How your employee benefits package can foster inclusivity

The modern workplace showcases remarkable diversity. Currently, five generations coexist within the workforce, each with its own unique needs and challenges. Additionally, the popularity of remote and hybrid work arrangements means that while some employees are local, others live across various states and countries.

For these reasons, creating an inclusive workplace isn’t always easy. As you continue to hire employees from diverse backgrounds, you must ensure that your HR team is up to the challenge of ensuring everyone feels supported and included.

One way to promote inclusivity in the workplace is to offer personalized employee benefits. These perks can be adapted to fit the unique needs of each employee, giving them more control over how they use their benefits.

In this article, we'll explain how your employee benefits package can foster inclusivity and which benefits are best for a diverse workforce.

In this blog post, you'll learn the following:

• The benefits of diversity in the workplace.
• What inclusive companies do to promote employee satisfaction and well-being.
• Which inclusive benefits offerings catch the eyes of today's job seekers.

What does inclusivity in the workplace mean?

An inclusive work environment makes every employee feel welcome, valued, and involved while allowing them to express their differences without fear of discrimination or unequal opportunity.

Inclusivity also ensures all employees can participate in your benefits package, events, initiatives, and other activities or opportunities.

However, inclusion isn't synonymous with diversity or equality. While diversity and inclusion go together, there's a significant difference between diversity and inclusion.

Diversity is about the physical makeup of your organization. On the other hand, inclusion initiatives help foster an environment where diversity thrives. Inclusion is about your employees' individual experiences and empowering them to succeed. Workplace inclusion allows employees to contribute to many aspects of their organization.

You can have a diverse workforce without being inclusive. For example, if 50% of your employees are women and 20% are people of color, you might consider that a diverse workforce. However, suppose none of those employees are in management positions and don't feel included in activities. In that case, you likely don't have an inclusive workforce.

Similarly, it's possible to cultivate an inclusive workforce where all employees feel valued and engaged but lack gender or ethnic diversity.

The key is to create an inclusive and diverse work environment.

Why is diversity and inclusion important?

According to a Pew Research Center¹ survey, 56% of employed adults in the United States believe that enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace is a good thing.

While diversity and inclusion are important for your employees, why does it matter for your organization?

From a business perspective, making a commitment to diversity and inclusion can have a positive impact on revenue growth. This is due to increased productivity and teamwork and reduced employee turnover.

According to an analysis by Great Place to Work², the 100 companies with the most significant gaps in experiences between white employees and people of color saw an average revenue growth of only 8.6%. In comparison, the 100 companies with the smallest gaps saw 11.1% growth.

Diverse teams with inclusive cultures are also more likely to be innovative in their field and be able to recruit from a more diverse talent pool.

According to Great Place to Work's company culture report, employees who trust their colleagues and witness fair treatment and inclusion are nearly 10 times more likely to experience job satisfaction.

How you can create an inclusive work environment

Many aspects of your organization influence inclusion. From providing access to resources to taking meaningful action to improve team experiences to seeking employee feedback, here are a few ideas for improving inclusivity at your organization.

Some of the best ways to create an inclusive environment are to:

• Provide inclusive employee benefits
• Conduct unconscious bias training and diversity training
• Provide equal access to opportunities for all employees
• Form a diversity & inclusion council
• Lead diversity, inclusion, and belonging activities to promote employee engagement
• Have an open communication channel with employees
• Revise company policies to support inclusion
• Conduct employee surveys

How employee benefits can support a diverse and inclusive workplace

One way organizations can support a diverse and inclusive workplace is through employee benefits.

Your employees are unique and have different backgrounds, whether that's their:

• Race or ethnicity
• Gender
• Sexual orientation
• Socioeconomic background
• Current location or where they grew up
• Educational background.

As a result, each of your employees has distinctive needs and wants.

Traditional employee benefits such as group health insurance, on-site gyms, and free snacks are excellent perks. However, they aren't entirely inclusive of your employees' individual needs. These one-size-fits-all benefits may work for some or most of your employees, but not everyone.

For example, your group health insurance plan may not cover some of the specific needs of your employees. Or the in-network physicians may be too far from where an employee lives.

Likewise, an on-site gym is convenient for your in-office employees who want a quick workout before or after work. But, if you have any remote employees, they won't be able to take advantage of this benefit. Employees who live further away also may not have the time to use your on-site perks before or after work. Employees who can't use the equipment you provide also won't see any benefits to the perk.

Instead of offering these benefits that cater to only a particular audience, your organization needs a comprehensive, personalized benefits package. Personalized benefits allow all of your employees to participate while also acknowledging and catering to their individual needs.

