Gone are the days when working professionals used to sulk all day about how they drag themselves to work every day. Nowadays, employers are implementing different types of employee engagement and retention strategies so that their workforce gets satisfied and becomes more productive. There are several compensations and benefits to reward the employees for their extraordinary contribution to help the company grow. These benefits can be both monetary and non-monetary.
A few popular benefits schemes include ESI contribution and EPF deduction among others. Some work benefits are entirely given by the employer and for others, the employees have to make contributions at regular intervals to enjoy the bigger fruits later in life.
Let us have a look at the 5 major employee benefits that are adopted by almost every 2 out of 3 companies today:
Medical Benefits
The employees contribute a little part of their salary to avail the medical insurance. This benefit covers the finances of the registered professional for doctor/ physician/ surgeon fee, hospitalization charges, and prescription medicines. In group medical insurance, the employee’s family members can also be included. Generally, the amount is partially paid by the employer and the employees give a piece of their monthly salary to contribute to the medical insurance funds account.
Retirement Benefits
There are deductions made from the employees’ monthly wages that go into a secured account and the amount saved from it can only be withdrawn post-retirement. One common name that comes to mind when you talk about retirement benefits is the EPF (Employees’ Provident Fund). Any employee working with an organization that has more than 20 employees and earns INR 15,000 or less a month is liable to contribute to this fund. 12% of the basic pay goes into the EPF account from both the employees’ end and the employer’s equally.
Health Insurance
There is a maximum limit to the amount spent by the organization on its employees as health insurance. If the employee’s account falls short of the prices charged, it is initially paid by the employee and then reimbursed by the employer later. The most popular government health insurance plan is the Employees’ State Insurance. What is ESI? It is the self-financed social security and health insurance scheme governed by ESIC under the ESI Act, 1948. As per this regime, employees who earn INR 21,000 or less a month and work with an organization employing more than 10 professionals have to contribute to the ESI scheme. A total of 4% is deposited in the ESI account which includes 0.75% of basic pay by the employee and the remaining 3.25% by the employer.
Workplace Benefits
These are the most common benefits that one can observe in day-to-day work life. Some examples of workplace benefits are:
- Paid Time Offs
- Earned Leaves
- Casual And Sick Leaves
- Attendance Regularizations
- Skill Development
- Trips and Recreational Activities
Fringe Benefits
This type of employee benefits revolves around the added benefit that an overachiever or extraordinary performer gets apart from the salary. It includes non-wage compensation given to the employee above their regular wages. Some of the fringe benefits are:
- Non-production Benefits
- Training or Educational Assistance
- A Company Car
