Small Business Employee Benefits Plans

Are Dental And Vision Plans Affordable As Employee Benefits

Another reason why dental and vision insurance plans remain popular may be their low cost. Health insurance plans can often cost hundreds of dollars per person in premiums every month, but dental and vision plans starting at as little as $12 a month per individual on eHealth.

Regardless of the cost of small business dental and vision plans, your company can limit your actual costs in several ways:

• Your small business can usually deduct the cost of health care-related expenses for employees from your federal business taxes.
• As a small business owner, you can ask your employees to pay a share of their monthly premiums.
• These employee benefits may contribute to improving overall motivation and morale.

While offering additional benefits means contributing a greater amount to each workers monthly vision and dental premium, your small business may be able to better attract and keep quality employees through offering more comprehensive coverage.

What Are The Eligible Hsa Expenses

Note: .

If your medical expense is not listed, send us a message or call: 1-888-668-8384.

Some of the most frequently claimed eligible expenses include laser eye surgery, dental treatment, physiotherapy, massages, eyeglasses, and prescription drugs. In most cases, an expense will qualify as long as it is related to a personal medical requirement.

NOTE: All questions and answers below are pertaining to the HSA GROUP plan only.

The Best Benefits Package For Small Businesses

It’s a nasty choice: Offer juicy benefits and forgo profits, or cut back on bennies and risk losing your best employees.

Hitting upon the right formula is growing ever more critical as health care costs continue to escalate and the economy continues to stall. Worse, most entrepreneurs don’t have the time or the expertise to untangle this messy calculation.

We beseeched experts in the employee benefits field, including those at Principal Financial Group , to craft a well-balanced basket of benefits that is neither too lavish nor too Spartan for most small-business owners.

The general consensus: To attract talent and compete effectively, entrepreneurs should offer health insurance, some life and disability insurance and probably a retirement savings plan. For specialty benefits–like vision and dental coverage–take time to understand what your current employees want and whether they’ll be willing to chip in.

“We are living in an era of personal responsibility,” says Amy Friedrich, vice president of voluntary benefits at Principal Financial Group. “Employees know that they’ll have to pay for some of what they’re getting. You want to give them options, but these should be meaningful to them, and you don’t know if you don’t ask.”

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What Would Be An Ideal Set Up For My Company And Employees

To summarize: there is no ideal set up. You are in control of the budget and can choose to increase or decrease the spending limit for your employees. We can offer advice based on your performance after 1 year. Employers often ask “how much should I budget for my employee benefits?”

These funds are 100% tax free, meaning employees can use them on eligible expenses up to their spending limits. This provides cost control for the employer and choice for employees. In most cases, the spending limit is never completely used. Remaining funds will be returned to the employer or can be left for next years budget.

Group Insurance & Employee Benefits Enjoyed By 30000 Canadian Businesses

The Chambers of Commerce Group Insurance Plan has been protecting Canadian firms for over 40 years. More than 30,000 small to midsize businesses choose the Chambers Plan to protect their employees with comprehensive group benefits, including Health and Dental insurance, making it Canadas #1 employee benefits plan for small business.

The Chambers Plan is the simple, stable, smart choice for business combining accessibility, flexibility and the stability of pooled benefits. Firms choose the Chambers Plan year after year because it offers unsurpassed value and customer service.The Chambers Plan its for your benefit.

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Group Term Life Insurance

Group term life insurance is another popular benefit offered by more and more small businesses.

Typical GTL plans offer employees insurance in either a set amount or an amount based on their salary level .

GTL benefits are tax-free up to $50,000 of coverage . If you provide employees with more than that amount of coverage under a qualifying GTL policy, your employees must pay taxes on the amount of the premium attributable to insurance coverage in excess of $50,000. However, the amount of additional income recognized by employees as a result of employer-provided GTL coverage in excess of $50,000 is typically very small . Therefore, the additional taxable income should not, by itself, be a disincentive for providing higher amounts of GTL coverage for your employees if youre so inclined.

Quick Tips To Follow When Developing Your Employee Benefits Program

When developing your benefits package, it is important to consider how employees look at benefits. Equally important is how other employers see benefits. Take a look at our breakdown below:

There can be a divide between what employees and employers think about benefits. As you work to narrow this gap in your workplace, keep these three guiding principles in mind:

• Start slow there is no going back. Once you offer new benefits, taking them away is not an enjoyable endeavor. Employees do not like having access to a benefit one minute and it vanishing, regardless of the reason, the next.
• Assess the actual cost of each benefit. Many employers will cling to an idea for a new benefit and expose employees to it without first knowing the true costs of the benefit. That is, how much will this benefit cost the company if all eligible employees sign up? Will there be administrative upkeep for the benefit?
• Dont just look at what others are doing. Although this is a wise action to take, do not let this be your only vetting method. Ensure that your benefits are supported by your team so that they are serving your employees unique needs and desires in the best way possible.

