The last time you were looking for a job, did you also consider the benefits that were written below the roles and responsibilities section? We heard a big fat YES! Especially candidates with work experience would prefer companies that offer employee benefits. According to Glassdoor Employment Confidence Survey, 60% of people report that benefits and perks are a major factor in considering whether to accept a job offer. Hiring is a crucial step in any company of any size. However, if you are particular about choosing employees with adept skills and backgrounds, you will have to offer much more than a kickass package. Always draft your compensation and benefits strategy based on your competitors without overextending your budget. Keep an eye on what’s trending and what’s the pressing need to adjust your policy accordingly. Let's look at some commonly expected employee benefits.
1. PTO (Paid Time Off) Policies
The common PTO policy is 24 days a year for a 5-day working company. To attract employees, companies can offer a generous PTO policy of more than 24 days but are recommended not to go less. It is best to specify a number rather than giving unlimited PTOs as the former ensures better planning and allows stockpiling.
2. Group Health Insurance
Based on the employee size, you can choose an employee benefits insurance plan. You can decide how much insurance to cover and if you want to provide the benefit to just employees or their immediate family too. You also have to figure out co-pays, deductibles, and enabling employees to increase the insurance cover if they want to. It is recommended to give a single plan to all employees without options. The common coverage offered in India is three to five lakhs.
3. Mental Health Support
As an organization, be vocal about mental health and be supportive of employees. This can either be a separate benefit or be a part of comprehensive health insurance. You can also tie up with a platform like Pazcare that offers health and wellness programs for employees. We offer regular yoga/meditation sessions, mental health tips, and contacts for therapy or psychologists.
4. COVID-19 benefits
Companies are offering free vaccination drives or tying up with hospitals for getting employees slots to get the vaccination. You can also provide paid leaves to employees and COVID-19 insurance support for employees and their families who are affected by the virus.
5. Personal and career growth
This includes reimbursement for any skill development courses, attending any training, professional development. Employees would love a supportive work environment where there’s growth for their role. Organisations have to perpetually look for ways to upskill employees for themselves and the company.
6. Maternity and paternity holidays
26 weeks maternity and 15 days paternity holidays are the common policy in India. A few companies, to motivate women employees to come back to work after having a baby, provide creche facilities in the office.
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7. Equity
It is an easy way to preserve your top-flight employees and attract great profiles. Equity is also a means to compensate for the inability to provide a higher salary. The thumb rule is to give 1.5 to 2% equity share for someone at the executive level. However, it depends on the approach you come up with for your company.
8. Home-office care
Home-office/work-from-home allowances are a new development of optimum importance to remote employees. With COVID-19, many firms have successfully adapted to the work-from-home model. You can see this as an opportunity to provide allowances that can be used for ergonomic tables, chairs, required electronic devices, WiFi reimbursements, etc. For example, Hike, an instant messaging platform, gave allowances to employees out of Delhi NCR to set up their workstations at home. For employees in Delhi, they delivered tables and chairs. Be an employee-first organization and you will reap the benefits of it at all times. For more details, check out our blog on employee benefits in India to understand the different benefits companies can offer. Employee benefits help you attract the best talent as it shows you are invested in their overall growth and health.
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