Matching the right person with the right position is not easy, especially when you know it is only the first step to keeping the valuable employee by your side.
It is common for employers to offer their employees something of value so that they are motivated to stay with the company through thick and thin. Besides salary and other perks of the job, like title and promises of promotion, there is an equally important offer that needs to be extended: employee benefits.
What Role do Benefits Play in Canadian Businesses?
The core function of employment benefits is to increase your employees’ sense of social and economic security and, in effect, influence their loyalty to the company.
In Canada, some basic benefits are obliged by law like vacation time, vacation pay, public holiday, meal and coffee breaks, pregnancy, personal emergency and family medical leaves, termination notice and termination pay.
There are also a lot of common benefits that are not enforced by law. Some of these benefits include health insurance (medical, prescription, dental and vision plans), retirement benefit plans, Employee Assistance Plans (EAP), Group Term Life & Accidental Death & Dismemberment, health and dependent care, Group Disability (STD/LTD), long term care insurance plans, legal assistance plans, transportation benefits and other employee benefits and discounts.
The most popular benefits package among employees in Canada is called “cafeteria-style.” It is a flexible package that allows individuals to choose the benefits which suits their personal needs best.
Every company can design its own benefits policy, tailored by its relationship with its employees. Some benefits are quite common among various companies (for example, health or dental insurance), but other companies offer benefits that are downright bizarre.
Taking Benefits to the Next Level
Certain companies offer employee benefits that seem rather unusual. For instance:
- Findr Interactive pays for an annual employee vacation in the Caribbean.
- Freeborn & Peters every year organizes a “luggage party” where each employee shows up for work with a packed bag. Then, four employees, who are picked at random, travel to Las Vegas, with all expenses covered by the company.
- DPR Construction does not mind if their employees work while having a glass of wine. The branch in Austin, Texas has a saloon. They even host Texas Hold’Em tournaments.
- Do you fancy a healthy lifestyle? The Institute for Integrative Nutrition offers massages and yoga classes to its employees, with a professional chef who prepares organic food for the entire staff every day.
- Oh, and did you know that Facebook and Apple make it possible for their female employees to freeze their eggs?
While most business owners cannot afford luxury trips for their staffs, they can come up with benefits that are sure to make their employees happy. It does not have to include caviar and champagne, but it should send a clear message that says, “We care about you.”
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