Why are employee benefits important? A robust employee benefits package is a crucial part of retaining employees and maintaining employee satisfaction and overall job satisfaction. Some employees or potential hires are even willing to forgo additional compensation for a better, more comprehensive benefits package!
In addition to base salaries, many employers offer benefit plans (sometimes called “fringe benefits”) to their full-time employees. An online survey conducted by the Alabama Department of Labor found that 81% of all companies offer medical insurance to full-time employees.
Employee benefits include dental, vision, and health insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, retirement benefits and retirement plans, mental healthcare and wellness programs, and even profit sharing. Some of these group insurance options may require employees to opt-in to pay for some or all of the cost; these are known as voluntary benefits. Whatever they happen to include, employee benefits are typically discussed during interviews or onboarding and should be clearly outlined in your company’s employee handbook.
We know that your employees are important to you. Therefore, taking care of them and providing competitive health benefits is a top priority. Our agency offers the solutions you need to take care of your employees. We have a team of expert consultants ready to help you!
Some employee benefit plans also include a flexible spending account. A flexible spending account (or FSA) is an employer-sponsored healthcare benefit that allows employees to set aside money to pay for their healthcare needs. Approximately 25% of Alabama employers offer flexible spending accounts for full-time employees.
A flexible benefits plan allows employees to deduct certain eligible expenses on a pre-tax basis. This helps them save on their income taxes through payroll deductions and insurance premiums. An FSA also allows employees to pay for out-of-pocket expenses with a designated “flex” debit card. This helps them save on out-of-pocket medical expenses. For example, employees decide how much money they would like to load on the card for the upcoming year and that amount is deducted, pre-tax, and loaded onto their card to be used for co-pays, physical therapy, prescription drugs, or other eligible health and wellness products. Plus, employees are now able to roll over up to $500 to the next plan year if they’ve overestimated their out-of-pocket expenses.
Whether you’re a large corporation looking to tweak existing employee insurance benefits or a small business owner offering benefits for the first time, we can help you find the perfect fit. We assess eligible expenses and factor employee benefit plans into total compensation costs so your business budget stays on track and you avoid indirect costs and surprises.
To explore benefit plans and find the right benefits package for your business, contact the Byars|Wright benefit administration team today!
In Alabama, there is no federal or state law requiring employers to pay out an employee’s accrued vacation time, sick leave time, or other paid time off (PTO) when employment is terminated. Additionally, companies with more than 50 employees must offer health insurance benefits of some kind. There is no state law requiring smaller employers (those with fewer than 50 employees) to offer group healthcare insurance to their employees, but most do anyway. However, if and when health insurance is offered, Alabama’s insurance laws require the policies to cover certain mandated benefits.
To learn more about employee benefit changes your business should consider heading into the new year, check out this blog from one of our EB Agents, CJ Jordan or connect with another employee benefits specialist at one of our six Alabama locations.
Put simply, employees want to feel seen and heard when it comes to what benefits are important to them. If your organization can rise to this challenge, it will build trust and deepen the working relationship.
For guidance creating the perfect employee benefit package, turn to Byars|Wright — Alabama insurance experts since 1946.
At the heart of every thriving business is a team that is well-taken care of. Take a look at what we’ll focus on to serve you, your business, and your employees.
Let us help your business and your employees succeed!
The employee onboarding process is crucial for retaining employees after the first 90 days. During the first three months at a job, about 1 in 3 workers would leave it without having another job lined up, according to recruiting firm Jobvite. However, an effective onboarding...
HR Compliance Calendar 2023 A HR compliance calendar is a valuable tool to help your business stay on track with key employment-related deadlines throughout the year. HR compliance is a complex area with many moving parts. Keeping track of HR deadlines during 2023 can help...
The end of the year is usually an extremely busy time for HR professionals. There’s a lot they must do in a relatively short time period to close out the year and prepare for the upcoming one. A smooth and effective year-end process can help...
Byars|Wright Insurance, a locally-owned independent insurance agency celebrating its 75-year-anniversary in 2021, recently announced the launch of their new Employee Benefits Department following the acquisition of Decatur-based Business to Business Solutions’ (B2B) employee benefits assets. “Mergers and acquisitions are key components of our ongoing...
