Many employees are surprised when they learn how much employers are spending on them in addition to their salaries. Studies show that benefits can add 30 to 35 percent on top of the salary being paid.
“A total compensation statement is a good way to illustrate this and make employees aware. Most employees will end up appreciating employers more if the information is communicated properly and in an effective manner,” says Dan Wilke, director of underwriting at Benefitdecisions, Inc.
Smart Business spoke with Wilke about the value of providing employees with total compensation statements.
What’s in a total compensation statement?
You want to capture every cost associated with employees from the moment they are hired. The statement takes into account items such as vacation time, sick leave, personal days, holidays, wages, overtime, employer matching 401(k) contributions, and bonuses and commissions.
Then you break out the costs of what the employer pays for insurance — medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and travel and accident. It also includes tax-related costs the employer pays — Social Security, Medicare, federal and state unemployment, and workers’ compensation.
Some companies also reimburse employees for tuition for continuing education, or provide reimbursement for health club memberships as a way to incentivize employees to keep active and in good health.
The statement includes all of these hidden costs that employees forget about. They look at their paychecks and lose sight of the other benefits their company provides. Benefit-related costs are the second largest income statement expense, after payroll, and total compensation statements shed light on how much is spent.
It’s not about telling employees what you do for them, but showing how much they are valued. Studies show that when employees are aware of the total costs, they feel more appreciated and they are more productive.
Are total compensation statements also used as a recruitment tool?
It’s a logical next step. It might become commonplace that prospective employees hand over resumes and are given total compensation statements in return. Prospective employees often focus on the salary number. For example, a friend of mine accepted a new position and was surprised to learn he had to pay $1,200 a month for family health insurance because his company only pays 50 percent of those costs. Had he accepted another offer, he would have paid only $400 a month. He lost almost $10,000 in total annual compensation.
If you have a rich benefits package, illustrating that in a total compensation statement could certainly be valuable in terms of recruitment.
Can statements have a negative affect if you don’t have a rich benefits package?
A statement might not be applicable to all companies. It’s not promoting a sense of increased value to employees if your benefits package is light. A consultant would be able to determine if it makes sense to produce a total compensation statement.
What are the implementation costs?
On a one-time basis, you can outsource the project to a company that produces total compensation statements and the fee will run from $5 to $15 per statement.
However, it is more cost-effective to load information in a benefits administration system, if you have one, because it’s rolled into the cost of the system. There is an indirect cost because it takes legwork by HR to gather the information and enter it into a spreadsheet or database, but it’s worth the effort.
Typically, statements are provided to employees annually. While they can be delivered any time of the year, the best time is after you’ve given raises and had a benefits renewal. You’ll know the new costs and it’s a sensible time to update employees.
It’s important that you don’t just send it out or hand it to employees; there has to be follow-up. Offer to meet with employees on a one-on-one basis to provide explanations and answer questions to show you care about them. Total compensation statements are valuable and they have to be communicated in a manner that conveys that message.
Dan Wilke is director of underwriting at Benefitdecisions, Inc. Reach him at (312) 376-0437 or [email protected].
Insights Employee Benefits is brought to you by Benefitdecisions, Inc.
