As an employer who just started out their business, hiring employees with talent and skill is paramount to the success of your company. However going about attracting this talent is slightly complicated – it’s not just about paying them a salary package and be done with it. Good talent has demands everywhere and the cut throat nature of your business means that there are other companies vying to steal away your employees and they often have the right tools to attract this talent.

These employers have a robust benefits health plan in place to provide medical care to their employees either through medical insurance or through reimbursement. The purpose of this blog is to familiarize the novice employer with some of these must have employee benefit programs.

1) Paid maternity and paternity leave
Oftentimes, women have both a job and a family to balance on a daily basis, and if they have a baby coming in, things can quickly take its toll for the worse. Studies have shown that mothers who do not have maternal leave undergo depression and stress that has a negative impact on their families, health and professional life. A maternity leave allows a mother to properly transition to a parental role by spending quality time with their babies.
It is, however, equally important for companies to create a plan for reentering the workplace. Paternity leave on the other hand is rarely handed out. The time taken off can range from a couple of days to a few weeks. While it is nowhere near as flexible as a maternity leave –at least the idea is there.

2) Paid volunteer time off
Sometimes employees desperately need a breather from the mentally taxing nature of their jobs. Progressive companies offer a couple of paid days off every year, it is common to take an entire paid week off from work.

3) Flexible times off
This one resembles point number two above, but is slightly different. These include having flexible shifts and work at home options. For programmers and content generators, the alter option is often in most demand.

4) Holiday plan
Some employees want their companies to offer them discounts on taxi rides, booking hotel rooms, air plane tickets, resort booking and vacation planning. By offering to pay part of the amount or even a full reimbursement to their holiday plan, this is a way of showing appreciation to employees and securing their loyalty in the long run.

5) Health insurance
You don’t want your workers falling sick and not have enough in their coffers to pay off medical fees. A comprehensive health insurance policy is one of the most basic insurance policies you can enact in order to attract top tier talent and graduates from top ranking universities.

When it comes to dishing out employee benefits, don’t just stick to the bare minimum, but learn to look beyond the government’s short yard stick and attract skillful employees to propel your business ahead.