Assignment – Mandatory and Non-mandatory Employee Benefits

Question: You are the HR consultant to a small business with about 40 employees. The owner has asked you to prepare a one-page summary listing (1) the mandatory benefits the employer must provide, and (2) a strategy for figuring out what non-mandatory benefits the employer should also offer to their employees.

Mandatory and Non-mandatory Employee Benefits

Employee benefits play a crucial role in a company. They are not only a legal requirement, but they also contribute significantly to workforce productivity. There are employee benefits that employers must provide as per the law and those that the employer offers as an option to compensate workers. As an HR consultant, I would consider the legally required benefits and those that would promote the performance of the workforce and support the company’s objectives.

Employer size is a factor in determining the type of employee benefits to offer, per the law. Depending on the workforce size (40 employees) and per the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), they must also offer employer-sponsored group health plans for continuation coverage to eligible employees and their dependents (Bernstein, 2021). Other mandatory benefits include social security, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation. Other employee benefits categories may not be mandatory to the company because it has less just 40 employees. For instance, leaves under the Family and Medical Leave Act and Affordance Care Act do not apply to employers with less than 50 employees.

The company needs to assess the best-suited employee benefits to offer. Firstly, the non-mandatory benefits should support employees’ work, improve the working conditions, make it easier for employees to perform their responsibilities, and promote an overall positive brand image to attract and retain top talents. Additionally, the benefit must not compromise the company’s financial objectives by becoming a burden and possibly impacting its sustainability.

The company could offer paid leaves to qualified employees with a disability to reasonably accommodate them as per the law (Dessler, 2019). It should also provide sick leave benefits to support employees when they get ill. To ensure employees are mentally sound to perform their duties during difficulties, the company should offer counseling programs and child care benefits for those with infants. Finally, it could provide a flexible working schedule to improve productivity and support employees’ family-work balance.

In conclusion, the company should consider all the legal employee benefits that apply to its workforce size and implement them effectively to avoid penalities or fines. It should also implement non-mandatory benefits to support employees with the necessary work environment to perform their duties. Providing benefits such as health insurance plans, counseling programs, and disability payments could be considered. Implementing these benefits effectively, could offer the company a massive competitive advantage in talent management.

References

Bernstein, D. P. (2021). Health Care Reform Through the Tax and Budget Reconciliation Process. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3792434

Dessler, G. (2019). Fundamentals of human resource management (5th ed.). Pearson.