How to attract and retain great employees with robust benefits

Employee benefits, insurance, and retirement planning are all parts of the financial planning process for both individuals and businesses.

For employers in any industry, it’s imperative to offer competitive and robust employee benefits packages in order to attract and retain great employees. Below, we answer a few frequently asked questions regarding employee benefits.

What are the most popular employee benefits?

A robust employee benefits plan typically includes a retirement plan, group life insurance, group medical insurance, group dental insurance, and group vision insurance. While these employee benefits are not required, they are essential in order to be competitive with most companies. After all, if a potential employee is weighing their job offers, a more appealing benefits package may be a deciding factor!

Employee benefits also include ancillary benefits, such as vacation time, bereavement time, sick pay time, and more. For instance, Human Resources Today forecasted that the most-desired employee benefits for 2020 would include perks like pet insurance and leave, paid leave, flexible scheduling, and financial wellness programs.

Byars|Wright has seen success with similar perks, such as our unlimited PTO program called FamilyFirst, flexible scheduling, and access to third-party financial planning resources.

What is a flexible benefits plan?

Flexible benefits plans are becoming increasingly popular. A flexible benefits plan allows employees to deduct certain eligible expenses on a pre-tax basis. This plan helps employees save on their income taxes through payroll deduction and insurance premiums.

Similarly, a flexible spending account, or FSA, allows employees to pay for out-of-pocket expenses with a debit card. This benefit helps employees save on out-of-pocket medical expenses and daycare expenses. Plus, employees are now able to roll over up to $500 to the next plan year if they overestimate their out-of-pocket expenses.

Byars|Wright has a flexible benefits plan and offers our employees a FSA. Those who enroll receive a debit card, also known as their “flex card”. This allows employees to set aside pre-tax money to be used for medical expenses.

For example, Byars|Wright employees decide how much money they would like to load on the card for the upcoming year and that amount is deducted, pre-tax, and loaded onto their card to be used for medical expenses and more. In addition to using this money to pay for co-pays, physical therapy, or prescription drugs, they have access to the FSA store online to buy other eligible health and wellness products. We’ve seen a great response from this program and deem it a huge success with our team!

What can we do about the rising cost of health insurance?

The rising cost of health insurance is a common pain point for employers. Fortunately, our team of Employee Benefits Consultants can assist you in combatting this issue. We aim to achieve your business goals and can do this by utilizing cost-containment strategies, creative programming, and more. We recommend reviewing these designs with one of our team to determine the best way to provide the best benefits to your employees.

Does my plan include Teledoc?

The coronavirus pandemic has caused the popularity of Teledoc and other telehealth services to increase. While employers and employees may not realize it, Teledoc is a part of most BCBS insurance plans. To support employees’ health and social distancing efforts, many employers are adding Teledoc services without a co-pay.

How can I retain great employees with a better benefits plan?

Having robust and competitive employees benefits is key when it comes to attracting, hiring, and retaining great people. Plus, most employers want to support their employees’ health, safety, and well-being as best they can.

The brokers at Byars|Wright are here to help you build an appealing benefits plan at an affordable price. We will sit down with you to determine your business goals, pain points, and what you’re trying to accomplish with your employee benefits plan.

Together, we are committed to offering policies and employee benefits that will take care of your family, employees, and their futures.

Learn more about employee benefits from Byars|Wright in Birmingham, AL

Byars|Wright, Inc., a member of the WRM Group, is an independent insurance agency in Alabama and major provider of commercial, personal, and employee benefits insurance, serving various industries and customers across the Southeast. Since 1946, the agency has expanded its scope of business and delivers a wide range of insurance products with quality coverage at competitive prices. Relationship-driven and customer-focused, ByarsWright celebrated 75 years of protecting relationships in 2021. Byars|Wright is designated a Best Practices Agency by the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America and was also named “Best Companies to Work For in Alabama” by Business Alabama in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. In 2020 and 2021, Byars|Wright won first place in their category as the number one Best Company To Work For in Alabama. Byars|Wright is Where Relationships Matter.