As your business begins to grow, it’s important to develop an employee benefit plan for your staff. The federal law requires employee benefit plans for businesses with 100 or more participants. However, for small business owners, this can be challenging and stressful to piece together a benefits program that both you and your employees are satisfied with. Read along to find out tips on how to create the best employee benefits plan for your company.

What is an Employee Benefit Plan?

Employee benefit plans are a form of compensation paid by employers to employees that make regular salaries. Employee benefits can include health insurance, life insurance, paid vacation, and flexible work schedules. Benefit packages come in many forms, and each business can create a plan that best fits their organization.

How to Create an Employee Benefit Plan

1.      Set Up a Budget

The first step to take after deciding to build an employee benefit plan is to develop a budget that your small business can afford to contribute to benefits packages each year. It’s recommended to do a cost analysis per benefit when determining your budget.

2.      Deciding What to Include in Your Plan

There a many different employee benefits employers can offer to their employees, including:

·         Paid Time off

Offering a PTO policy for vacation days, sick days, and holidays can help produce a better-quality work environment and allows for your employees to disconnect from work for a bit.

·         Retirement Savings

Providing your employees with an option to set up a 401(k) or 403(b) allows them to save a certain amount per year and can help them put away for their future retirement.

·         Medical/Vision/Dental

Health insurance can be quite costly, which is why it’s common for employers to add a medical portion to their employee benefit plan, and then have employees cover 50/50 for dental and vision.

·         Work Perks

Some more minor benefits to consider incorporating into your program include flexible work schedules, employee activities, providing food/beverages, remote work, etc.

3.      Hire A Business Expert

Hiring a business professional to assist with setting up a benefits program will take away the stress and time it takes to develop a plan.

4.      Finalize your Benefits Plan

After you created a budget and identified which benefits to include in your plan, it’s time to put the plan into action. Gather all the papers your employees will need to fill out and have them sign all the documents. Once that’s all set, then you just need to determine a start date for your employee program.

There’s no one-size-fits-all for an employee benefit plan. Each package will look different for every business. When putting together your benefits package, create a plan that your current employees and job candidates will love but that is within your company’s budget. Our team of professionals will work with you to develop the perfect benefits package for your business. Visit Satty, Levine & Ciacco, CPAs, P.C. website today to get started!