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Going Beyond For Small To Mid

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Paying A Greater Share

Another strategy I like to recommend to my clients is to consider paying a greater share of employees health insurance even increasing their family coverage contribution instead of just giving employees a raise. As an accountant, I like that there are significant tax savings to be realized because health-care premiums are usually nontaxable to employees . Employers wont have to pay federal and state payroll tax on health-care contributions as they would if just giving a salary increase. In the end, the employee is still seeing a higher net paycheck and the business owner is saving money.

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Be Proud Of The Benefits You Offer

Promote employee healthOffering employees access to health care resources when needed, means less sick days and fewer absences

Stand out to employeesShow your current employees and your future recruits that you care about their wellbeing and success.

Make a positive impact Employee health and happiness directly impacts the prosperity of your business.

Mental health resourcesAccess to essential support, either virtual or in-person.

What Is My Spending Limit

The spending limit is determined by the employer, with a maximum of $15,000 and minimum of $500 per employee. The spending limits are based on classifications. Each classification is assigned their own spending limit. Although there are no specific rules in place, spending limits between classifications should be reasonable. This ensures fairness between the employer and employees. It is suggested to maintain a maximum ratio of 10:1 between the employer and employees.

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What Is A Health Spending Account

A Health Spending Account is a way toprovide health and dental benefits to your employees. It is a tax tool that acts as an alternative to traditional health insurance. It allows the employer to provide health benefits to its employees using non-taxable / tax-free dollars.

Note: This tax plan is for incorporated business owners.

How Does An Hsa Compare To Traditional Insurance

• No monthly premiums
• No price increases on renewal
• Wide coverage with few restrictions
• No complex or hidden policies simply pay for your medical expenses and get reimbursed
• Customize your own plan – create employee classifications and limits
• Guaranteed cost savings

Insurance carriers usually offer both HSAs and insurance but only advertise insurance solely because it makes much higher profit. Thats why you only see insurance on TV and radio . It is estimated that for every $1.00 that goes to the insurer in the form of a premium, deductible or copay, the employee only receives $0.60 in value back. That means $0.40 of every $1.00 is spent on just administering and marketing the traditional insurance plan.

8. Why should a small business choose an HSA?

Traditional insurance plans typically come with one base price and arent budget friendly for small business owners. At the same time, they dont provide your trusted employees with much lenience in terms of coverage. Anybody who has gotten a quote from an insurance provider understands the complex terms and conditions. With an HSA, you can create different spending limits based on your own employee classifications. You are in charge of the plan, every step of the way, from customization to monthly payments.

Note: In the below sections, I will talk more about using the Olympia HSA plan.

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Why Can’t I Just Bill My Employees Directly For Their Health And Dental Bill/expense

If you reimburse employees directly, then they pay income tax on all your reimbursements. Through Olympia, we can turn reimbursements into a non-taxable benefit for your employees. As a professional administrator, we work with the CRA to maintain integrity within each individual health and dental plan. We make sure claims run smoothly and employees are reimbursed in a timely manner .

How Small And Medium

CEO, Sodexo Engage. Passionate about elevating the employee experience at work and beyond through benefits, rewards and recognition.

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From overt quitting to quiet quitting, many employees these days are saying enough to suboptimal working conditions and seeking greener pastures.

When you dive into the statistics, their frustration is understandable. According to a 2022 Deloitte worldwide survey on 14,808 Gen Zs and 8,412 millennials across 46 countries, 46% of Gen Z respondents and 47% of Millennial respondents stated that they live paycheck to paycheck and worry they wont be able to cover their expenses.

Additionally, citing data from the United Kingdoms Office for National Statistics, The Conversation reported in March 2022 that in the country, resignations rose sharply from the end of 2020 and significantly exceeded their pre-pandemic levels in the final quarter of 2021. The rise in resignations, the outlet continued, was driven overwhelmingly by workers resigning to move sideways into new jobs in the same occupation. And, in 2021, workers moving to new employers saw higher gains than those that did not move. Whats more, according to a May 2022 survey by PwC UK, which covered 52,195 workers across 44 countries, including more than 2,000 in the UK, almost one in five UK workers stated that they are very or extremely likely to switch to a new employer within the next 12 months.

