Benefits can make your company look more attractive to recruits program, not to mention increase the value of your compensation package. However, costs are always a factor. Read on to see the results of our Perks and Insurance Survey—and see how your practices stack up to what’s happening out there.
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Highlights of the 2015 Perks and Insurance Survey:
- The most common benefit offered by employers is health insurance, while the least offered option is concierge services.
- Telecommuting is offered as a perk by 37.5% of respondents.
- The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) caused 2015 insurance costs to increase for 54.5% of our survey participants.
- Among employers that offer tuition reimbursement, 30.7% consider it as important or very important to their recruiting and retention efforts.
Thanks to all 1,401 individuals who participated in the survey! Here are the detailed responses:
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Survey Participants
Organizations with up to 250 employees account for 62.1% of our survey participants and 20.6% have 251 to 1,000 employees. Another 17.2% work in organizations with more than 1,000 employees.
Privately held for-profit organizations are represented by 60.5% of survey participants, and privately held nonprofits account for 20.4%. The public sector makes up 19.2%. Industries include manufacturing (16.7%); health care and social assistance (13.7%); finance and insurance (9.2%); and professional, technical, and scientific services (9.6%). Educational services represent 5.8% of our survey participants, and retail trade accounts for 3.5%.
Our 1,401 survey participants include those in staff positions (15.4%), supervisors (3.9%), manager or director level (64.3%), and VP or above (16.4%).
2015 Perks and Insurance Survey
From health insurance to stock options to paid vacation, today’s workforce expects to receive perks. All employers, however, do not provide them. At 95.5%, health insurance is the number one perk provided by participants in this survey, followed by paid holidays (92.1%) and life insurance (87.9%). Long-term disability comes in fourth at 72.7%, and paid vacation is provided by 70%. Rounding out the top 10 benefits is short-term disability (69.4%), employee assistance programs (61.6%), paid sick days (61.1%), tuition reimbursement (48%), and paid-time-off (PTO) plans (44.8%).
At the other end of the spectrum, the least offered benefit is concierge service at 1.4%. The bottom five benefits also include on-site childcare (2.2%), job sharing (3.9%), childcare referral options (4.4%), and gradual retirement (4.6%).
Supplemental Insurance
Voluntary supplemental insurance plans offered to employees include dental insurance, topping the list at 90.2% of employers, and vision insurance, coming in second at 78.1%. Accident insurance is next at 60.1%. Lump-sum cancer or critical illness insurance is offered by 52.7%, and the least offered supplemental benefit is the Medicare supplement by 5.5% of the employers responding to our survey.
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Tuition Reimbursement
Tuition reimbursement is a benefit for 52.5% of survey participants, and 21.9% offer it to part-time employees as well. Of those that offer this benefit, 30.7% consider tuition reimbursement as important or very important to their recruiting and retention efforts.
Less than a year of employment is required for employees to be eligible at 40.5%, and at least 1 year is required for 51.3%. The maximum annual amount of tuition reimbursement is less than $1,000 for 15.6% of survey participants. It is up to $2,000 for 26.7% and as much as $3,000 for 11.8% of employers. The reimbursement level is above $3,000 for 45.8%.
Repayment of tuition reimbursement is never required by 26.9% of employers, even if the employee leaves the company. Repayment is required on a case-by-case basis for 14.6%. It depends on the timing of the departure for 56%.
Telecommuting
Telecommuting benefits are provided by 37.5% of survey participants with 44.2% of that group indicating they offer the benefit because it improves employee morale. Improved recruiting and retention is realized by 36.1%. Telecommuting reduces absenteeism for 25.5% and reduces infrastructure expenses for 17.3%. Higher employee productivity is a benefit of telecommuting for 43.6% of employers.
Formal telecommuting agreements are required by 29%. Those agreements cover performance criteria (63.3%), equipment requirements (62.8%), hours of work (54.4%), and checking in (53.3%). An at-will disclaimer is included by 35.6%, and environmental requirements are specified by 48.3%.
An allowance to cover employee expenses for setting up telecommuting at their home is provided by 14.6%, with 70.1% reimbursing telecommuting employees for monthly Internet connections, and 66.7% reimbursing for telephone expenses.
Of those that offer this benefit, 39.7% consider telecommuting to be important or very important to their recruiting and retention efforts. Some survey participants, however, have concerns regarding their telecommuting programs, including:
- Employee management (out of sight, out of mind), 44.4%
- Monitoring productivity (are they really working), 56.7%
- Effective two-way communication, 24.3%
- Scheduling meetings with telecommuters, 21.6%
- Inadequate technology, 8.6%
- Security risks (data breach during information transit), 20.5%
- Liability for employee accidents while working at home, 13.1%
- Increased costs to employer, 3.4%
- Morale issues of employees not eligible for telecommuting, 39.9%
Dress Codes
Dress codes are in place for 79.5% of survey participants, with 66.9% of them opting for business casual and “very relaxed” as the norm for 15.8%. The matter of dress is left up to departments for 27.7%, but it’s strictly suits for 6.2% (less than 1% in 2014). Of those who have them, their dress code is considered important or very important to recruiting and retention for 23.1%.
Their dress code is relaxed during the summer months for 32.7% of survey participants. Dress-down days are offered by 79.2% but only for employees with no customer contact for 12.2%. Friday casual is the norm for 43.7% but only on or near holidays for 15.3%. Dress-down day is a reward for performance or fundraising for 8.8%.
In tomorrow’s Advisor, more results of the Perks and Insurance Survey, plus we will introduce you to our research report, Recruiting Best Practices: Finding and Attracting Talent in 2015’s Challenging Business Climate.