In a recent conversation with the CEO of a start-up company in San Francisco, the words “voluntary benefits” were used in a discussion about benefits and he answered with “what?” If you are reading this, have you asked yourself what voluntary benefits are? We have the answer. BayPoint has done a few blog posts about voluntary benefits; however, it’s time to do another one!

So the question is what are voluntary benefits? Voluntary benefits are a cost-effective tactic for enriching a company’s offerings for employees. Voluntary benefits can include flexible spending accounts, pet insurance, entertainment and hotel discounts. For a small company that wants to establish its brand and be an employer of choice who is competing with larger more developed companies for top talent, voluntary benefits are an excellent offering. You can sell your company by saying, “Not only do you get all medical benefits, but you get voluntary benefits as well.”

An example of something a company could implement is a green fund. If you company is committed to being green and believes in sustainability you can reflect something of this matter through your benefits. You could add a green fund to your pension scheme by creating a “Benefits Extra” package to your employees, which would help spread your green message.

Some people believe that voluntary benefits require too much administration from your HR department, however, this is not true, if you are having problems with this issue, there may be some things that your employee benefits consultant can help you with. It’s important to work with an employee benefit consultant who can really help you improve your benefit communication and most importantly help educate your employees.