7 Noteworthy Fringe Benefits for your Workforce in 2021

The past few decades have seen a lot of progress in nurturing human resources for better growth and running successful businesses. Organizations adopted many measures to improve their employee engagement levels. And one among those measures was providing employees with certain Fringe Benefits.

What are these Fringe Benefits?

Employee fringe benefits are the tangible or intangible perks that institutions provide their workforce in addition to their salaries.

Companies also provide these benefits to compensate for any work-related expenses that the employees may bear.

The main motive behind giving these perks is to keep the employees happy and satisfied. And this positively impacts the overall productivity of employees in the workplace.

Some common fringe benefits include perks like access to the company car, company cell phones, fun working conditions, in-house gyms, subsidized cafeteria plans, and more.

However, though all the employees working in an organization are entitled to certain fringe benefits. Then also, many organizations segregate these perks based on an employees’ seniority and status within the organization.

For example, an employee who has newly joined might not have access to perks like a company car enjoyed by the others in the upper levels.

Another question that arises is that if these benefits are taxable?

Here the answer is “YES”!

Most of the fringe benefits may come under the domain of taxation based on the tax rules applied in your country of operation.

Like for taxable fringe benefits in the US, the receivers must mention the market value of the availed benefits in their taxable income of the year. And this has to be done in accordance with IRS Publication 15-b.

But, there’s also a list of few tax-exempted fringe benefits that you can consider for curating a lucrative employee benefits plan.

Here are some of the tax-free fringe benefits and why you should count them in your employee benefits package.

1. Employee Health Insurance Benefits

Employee health insurance benefits are the cornerstone of any employee benefits plan. Many employees and job seekers view it as one of the lucrative employee benefits that attract them to be a part of the organization.

And hence, with this, hiring and retaining the best talents becomes an easy affair.

2. Exclusive Employee Discounts

Corporate employees are always on the potential watchlist of every major brand. These brands generally include names from lifestyle, automobile, healthcare, and other industries.

And for nurturing their consumer base amongst the corporates they offer a lot of employee-only deals and discounts.

Hence, giving your employees access to these privileges will not only help them save their hard-earned income to some extent but will also alleviate their own stature as employees of your organization.

3. Employee Retirement Plan Benefits

We all spend our lives working and saving up a generous part of our earnings for enjoying a better life later.

Retirement plans have always been one of the top investment criteria for every employee. These plans carry the dreams and aspirations of employees that they want to pursue once they retire.

Therefore, including the same in your employees' benefits plan would be a sure win-win case for both you and your employees. Moreover, you can also count it as a gift back to your hard-working employees for their years of service to the organization.

4. Corporate Education Assistance

A major part of today's workforce comprises millennial employees. One thing that sets these millennials apart is their will to keep on learning and progressing. They learn from their current jobs, nurture their expertise, and head back to academics for better prospects.

In this process, employers lose many talented employees capable of taking their organizations further ahead.

However, supporting these employees with corporate education assistance is the best way to retain them.

Extending education assistance to your employees will help them progress professionally. Further, it'll also create a positive image about their organization, thus earning their trust and loyalty.

5. Employee Stock Options

Another tax-free fringe benefit that you can extend your employees is stocks of your own organization.

Many big corporations worldwide have similar programs to allow their employees to invest some part of their salary and own stakes. Also, the employees can save up on their income taxes as in most countries; long-term capital gains are tax-free to a certain extent.

Allowing your employees to own stakes will make them feel like an integral part of the organization. And also, motivate them to work more diligently for driving better growth and success.

6. Fun Working Conditions

The working condition within an organization matters the most when it comes to better motivation and enhanced employee engagement.

Employers now take a lot of measures to ensure the same.

One such measure is installing employee-friendly amenities in and out of the organization. These amenities may include play areas, reading rooms, an on-site gym, laundry services, dental services, and more.

Such things contribute towards nurturing fun working conditions where employees can play and concentrate at the same time.

7. Sponsored Life Insurance Coverage

Sponsored life insurance coverage is one of the most common fringe benefits that most employers provide their employees. This fringe benefit is a must for organizations requiring their employees to travel frequently or get involved in any hazardous work.

Life insurance cover gives an employee a sense of relief when he/she is on duty. Further, it’ll also positively impact the employer-employee relationship which is the base of every successful organization.

So, these were some of the important fringe benefits that you can indeed look upto for giving your employees.

Also, if you think of some more such tax-free fringe benefits, then we would love to hear them from you in the comments below.

Working as a SEO Analyst and Content Marketer at Vantage Circle, Angshuman always stays curious and is passionate about learning new things. Got any question? Drop a mail at editor@vantagecircle.com