Employee Benefits Trends for 2023

In 2022, employers made changes to their health benefits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two of the more common responses were to increase employer contributions to health insurance and add more telemedicine options to benefits packages. At the beginning of the year, the quality of an employer’s health plan was important to prospective and current employees.

As people started returning to the office, a trend that increased last year, flexibility became important to employees. Workplace trends like quiet quitting have required companies to evaluate wellness benefits. As companies began to discuss a return to the workplace, the desire for hybrid schedules and remote work were top-of-mind for many employees.

Overview of 2023 Workplace Trends

Well-being and flexibility continue to remain important employee work perks that help companies attract and retain talent. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, health benefits remain the most likely perk employees are likely to rank as very or extremely important. Leave benefits tie for second, along with retirement savings. Below you can find useful information about employee benefits trends for 2023 along with expert advice.

Cutting-edge Benefits to Offer Your Employees

One cutting-edge workplace trend is the adoption of more flexibility in where employees work. Employees are seeking out remote and hybrid work schedules where they do not need to commute to an office daily. Many employees see this as a win-win: they do not spend time, money, and energy commuting to work and can therefore focus on doing a better job.

 
Companies, on the other hand, fear the loss of oversight and productivity when employees do not spend time together. The hybrid work schedule can work well for some companies. This is where employees are expected to be in the office a certain number of times a week or on specific days while they can work from home the remainder of the week. Another idea is to have meeting black-out times. This is when employees are free to focus on their work without getting called into a meeting.

Healthcare benefits trends and health plans

Health plans have seen an increase in telemedicine offerings, including increased options for mental health resources made available to employees. In some cases, there are networks directly linked to the health insurance plan. In other cases, employees can use their FSA/HSA dollars towards online therapy platforms. 

Outside mental health resources, an increasing number of healthcare service providers offer online meetings to help people address their medical issues. This is beneficial for employees who don’t need to take time off work to travel to and from a doctor’s office.

Voluntary benefits

Voluntary benefits are benefits that employees can opt into. For example, a company might offer pet insurance for employees’ fur babies, subsidized daycare for young children, or student loan repayment programs. Not every employee will participate in these plans, but the idea is to offer a wider variety of employee/work perks that might appeal to employees in different phases of their lives. Companies should start by surveying employees to see which benefits might have a wider uptake as well as considering the costs.

Employee wellness

Employee wellness is not a new concept but the pandemic has highlighted how important it is. Wellness benefits encourage employees to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors. Smoking cessation programs, preventative screenings in the workplace, and gym memberships are common wellness programs. 
Employers should take care to select programs that will appeal to their employee populations while limiting the unintended negative effects of excluding some employees.

Family-friendly benefits

Employees with children have felt the squeeze over the pandemic. School closures in many areas disrupted how parents work. Although schools are open again, parents continue to struggle with kids getting sick with respiratory viruses and the need to stay home. Family benefits help employees balance their family and work responsibilities. 

The most common family benefit is paid parental leave. As some states adopt public programs, companies have increased their benefits as well. Flexibility is also a family-friendly benefit that can have minimal costs with a large return. Employees with the flexibility to work from home to take care of sick children might not be able to work a full day, but they may be able to work partial days while they take care of responsibilities at home.

Financial benefits

Retirement programs are still important to employees. But for those who work from home, there are simple things that companies can do to support employees financially. Companies can reimburse employees for a portion of their internet and electricity costs. They can help employees set up home offices that are ergonomically correct with proper office equipment. 
Other financial benefits that might appeal to employees include life insurance, disability insurance, and retirement savings plans that are matched by the employer.

Important leave benefits

Paid leave is important to employees. Time to relax and unwind is critical for employees to avoid burnout. Increasingly, states and local governments are requiring companies to provide some form of paid sick leave. 

Currently, there are 14 states that offer some paid leave, but local governments might have stricter requirements. For example, Illinois does not require paid sick leave, but both the City of Chicago and Cook County do have sick leave ordinances.

Employee Benefits Trends for 2023: Ways HR Managers Can Assess Their Current Benefits

HR managers can start assessing their offerings by reviewing industry standards and best practices. For some industries, companies may be able to purchase consulting reports but it can be as simple as looking at job advertisements and career pages for competitors to see how you stack up. Surveys or focus groups can help HR managers determine what benefits are seen as valuable within the company and what might be missing. 

However, this is best done in conjunction with internal analytics to see what the utilization rates are. Following this initial information-gathering, a benefits broker is a great step to learning what is available and how much it will cost.

How to Design the Best Employee Benefits Package

It seems simple: the best benefits package will appeal to your employees and beat the competition. Unfortunately, there are trade-offs when choosing benefits. Companies don’t have unlimited funds to contribute to every benefit that employees want, so prioritization needs to happen. Determining the needs and preferences of employees is one step in this process but HR managers also need to consider the costs associated with benefits. 

Some benefits, like retirement savings and health plans, have larger costs associated with implementation. Flexible schedules and remote work have some small costs initially and tend to be more important over time. 

Most importantly, the benefits need to reflect your workplace and culture. They should appeal to the employees you want to attract and retain. Benefits should not be added because they are popular on social media.

Technology is making it easier for companies to understand how employees are using their benefits so you can refine your offerings to be even more meaningful to employees. VantagePoint can help you manage your company benefits in order to maximize your employee experience.

If you need guidance or expert advice, get in touch with our team!