The fringe benefits a company offers is a big factor in whether or not a new employee chooses to work at your company or whether current employees will remain there. In 2018, 40 percent of employees reported that they would leave their current job for another offering more benefits, with 60 percent agreeing they would even accept a pay cut in exchange for more benefits. Make sure your company is providing the benefits that your employees are looking for by reading through this list of our favorite fringe benefits that are gaining traction in 2019.
Pet Parents
It’s no surprise that pets are extremely popular among people, but what is surprising is that most companies don’t offer any kind of benefits for pet owners. When someone has a child, they’re usually given at least six months of maternity leave. Some companies even go above and beyond this by offering their employees up to one year of maternity or even paternity leave.
What would be nice to see is more companies offering similar, although obviously less lengthy, time off when someone gets a new pet. Offering PETernity (or PAWternity) leave of one week would be a great benefit for someone has just gotten a new furry friend and wants some time to acclimate them to their new home. Even something as simple as offering the opportunity to bring their new dog or cat to the office with them could be a great benefit to your employees.
Volunteer Time
People like to know that they’re making a difference in the world, but finding the time to do that can be hard sometimes when work takes up so much of their life. That’s why some companies like Salesforce, are now offering their employees paid time off to go volunteer. By allowing, and even encouraging your employees to take two or three paid days off a year to go volunteer, you can really raise the office morale while helping numerous people in need at the same time.
If your company is in a situation where time is more valuable than money, you could instead introduce a benefit where each employee is allotted $500-1000 a year to donate to a charity of their choosing. After all, employees who are interested in helping other people are the type of people you should want to have working for you.
Furthering Education
Something fantastic that KFC and other companies have now begun doing is offering their employees benefits to encourage them to further their education. This can come in many forms, whether it’s providing discounts to take certain post-secondary courses or adding some additional money to each paycheck to be used to pay off student loan debts. As long as it’s encouraging education among your employees, then it’s benefiting both them and your company.
Find out the best ways to communicate and educate your employees on taking advantage of your benefits programs:
