DO YOUR EMPLOYEES KNOW THEY HAVE A HIDDEN PAYCHECK?

A signficant portion of an employer’s payroll budget is spent on providing benefits to their employees. According to the September 2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release, benefits accounted for 31.4% of total compensation to employees. Unfortunately, most employers aren’t effective at letting employees know that their actual compensation is far greater than just their paycheck.

Think about all of the costs associated with the benefits you provide:

  • Paid leave
  • Insurance (including health, dental, vision, etc.)
  • Retirement plan contributions
  • Legally required benefits (FICA, workers’ compensation, unemployment comp, etc.)

Employers are encouraged to let employees know at least annually what their total compensation package represents. EAF provides employers with a sample form showing what should be included in the communiqué. This form is in an Excel format which will automatically calculate the results as you input your numbers. Please contact Christine Crews ( or 407.260.6556) and we’ll be happy to send you this sample form.

While it can be a little time consuming to gather this information on an individual employee basis the benefits will far outweigh the time spent collecting the data. In an environment where employers are struggling to hang onto their top talent, this is a tool that can be leveraged to the company’s advantage.

But how do you know you’re competitive with respect to the benefits offered? EAF’s 2015-2016 National & Florida Policies & Benefits Surveys show that employers offer these common benefits:

  • Group health insurance is provided by most employers and those organizations contribute 75-80% to the cost of premiums;
  • Life insurance is offered by 93% of employers;
  • Sick days are provided by 75% of employers and 9 days is the average number of days granted;
  • Retirement benefits are provided by 90% of employers
  • Telecommuting options are provided by 24% of employers
  • Vacations are provided by the majority of employers and on average they provide 8 days of vacation after 1 year of service

A number of employers offer some very creative benefits to employees. They include:

  • Pet insurance
  • Student loan debt reimbursement
  • Paid time off to volunteer for charitable or civic organizations
  • Dry cleaning pick up/delivery
  • On-site gyms

Increases in state minimum wage rates coupled with new Fair Labor Standards Act regulations affecting the salaries pay our exempt employees makes it even more important to find value-added benefits at affordable costs. Some of those low-cost or no-cost benefits include flexible schedules, relaxed dress codes, “bring your dog to work” days, etc.

The types of benefits you provide to employees in large part depends on the culture of the organization, the demographic make-up of your employees, the types of benefits your competitors are providing and, of course, costs. A competitive benefits package is a key component to attracting and retaining a strong workforce.

Contributed by the Employers Association Forum, Inc. (EAF). EAF is a non-profit corporate membership-based association dedicated to serving the business and HR communities with world-class HR tools, hotlines & legal compliance, news & trends, surveys & economic data, benefits & insurance, risk management, training & consulting, and leadership & organizational development. Click here to learn more about EAF membership benefits