Better employee benefits without a bigger budget
Five changes that improve what staff experience without increasing what the business spends.
By Warren Tisdale, Cedar Landing Benefits
Small employers often assume better benefits mean a bigger budget. Sometimes they do. But several of the changes staff notice most are cost-neutral, and one or two save money.
These are the five we suggest most often.
Three that cost nothing
Explain the plan properly. Most employees cannot describe their own deductible, which means the money the business already spends buys less goodwill than it should. One well-run meeting a year changes that.
Second, add dental and vision as voluntary cover. The employer contributes nothing; staff get group pricing they cannot buy alone. Third, publish the free services the plan already includes — telehealth, employee assistance, second opinions. Most go unused because nobody mentions them.
Two that redistribute rather than increase
Change the contribution structure. Contributing more to employee-only cover and less to family tiers, or vice versa, changes who can afford to enrol without changing the total. Which direction helps depends entirely on your census.
And consider a higher deductible with the business funding part of it directly. The premium saving often exceeds what the funding costs, and staff see a benefit rather than a cut.
An estimate for planning, not a quote. Medicare and the Marketplace set your real figures.
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