Financial and Retirement Benefits Although 57% of respondents offer some form of financial benefits — 401(k), various IRAs, or profit sharing — to their employees, REMODELING’s survey shows that in some cases just 17% of a company’s employees take advantage of those offers. Oft-cited reasons include procrastination, fear of market fluctuations, and lack of discipline. Yet it’s in an owner’s best interests to increase employee participation for company tax and owner benefit and to improve employee retention.
Southborough, Mass., design/build remodeler and survey respondent David Morgan offers his five employees a 401(k) plan with 100% matching funds up to 4% of their income. To encourage participation, Morgan had the Paychex payroll representative speak to the group. “I wish someone had pushed me into it when I was in my 20s or 30s. It’s the magic of what Albert Einstein said about compound interest. It’s the eighth wonder of the world,” Morgan says. “They can have a handsome retirement if they start young.”
Which of the following financial benefits does your company offer to employees?
What percentage of your company’s employees take advantage of the financial offers provided?
Reimbursibles “Benefits in general is an area where you can really make a difference and be creative. It doesn’t have to cost the employer a lot of money,” says consultant Victoria Downing, who cites as examples trips, flexible work hours, and tuition reimbursement, “things that won’t raise overhead.” Parties and picnics fall into that category. “It’s a morale booster,” says Michael Myers of Vogan Associates, Silver Spring, Md. “We do a picnic every summer and a Christmas party every year, and occasionally we have dinner and invite everyone and their spouses. Work is not always about dollars and the paycheck, [employees] appreciate things like this.”
Do you offer an allowance for uniforms, cell phones, gasoline, or vehicles?
Time Off Of all benefits, paid vacation and holidays are the most common. The survey found that a high percentage of respondents offer paid national holidays and at least one week of paid vacation time to employees who have been with the company for at least one year. But as many respondents (61%) offer no sick days and 73% offer no personal days.
Total Compensation This example is a composite of a typical compensation package for a skilled carpenter working in the Washington, D.C., metro area.