5 Nontraditional Employee Benefits Employers can Offer

September 19, 2019

This post was written by Willful.

Going beyond traditional health, dental, retirement and vacation benefits is key to attracting and retaining top talent for employers. It’s also a great way to make a positive impact on the lives of employees. If you’re looking to get more creative with benefit offerings at your company, here are five nontraditional employee benefits on employees’ most-wanted list:

1. RRSP contributions

RRSP contributions are a great way to help employees to save for their retirement. With RRSP contributions, you’re able to choose how to contribute to employee RRSPs in a way that makes the most sense for your company – whether contributions are based on a percentage of the employee’s salary, percentage of the employee’s contribution, their length of employment, performance or seniority. It’s an easy benefit to set up and one that will set you apart from competing companies. Your current and prospective employees will thank you for it.

2. Student loan repayments

The average Canadian university graduate ends up with on average, $26,000 in debt. As student debt continues to increase, millennial employees are increasingly looking to work for companies offering some form of student loan repayment benefit. The offering is flexible and allows you to decide on a budget and set eligibility criteria to outline who can benefit from the program and for how long. Helping employees pay off their student loans will reduce their financial stress, ultimately boosting workplace morale and increasing productivity. It’s a great way to show millennial employees that you understand and care about their current challenges and are committed to helping them establish a successful career.

What Millennials Want From Employee Benefits

Interested in learning what other perks motivate your Millenial employees?

Learn more here.

3. Wills

Almost everyone could easily think of a long list of things they’d rather spend their hard-earned money on than a will. While it may not be fun to pay for – it’s a key document that every adult needs in order to choose who their assets will be passed on to and who will step in as guardian for their children if something were to happen. Covering the cost of estate planning is a great incentive for employees to actually get their will done and show that you care about employees’ life beyond the walls of work. You can choose how much coverage employees can receive – the average cost of a simple will made by a lawyer is $300-$400 or $800-$1100 for a complex will and $1100-$1400 for a complex wills for couples or between $99-$249 using an online platform like Willful.

4. Charity donation matching

Charity donation matching is a type of corporate philanthropy that allows companies to match donations to nonprofits made by employees. After making a donation, employees are able to submit a matching gift request for a matching donation to the organization. Most companies match donations 1:1, but some companies may even double, triple or quadruple charitable gifts. You have the freedom to choose a minimum and maximum gift size and the amount of time that employees are able to submit a matching request after making their donation. There are a number of benefits for companies that implement a charity donation matching program including tax deductions, supporting organizations that employees care about, making a meaningful impact on the surrounding community, and an increased incentive for employees to give as well.

5. Allowance accounts

Allowance Accounts (also known as Lifestyle Spending Accounts) such as Honeybee’s Allowance Account is one way that employers can support the health and well-being of employees. An Allowance Account provides employees with a set amount of money per month to spend on wellness-related activities and products. It’s not just about paying for their gym membership; depending on employer preference, an Allowance Account can cover things from nutritional coaching, therapy, athletic attire, meditation classes (and more!). Having healthy, happy employees helps reduce company health care costs and sick leave, increase productivity and shows employees that you care about their wellbeing.

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