However, you might want to tie in a specific time period prior to the employee collecting this bonus -- for example, one-half after six months and the remainder after one year of employment. These plans are, however, more expensive and usually don't cover preventive health care like physicals, immunizations, and well-child care. More than one-fourth of surveyed workers said that balancing work and family is more important than a competitive salary, job security or support for an advanced degree. This means you should interview them and review their work histories just like you would anyone else you are considering for employment. Small co-payments of $5 to $25 dollars are made by employees for office or emergency room visits, and the services are sometimes limited. They can also help management have a better understanding of the types of problems their employees may be facing, both personal and work-related. If everyone is going after the same goal, they'll have a better chance -- and your company will have a better chance -- of succeeding.

The downside of this is that employees may begin to see it as a given that they will get a salary increase after each evaluation, and it ceases to be a motivation to perform better in their jobs. ESOPs, like the other employee stock ownership methods, can improve your bottom line through employees' heightened awareness and vested interest in helping the company be successful. The benefits for your employees who telecommute can also be quite substantial. If you have on-site exercise facilities that your employees can have access to free of charge then you've got a good perk waiting to happen. If you don't already have the facilities as part of your business, then perhaps you should consider setting up a small workout room with some basic equipment, or put in a shower and set up some running/walking trails around your business's property. Your employees and prospective employees will appreciate it because it means they won't have to get physicals before they're covered, and usually they can convert the plan to an individual life insurance plan if/when they leave the company.

Eligible employees are those who have worked for your company for at least 12 months and 1,250 hours during those 12 months. Hiring bonuses are also frequently used now, even for new college graduates. These situations may come up more often than you think, and even if yours is a small company, you need to have policies in place to address these so that you know you're handling them consistently. Visit the U.S. Treasury Web site for up-to-date information about income-tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare withholding, as well as rules about when and how you should be depositing these taxes (more on this later in the article). As of January 2001, Social Security tax was 6.2% and Medicare tax was 1.45%. Each requires you, as the employer, to match the amounts withheld for a total of 15.3% to be paid to the IRS. With this plan, your employees can make monthly contributions (salary deferrals), and you, as the employer, have the option of two types of contribution methods.

Premium-Only Plans - With this type of plan, employees can pay their portions of the insurance premiums with pre-tax dollars. With a traditional health coverage plan, your employees will have the most flexibility. You must then determine if there are other employees that duty could be assigned to or distributed among. There are ways you can adjust to make the majority of your employees happy. One of the most important things to keep in mind when planning or tweaking your benefits package is that there is a strong and growing trend toward helping employees balance their work with their family lives. Exercise not only relieves stress and improves health, good quotes about yoga it helps clear the mind and fosters creativity. This type of compensation structure significantly helps motivate employees to perform well. If you have to get a proposed telecommuting program approved by upper management, it also helps to have statistics from similar companies that have successful telecommuting programs. But, you're probably now saying, "What if they get the training or degree and then leave anyway!" That may happen too, but most likely you'll experience just the opposite.