Companies’ best approach to lure and retain the best talents is by providing adequate employee benefits over the regular salary. While some services are mandatory by law and regulations. Additionally, voluntary benefits are what attracts top talents these days. A strategic approach helps understand the employee benefits challenges. So this in turn develops packages favouring employee care and support without cutting losses to the business.
Employee Benefits Challenges
Most businesses find it overwhelming and challenging to design excellent welfare and employee benefit program. So here are the 11 top employee benefits challenges to any organization.
1. Healthcare Packages and Specific Needs
It is not easy to align the healthcare packages with the specific need of the employees. Every employee has their own needs and wants. Hence it causes a lot of impact on the business. Too much coverage can cause unnecessary loss to the company. Too little employee healthcare is not beneficial to the employee. Hence this can be considered as an employee benefits challenges to any company.
2. Increase the Cost of Healthcare
The rising healthcare costs are alarming high. Moreover, services like medical treatment, medications, and check-ups have become quite expensive. Constant upgrading of the plans aligned with the increased expense to support the employees and their family comes with higher costs. Long-term treatment can severely impact the financial aspect of the business.
3. Mental Health Care and Therapy
Mental health and wellness have become an integral part of working together. Today, taking care of employees is not limited to physical health but even mental wellness to ensure better productivity and work satisfaction. The relevance of the mental health of employees and providing affordable therapy has helped companies perform better as a team.
4. Integrated HR Administration System
HR handles a lot of administration and resource work, and systematic tools are essential for streamlined project management. The backend integration of all the tools in a single place improves work efficiency and reduces stress. Shifting to a single platform for managing the resource, administration, employee benefits, payroll, and capital management is expensive but productive.
5. Maintaining ACA Compliance
The Affordable Care Act Compliance is challenging for many businesses, and hence thorough knowledge about the same is essential. So to stick to compliance, strategic planning should be done by the company’s HR and finance team for employee care benefits.
6. Supporting Higher Education and Skill Upgrades
A lot of companies offer sponsored higher education and skill courses for the employees. It helps in employee retention, but for small companies, this becomes expensive. So most companies tie the employee with the contract before helping with higher education assistance.
7. Educating and Awareness of Existing Benefits
Many employees are not aware of the benefits their workplace offers and fail to avail themselves the same. Moreover, unused services due to lack of awareness lead to unnecessary expenses by the company. However, educating the workplace employees about the available benefits is the responsibility of the company and its managers.
8. Paid Vacations for Employees
Some of the largest corporations and companies offer employees paid vacations for a better retention rate. Thus a certain amount of sum is allocated every year. So at times, managing the expenses for the paid holidays becomes difficult and cuts some losses.
9. Management of FMLA and Unemployment Benefits
FMLA is crucial as an employee has unavoidable personal and family obligations. The lack of clear understanding and procedure for the FMLA creates a rift between the employer and the employee. Besides having a proper leave application process prevents unnecessary hassle. Unemployment benefits are crucial for untimely laying off the employees to assist them financially for a month or two.
10. New Age Dental and Cosmetic Plans
It is incredibly crucial to understand employee healthcare needs do not limit to traditional medical care. Innovative and new-age cosmetic treatment and dental plans are expensive. Additionally upgrading from outdated plans to newer ones that include surgical procedures is expensive. However, access to such plans maximizes employee support.
11. Retirement Benefit Plan
As a company, it is critical to consider the retirement benefits for the employee. It includes retirement and pension plans to assist the employee in posting their retirement. Moreover, a properly planned and strategic approach is required to ensure employees are secured without heavy losses to the business financially.
Employee Benefits Challenges Conclusion
It is often challenging to create a robust employee benefits package. There are many factors to consider in this position. Accordingly, these packages must be designed to provide the necessary benefit and support. The employee should be comfortable without misbalancing the company’s financial stability.
