Every business, small or large, offers their employees benefits, incentives, and perks as part of their compensation or in addition to it. These indirect and non-cash benefits are in the form of incentives, perks, tours, paid vacations, or education incentives. Employee benefits help organizations stay committed to their employees’ welfare and, at the same time, help employees improve their work-life balance and motivate them to stay longer in one organization.

Top legally mandated employee benefits
Employee benefits can be mandated by federal, state, or local laws or given at the company’s discretion. Benefits include:
Social security
Medicare
Worker’s compensation insurance
Family and medical leave act protection

Benefits that a company can choose to offer:
Companies choose to offer indirect and non-cash compensation that motivates an employee to perform better or helps maintain-work life balance. Some examples of voluntary employee benefits are:
Childcare assistance
Paid vacation
Retirement savings
Flexible work schedule
Extended maternity leave
Professional development
Education benefits
Dental and vision insurance
Performance incentives and bonuses
Daycare services
Tuition assistance

Employee health benefits
Employee health benefits are indirect and non-cash benefits that help employees maintain their health or provide coverage for medical expenses in a health emergency. The most common and widely popular benefit is health insurance. Companies can offer insurance programs based on the company’s size, location, number of employees, and employee preference. Apart from medical insurance, other health benefits include:
Dental insurance
Life insurance
Mental health benefits
Disability insurance
Wellness programs
Employee healthcare centers
Employee health screening

Importance of medical insurance
A few factors a candidate considers before joining a company are the work culture, scope for growth, and health insurance. Employees can gain confidence and peace of mind when they are assured that they can now take care of their family’s health and no longer have to worry about healthcare costs. The types of health insurance plans that a company can offer are:
Preferred Provider Organization Plan (PPO)
Health Maintenance Organization Plan (HMO)
Point of Service Plan (POS)
Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO)
Health savings account qualified plan
Indemnity Plans
Health Reimbursement Arrangements
Health stipends

What does medical insurance cover?
Medical insurance typically covers healthcare, life, vision, and dental insurance. Healthcare insurance provides coverage for:
Healthcare insurance
Healthcare insurance plans cover general health issues. Here are a few examples:
Antibiotics for strep throat
Doctor’s fees
Emergency ambulance fees
Hospital accommodation
Laboratory services
Pregnancy and maternity care
Prescriptions
Resetting and casting a broken leg
Treating an ear infection
Yearly physicals

Life insurance
Companies typically offer group insurance to provide coverage for their employees in the case of an accident, dismemberment, or death. Some types of life insurance coverage that are part of employee benefits are:
Group term life insurance
Group accidental death and dismemberment insurance
Business travel accident insurance
Split-dollar life insurance

Vision insurance
Vision insurance covers all expenses that may occur to protect eyesight and vision. Vision insurance typically covers the following:
Costs of periodic eye examinations
Costs of any surgery that may be necessary to correct vision-related issues
Costs of new glasses and contact lenses

Dental insurance
Dental insurance provides preventative costs as well as the costs of basic dental services as well as dental surgery. Dental insurance cost covers:
Periodic examination
Retainers
Braces
Tooth extraction
Treatment of tooth and gum-related infection

Flexible spending accounts (FSA)
A flexible spending account is an arrangement where an employee can contribute up to $2,750 to medical expenses. Employees can estimate medical expenses they may incur in the year, and employers make corresponding deductions and send the amount to the FSA. Employees can use this amount to pay for copayments, prescription treatments, and any over-the-counter products for their treatment.