Understanding Employee Benefits: 3 Critical Categories

Attract, retain, reward – that’s the name of the game regarding employee benefits. In theory, it’s simple: just pick the benefits plan that works for you and your team, and you’re off to the races. 

But we know benefits, HR and payroll are rarely that straightforward. How do you get started with benefits? How do you choose your coverage? How do you stay on track if you’ve never dealt with benefits before?  

Getting Started with Employee Benefits: Three Key Categories

That’s where we come in. We’ve broken down benefits coverage into three categories (if you remember Maslow, think of these like a hierarchy of needs): physical health, mental health and financial well-being. We can help you cover all three facets – read on for a breakdown of your options! 

Remember, this is just the strategy that works for us; we think this hierarchy covers your team’s needs, but it isn’t set in stone. Contact one of our benefits architects to make your plan yours.  

Physical Health

This first tier in our ‘hierarchy’ is physical health. It may seem obvious, but health benefits are oft-overlooked; in fact, 83% of Canadian workers want more health benefits than they’re provided. So, where do you start? 

Traditional Group Health Insurance

Let’s start with traditional group coverage. Fret not – these aren’t the costly, rigid employee benefits plans you might be used to; we can tailor plans to your business to keep the cost down. 

How do we do that? Simple – we can reduce your level of coverage depending on your employees’ needs. That way, you’re only paying for what your team needs. Plus, we can implement cost sharing to reduce the amount for which you’re liable. Again, you choose the amount you’re willing to pay. 

Think of our group plans as comprehensive coverage without the rigidity. 

HSAs

Next, the HSA. Oh, the HSA – the brilliant but bewildering healthcare acronym. What are they, anyway? 

Broadly, an HSA is a Canada Revenue Agency-approved method of providing your employees with health benefits like medical, vision, and dental care. It’s an individual account with a set amount that your employees and their families use to reimburse their health expenses. 

So, what sets an HSA apart from other health benefits packages? Two critical components: cost and flexibility. HSAs are the most tax-efficient way to offer benefits; as an employer, you can write off 100% of the costs, and all the reimbursed expenses are tax-free for your employees (except in Quebec). 

Plus, PayEvo HSAs are flexible – you don’t have to pre-fund benefits, you control the costs, and your employees control what they spend their coverage on. For a more in-depth breakdown of HSAs, visit our dedicated blog post and download our brochure! 

Mental Health

Next, we’re covering mental health. While we’ve placed this after physical health, we don’t believe it’s less important. While workplaces are making great strides in recognizing employees’ mental health, it hasn’t earned the same recognition as physical health. We hope to change that. 

EAPs

One of the most affordable ways we can do that is through the EAP. So, what is an EAP? EAPs help employees address challenges to their mental health. EAPs are fantastic as affordable employee benefits as employees continue to advocate for their mental health. Typically, these plans offer counselling services and help alleviate stressors like family difficulties, financial concerns, or substance abuse problems. 

Check out our full post on Employee Assistance Plans for more details. 

Recently, one of our clients (who prefers to remain anonymous) wrote to us about the impact an EAP had at their workplace as their choice for affordable employee benefits: 

“Discovering our company’s Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) as part of our Health and Dental benefits has been a game-changer. Recently, a fellow employee was grappling with depression, and the EAP provided them with confidential counselling and support. Witnessing their transformation and a renewed sense of hope has been heartening. Not only did the EAP assist in their personal journey, but it also had a profound impact on our manufacturing plant’s productivity. By addressing mental health concerns head-on, our team members have felt more engaged, focused, and supported, leading to a noticeable boost in overall productivity.” 

PayEvo Benefits Client

Embracing Employee Assistance Plans is more than just a wise business decision; it’s a compassionate approach to employee well-being that pays dividends in productivity, morale, and overall workplace harmony. 

Financial Well-Being

And that brings us to financial well-being – the third pillar in our hierarchy. While admittedly not as pressing as our first two entries, financial benefits are a simple and cost-effective way to show your team you’re invested in their future. 

The Group RRSP

The best place to start is a group RRSP. You’re probably familiar with regular RRSPs – a tax-deductible retirement plan to which you and your spouse contribute.  

As an employer, you can offer group RRSPs to your employees. So how does it work? With a group RRSP, the employer sponsors a retirement investment plan to which employees contribute. Typically, your payroll software automatically deducts this contribution from your employee’s pay. You can read our full breakdown here. 

As the employer, you then pledge to match your employee’s contributions up to a percentage of their salary. How much you match is entirely your choice. Your employees then benefit from tax-deductible investments, more competitive fees, and greater convenience. 

Let’s talk cost. With PayEvo, there’s no cost to setting up or maintaining a group RRSP. Your only expense is matching employee contributions – and you determine that amount. In other words, you control the cost. And yes, that cost could be nothing – you can get started without matching employee contributions to gauge interest. It’s entirely up to you – we have the group RRSP option to fit your business. 

Wrapping Up

Not sure how to get started with any of these employee benefits? No problem – book a call with our benefits architects. We tailor employee benefits plans to your business – whatever your budget, we have a plan for you. 

Because you didn’t start a business to deal with insurance minutiae – but we did.