Employee Benefits Alternatives

Employee Benefits Alternatives– Organizations consider employee satisfaction and retention as the main concern. One way an organization can retain key employees is by offering creative alternatives to standard benefits that better meet employees’ professional and personal needs. Over the years, companies have increased the level of support that they give their employees. In the past, employees were considered lucky if they had health insurance and retirement plans. But now organizations extend various kinds of benefits to their employees. Nowadays employees can expect added health benefits that can include dental, optical and employee-assistance programs, as well as a series of retirement and pension programs that give a multitude of options for adapting the plan to meet an employee’s specific needs. The idea of alternative benefits has also expanded to include various kinds of perks that vary from flexible scheduling to telecommuting options. Some of the alternative benefits which are provided to employees across organizations are as follows:

• Educational assistance and management training.
• Paid time off other than vacations and sick leaves.
• Health club memberships.
• Leave bank/leave donation program.
• Attendance incentives.
• Supplemental retirement plans.
• Various health benefit options.
• Pension systems.
• Employee credit unions.
• External recreational activities.

In recent years, Flex Scheduling has become a popular alternative benefit for employees. Organizations use Flex Scheduling in four different ways: 

• Flex Time: In this, employees are given control to fix their daily work schedule.
• Compressed Job Weeks: Under this, employees work longer hours but for fewer days.
• Job Sharing: Under this system, two part-time employees share the same position.
• Flex Place: In this, employees work from home or a place near to home.

Some other innovative alternative benefits that are provided by organizations are:

• Educational assistance and tuition reimbursement
• Sleep breaks
• Onsite daycare
• Onsite fitness center 
• Partial reimbursement for buying a hybrid vehicle
• Fully paid luxury retreats for all employees

Become Vskills Certified Compensation and Benefits Manager. Learn the module “Employee Benefits Alternatives”. Try the free practice test!

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