1. Enhanced Career Opportunities

4. More Recognition

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More Attractive Retirement Plan Options Are Now Available

A pooled employer plan is a new retirement savings alternative. They were created to enable retirement plans to become more cost-effective and supportive for small businesses and workers. For specific business owners, a P.E.P. could be the perfect choice in helping them and their workforce attain retirement security and meet their business needs.

P.E.P. has a new model to enable smaller employers to reach economies of executive scale. It does that by limiting several of the hurdles businesses typically experience when they want to offer a plan, such as limiting fiduciary liability, offering 3 or 3 investment advisory services, and offloading many of the time-consuming administrative tasks by including a 3 administrative fiduciary. Some P.E.P. providers even offer 360 integration with major payroll platforms, which eliminates the need to manually upload payment information. Also, it gives small businesses access to benefits of scale while making it easier for them to join or offer a retirement plan.

Importance Of Employee Benefits

Benefits are a vital strategic tool that small businesses cant afford to ignore, particularly as their operation expands and they try to compete for top talent. Many workers today are looking for flexible rewards and if an employer doesnt offer options that meets their needs, they run the risk of them leaving for a company that does. In addition to recruitment and retention, competitive benefits packages can help improve employee productivity, engagement and financial security, as well as the public image of the business.

Yet, simply offering great benefits isnt enough for businesses to reap the advantages. Employers have to make sure their workforce understands what services are available and how to use them. Only through consistent communication and support can they help employees make the most of their benefits plans. Short messages that highlight key action items and use more visuals than text tend to be most effective.

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Benefits Can Make The Difference

In todays business world, candidates choose employers who provide them with the most security rather than the highest salary. It doesnt matter whether youre a small business or a giant corporation, the companies who take their employees health and well-being into account are the most successful.

When it comes to employee benefits, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, health insurance, and disability insurance are mandated. But choosing the correct optional benefits is what places you in a class of your own. With benefits such as PTO, dental and vision, and strong retirement benefits, youll enjoy a world-class reputation no matter your size. Discover how you can take your business to the next level with employee benefits by checking out what CulverServices has to offer.

Retirement Plan Options For Small Businesses

While providing retirement plans to employees has its benefits, it also requires serious planning. Employers may need to consider the size of their workforce, their type of work, an employees years until retirement and whether to offer a company match. With those key points in mind, small businesses have three common plan options1 available to them:

• Simplified employee pension plan Employer contribution limits are high, but you can deduct your payments as a business expense.

The Department of Labors Employee Benefits Security Administration and the IRS provide a list of benefits and eligibilities that can help employers make an informed choice or they can speak with a small business banker or financial advisor.

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How To Set Up An Employee Benefits Program In 6 Steps

REVIEWED BY:Charlette Beasley

Charlette has over 10 years of experience in accounting and finance and 2 years of partnering with HR leaders on freelance projects. She uses this extensive experience to answer your questions about payroll.

Jennifer Hartman is an HR Specialist and staff writer for Fit Small Business, with over 15 years of experience in accounting, payroll, and human resources.

This article is part of a larger series on Employee Benefits.

As your employee base begins to grow, a natural next move is to offer benefits outside of traditional compensation. From an employees perspective, benefits are a part of the total compensation package they consider when taking a position. To attract and retain top talent within your industry, you will need to develop a robust and dynamic employee benefits program. You do not have to spend a fortuneyou only need to make thoughtful, strategic-minded decisions.

For most small businesses, trying to piece together the confusing selection of benefits programs into one package can be daunting. You can make the process much easier with an all-in-one HR, benefits, and payroll platform like Zenefits. Get started today with a free 14-day trial.

Looking for the types of benefits to include in your package? Check out our guide on employee benefits.

When designing your benefits program, follow these six steps and apply them to whatever decision-making paradigm you use:

Why Offering Competitive Benefits Is Good For Employers

You know that attractive benefits packages help employees, but you should also understand the advantages for employers. Here are a few reasons you should offer a competitive benefits package:

• It attracts top talent. The best employees in your field know that they are in demand, and they have choices for where to work. An appealing employee benefits package can help attract and retain these employees.
• It keeps employees healthy. Without health insurance, the flexibility to work from home or ample time off, employees may experience burnout. That hurts your bottom line in the long run, as employees are less productive when theyre overworked than when they are well rested.
• Its good for public relations: More customers want to conduct business with companies that have strong values, including good treatment of employees.

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