid Medical Leave

Companies of 50+ full time employees must offer medical leave by law. Generally,
employers pay for time off to care for an ailing family member, to recover from surgery, or for maternity leave. These periods are generally paid time off for 6-12 weeks but the length and payment of such programs are at the discretion of the employer. The FMLA (requiring medical leave) mandates that a person’s job must be kept open for at least 12 weeks.

Flexible Schedules

The traditional 9-5 may not work for some people. Allowing your employes to adjust their calendars to their lifestyle may make them more productive in the long run and is free to the employer.

Education Assistance

Large companies such as Home Depot have offered tuition assistance to employees in college. These benefits can be advantageous come tax season and provide meaningful investment in the lives of the employees on behalf of the employer. Many of these benefits programs have clauses which require the employee to work for the employer for a given period after they get their degree.

And there you have it! These common benefits will equip you with a competitive benefits package to offer your employers. Of course, it may be worth consulting a benefits broker to figure out exactly what is right for your business!

Rook, David. Using Behavioral Economics in Employee Benefits and Workplace Wellness. https://www.griffinbenefits.com/blog/using-behavioral-economics-in-employee-benefits. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022.

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