As adults we spend most of our lives working. Whether it is in an office, a yard or a school, workers are looking for the best benefits they can get from their employers which can often enrich their lives whilst also helping staff out when they are experiencing more difficult times.
The list holds some popular benefits and also benefits which other companies are leading the way and innovating the way firms treat their staff and how they wish them to develop. So without further ado…..
Healthcare Options
Without good healthcare where would be? Nowhere right? Well most employers will now have partnerships with major health insurance providers and offer it staff well below the going rate. Having the best medical care available at a discounted rate is proving extremely popular, especially in larger, more corporate firms.
Of course the cost of health schemes can vary, depending on a number of factors like the average age of the group policy, general health and the number of employees that the company have. Healthcare options also tie in with wellness programmes whereby staff can have additional support for other health issues such as depression and anxiety which the UK is seeing more of as job pressures continue to grow.
Side Projects
This isn’t particularly popular option and is more of a fringe benefit. Companies like Google and Azavea are allowing staff the time to pursue interests which of course can serve the greater good of the companies. Google allows staff 20 per cent of their time to work on these side projects which means one day per week they are able to pursue their passion within their industry. Google has said that lots of their products were born out of this time.
Now this particular type of benefit may not be of interest to many people (or maybe it would?) but it certainly caught our imagination. What would you do with your time?
Holidays
Most companies now offer paid holidays, correct? But what about being paid to go on holiday? Continuing along the theme of fringe benefits here we have a staff benefit which surely would be extremely popular. Some companies, mainly in America, are now offering paid, paid holidays –that’s right some companies are now offering their employees sums of money of up to $7,500 to take a trip once a year.
The idea behind this is to “disconnect” from work for a week or two and to completely fall off the grid, so to speak. Employers will only give you the money should you go abroad, the reason behind this particular type of benefit is companies believe staff that experience more and more creative and are more developed, rounded people. Where would you go?
Final Salary Pension Scheme
A final salary pension scheme is where firms will pay a retirement income based on a percentage of what you ear for the rest of your life. Sounds good, right? These types of pension schemes are traditionally the best type of pension that you could get but unfortunately they are on the decline as too many employers say they are too expensive to keep open.
Many companies values have been wiped out on the stock market and this means that the value of the companies values have fallen i.e. less assets. If assets fall below the amount of liabilities then employers are then duty bound to prop up ailing final salary schemes to staff, meaning these can be very expensive to run, which is shame because if of their popularity.
Jenny Jones writes many articles on a range of topics for business health care and her work can be seen on many sites such as bmi4sme and also followhealth.