How many “work perks” do you offer your employees?
Work perks are often considered the fringe benefits that can go beyond employee health insurance and other traditional benefits. They are rapidly becoming popular with employees because they have a meaningful impact on their lives.
In 2018 survey of 600 small and midsize businesses, 68 percent said the work perks a company offers is just as important as traditional benefits.
Millennials and Generation Z workers are likely to favor work perks as well, and many employers have had to rethink employee benefits to attract and keep the best talent in the workforce.
The survey was conducted by HR software company Zenefits. In it, more than 70 percent of the people said they “strongly agree” or “somewhat agreed” that fringe benefits would be an important factor for them when they looked for future employment.
The fringe benefits, like commuter benefits, can be very beneficial to an employer. They may not cost as much as traditional benefits like health insurance. Companies that are savvy can use them to attract top talent without having to spend a significant amount of resources to administer them. If offered, they can make a smaller company’s benefits package competitive when compared to a larger company.
So what work perks do employees want? Here are 3 work perks gaining momentum with employees.
1 – Student loan reimbursement
College graduates are saddled with debt. The Class of 2017 graduated with an average student loan debt of more than $39,000. People between the ages of 20 and 30 years old have an average monthly student loan debt of $351.
With these figures in mind, employees look fondly on companies that have employer student loan repayment programs. Only 4 percent of companies offered one in 2017, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). However, it is expected to become a growing benefit in the years ahead.
2 – Wellness programs
The Zenefits survey said respondents identified wellness programs as the top work perk. SRHM says employers can create any number of programs to help employees. Those include:
- Stress reduction
- Weight loss
- Smoking cessation
- Health risk
- Health screenings
- Exercise programs, activities, reimbursements
- Nutrition education
3 – Commuter benefits
Since employees are already paying to get to work, it makes sense to offer them a way to save. Commuter benefits allow employees to set aside tax-free money in their paychecks to pay for their commuting expenses. Commuter benefits apply to mass transit, rideshares and qualified paid parking. Employees can save up to 40 percent of their commuting costs during the year.
Commuter benefits are good for an employer, too. Commuter benefit programs are not hard to manage when you use an established provider like Edenred Commuter Benefits. You only need one employee to get started. It will not take up much of your time, and there’s not much paperwork to fill out.
Employers get in on the savings. Employers can save up to 7.65 percent in payroll costs every year. If that sounds interesting, contact us so we can help you decide if commuter benefits is a good fit for your company.
See how easy it is to start a commuter program in your company, download our free guide:
