Small Biz Watch: A crib sheet on best bennies
Thinking of setting up a benefits program for your employees, and wondering which are the best?
Small-business owners can review some of the programs preferred by bigger companies by checking out the 2005 winners of the Principal Financial Group's 10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security. The program "recognizes the 10 small- and medium-sized companies that best exemplify excellence in employee benefits." (For a list of the winners, see www.principal.com.)
The companies range in size from 15 to 815 employees. Of that group of 10, nine offer wellness programs ranging from free preventive care like flu shots and weight management programs to onsite fitness centers; eight offer "life cycle" mutual funds in their investment plans where employees select a fund based on their retirement date and as employees near retirement, the portfolio automatically becomes more conservative; eight of the companies also offer one-on-one financial guidance for employees.
One benefit that may be gaining in popularity are health savings accounts. HSAs are high-deductible, account-based healthcare plans that allow employees to set aside money for healthcare expenses on a tax-favored basis. Two of the 10 already offer HSAs and several others are researching the possibility of offering them.