Half of Employees Stay for Health Benefits

Exactly half of small business employees say a primary reason they are staying in their job is for the health insurance benefits, new research reveals. Zenefits.com, conducted a study into how small business employees really feel about the benefits and perks of their employment in 2020. The company surveyed more than 1,100 full time small business employees to compile a comprehensive overview of employee satisfaction.

Health insurance remains at the top of the list when it comes to the job perks valued most by employees, with half (50 percent) saying they are staying in their current role due to their health insurance benefits. Three-quarters of employees who currently receive health benefits (75 percent) said they are satisfied or very satisfied with their employer’s current health plan, while 70 percent said that they are unlikely or very unlikely to accept a job if it doesn’t offer health benefits.

Although almost a third (31 percent) of respondents saw benefits like online fitness classes, wellbeing app subscriptions, and telemedicine access added to their package during the pandemic, 51 percent of the employees who had their benefits cut due to COVID-19, lost out on health insurance.

Of those who answered in Virginia, 31 percent said their employer offers health insurance as a part of their benefits package. Washington and California followed closely behind with 22 percent and 19 percent offering health insurance, respectively. On the other end of the scale, 1 percent of respondents in Delaware and 0.6 percent in North Dakota are offered health insurance, whilst employees in Idaho fall particularly short with just 0.4 percent being offered the benefit.

Although 58 percent of respondents stated that their benefits stay the same each year, results also show that COVID-19 has had an interesting effect on decisions surrounding current and future benefits; more than a quarter of employees (26 percent) admitted that the pandemic has forced them to rethink their current benefit package. Over two in five employees (44 percent) revealed that telemedicine is now an important benefit to them, while 67 percent said that the pandemic has made mental health benefits more desirable.

Source: Zenefits.com.

From WCI's HR Answers Now ©2020 CCH Incorporated and its affiliates. All rights reserved.