Employee Benefits: Why Your People are the

Backbone of Your Business.

Your people are the crucial system underpinning your organization’s ability to grow and thrive.
So how crucial are employee benefits to achieving your company’s goals and objectives? They
are extremely important.

What are employee benefits?

We often get asked – what are employee benefits? Employee benefits, also known as perks or
fringe benefits, are provided to employees over and above salaries and wages. These employee
benefit packages may include overtime, medical insurance, vacation, profit sharing and
retirement benefits, to name just a few.

Why are employee benefits important?

Offering benefits to your employees is important because it shows them you are invested in not
only their overall health, but their future. A solid employee benefits package can help to attract
and retain talent. Benefits can help you differentiate your business from competitors.

Employee benefits can improve your company’s bottom line by engaging employees to
participate in wellbeing programs, such as Virgin Pulse. Healthier employees mean reduced
healthcare costs for your organization. Employees with fewer health risks experience fewer sick
days, fewer trips to the doctor, and spend more time working in your organization, bringing their
best selves to work every day.

Employee Benefits Plans

Depending on the type of organization and the job, employee benefits may be quite different. For
example, government employee benefit packages for full-time employees look very different
from the packages offered to part-time employees. Employee benefits packages are typically
discussed during the final interview or at the time an offer is extended. The right benefits
package can give you a distinct advantage in competitive recruiting situations.
Each state in the USA is different; however, there are some basic benefit laws all employers
must follow. Required benefits include:

 Provide employees time off to vote, serve on a jury and perform military service
 Comply with all workers’ compensation requirements
 Pay state and federal unemployment taxes
 Contribute to state short-term disability programs in states where such programs exist
 Comply with the Federal Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)

Employers are not required to provide:

 Retirement plans
 Health plans (except in Hawaii)
 Dental or vision plans
 Life insurance plans
 Paid vacations, holidays or sick leave

How Virgin Pulse optimizes your HR investments

In business, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to employee benefit initiatives and
programs. Every organization and individual’s needs are different. By tailoring programs to
engage employee interests and increasing awareness to drive program usage, organizations
realize improved outcomes and increased business performance.
Virgin Pulse’s modern, integrated platform creates a streamlined employee experience to
maximize your HR investments and drive core business results. Learn more.

How to find out about Employee Benefits Solutions?

We recommend talking with your employee benefits advisor or specialist to learn more about the
benefits packages and solutions your business is committed to providing. Some companies will
have an internal employee benefits information system (also known as a benefits portal) which
will contain the services being offered.

https://www.virginpulse.com/glossary/employee-benefits/