Your employees are at the core of your business. If you want to run a successful company, you have to provide unparalleled employment benefits for the people behind your enterprise – your employees.
In Canada, benefits can vary widely depending on the industry and the company culture. It can include primary health care plans, company cars, company cell phones, and travel benefits.
While it can be challenging to keep track of the ever-changing work laws in British Columbia, it is still imperative that you provide employee benefits. It can ensure that your employees are happy and healthy, which in turn translates to higher productivity. So, in a sense, benefits can be a good investment for your company.
Challenges of Cost
Sometimes, companies fail to provide adequate benefits to their employees because it can be too costly for them, particularly for small businesses. Back in 2013, it had become an issue in Canada when the demographics of the workforce showed that most employees were in the aging population. This change resulted in more expensive age-related employment benefits such as health and disability because it is expectedly used more and for more extended periods as most people live longer now.
Specifically, more aging Canadians would want to have benefits that glean toward their retirement and post-retirement. However, these challenges are easy to overcome. Once companies can have better management, they would be able to craft more benefits programs that are relevant to the needs of their employees while staying cost-effective.
Best Practices for Benefits in Canada
First, you have to make sure that your company is compliant with regard to the tax laws and employment legislation. When it comes to benefits, these best practices can help you get the most out of your employee benefits:
Align with Culture
Your employment benefits program must be congruent with your company’s mission and vision. It should be within the same level as your culture. At first, it can be challenging to assess, especially if you have to deal with tons of data.
However, coming up with a benefits program that does not suit the culture of your company just would not work. For example, why would you provide your workers with a company car if most of them would work at home? It would be better to provide them with a laptop, phone, or an office set-up at home.
Consider Other Employment Benefits
While some employers believe that providing healthcare is the sole benefit they can provide their employees, however, there is more to just providing medical and dental insurance. There are other options that you can include that do not have to be costly, such as extended time off or free lunch at the office.
Compromise
As a business, you have to strike that balance between maintaining your business operations and making your employees happy. For your employment benefits program to work, you have to study what are the most significant risk factors that your business has, and this can be the main focus of your plan.
For instance, if the work area is indeed high-risk, then it might be essential to provide healthcare insurance. Additionally, it might be best to coordinate with your employees on how to mitigate all the risk factors.
Consider It a Worthy Investment
Often, employers view an employee benefits program as an additional operating cost. However, if you look at it as an investment, you would see that it is one of those that have high returns.
Your employment benefits program shouldn’t be something that is made to impress the employees. It should also take into consideration your company’s budget and overall goal for the future.