Personalized benefits empower your employees to use their benefits the way they want to. This is often accomplished by either reimbursing employees for their eligible expenses or providing employees with benefit expense cards such as lifestyle spending accounts (LSAs).

These inclusive benefits not only support the diverse wants and needs of your current employees, but they also play a crucial role in attracting and retaining top talent.

Top employee perks to offer to foster inclusivity at work

There are many inclusive, personalized benefits you can offer your employees. We've compiled a list of a few of the top employee perks you should offer to foster inclusivity.

The top perks to offer to promote inclusion at work are:

• Personalized health benefits
• Holistic wellness programs
• Remote work
• Flexible schedules
• Education assistance programs

We'll explore each of these perks in more detail below.

1. Personalized health benefits

Health benefits are among the most popular employee perks, and for good reason. Supporting your employees' health helps them be more productive at work while also reducing the number of times they are out sick. PeopleKeep's 2024 Employee Benefits Survey found that 92% of employees consider health benefits important.

Personalized health benefits allow employees to use their benefits on the medical expenses that matter most to them. This allows them to address their individual needs, which can differ based on gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, location, and age.

Some popular types of personalized health benefits include:

• Health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs)
• Health savings accounts (HSAs)
• Flexible spending accounts (FSAs)
• Health stipends

One of the best ways to provide a personalized health benefit is with a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA). An HRA allows you to reimburse your employees for their qualifying medical expenses such as insurance premiums and out-of-pocket healthcare costs. You set a monthly allowance for your employees. They then purchase the health insurance plans that work best for their needs.

Two of the most popular types of HRAs are:

• The individual coverage HRA (ICHRA): The ICHRA offers employers incredible flexibility. There are no annual allowance caps, which means they can offer employees as much as they would like for an allowance. They can also vary allowance amounts by employee classes, such as full-time employees and part-time employees. Employees participating in an ICHRA must have individual health plans that meet minimum essential coverage (MEC) guidelines.
• The qualified small employer HRA (QSEHRA): The QSEHRA is an excellent option for small employers with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) who want to offer a health benefit for the first time. The QSEHRA isn't as flexible as the ICHRA, depending on your needs. It has annual contribution limits. Plus, you can only vary allowances by family size and status, not employee classes. But, because employees only need a plan with MEC to participate, your employees with Medicaid, CHIP, and coverage through a parent’s or spouse’s group plan can take part in the benefit.

Since HRAs are tax-free, they come with regulations that limit which expenses are eligible for reimbursement. This may not work for every employee's needs. An alternative to an HRA is a taxable health stipend.

Health employee stipends work similarly to HRAs but have fewer restrictions on which medical expenses employees can buy with their allowances. This makes them an excellent option for organizations with 1099 contractors, international employees, and workers who receive advance premium tax credits (APTC). But, stipends are taxable. They also don’t meet ACA requirements for applicable large employers (ALEs).

2. Holistic wellness programs

While health and wellness benefits go hand-in-hand, they aren't the same thing. Health benefits provide medical coverage for employees' physical health. Wellness programs promote overall employee well-being through healthy living, physical activity, and mindfulness.

As part of a holistic wellness program, a wellness stipend allows you to give employees money for the wellness expenses that work best for their needs. This enables you to create a unique employee experience that traditional wellness programs can’t achieve.

Additionally, you can use an HRA to reimburse employees for a wide range of holistic health expenses like:

• Acupuncture
• Alternative dietary supplements
• Alternative healers
• Chiropractic care
• Dietitian/nutrition services
• Herbal or homeopathic medicines
• Mental health services

Keep in mind that some of these holistic health services require a doctor’s note to prove they’re medically necessary.

3. Remote work

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work has become a desirable perk for employees. According to our survey, 57% of employees said it’s important to have access to remote work or a hybrid work environment.

Allowing employees to work remotely is a great way to support a culture of inclusion and diversity. Remote work makes it easier for employees with families to balance their work and personal lives, such as taking kids to school. It also benefits employees with disabilities and those who commute long distances to work. This gives your employees an equal chance to work at your organization with their unique circumstances.

4. Flexible schedules

Flexible work schedules serve as a valuable asset for your organization.

Flexible scheduling allows your employees with children to take a few minutes every day to drop off or pick up their kids from school. They can also go to the dentist or medical appointments and complete other tasks while still working their full required hours every week.

5. Education assistance programs

Finally, an education assistance program is a great way to promote inclusion in your organization. By offering education benefits to your employees, you remove the financial burden that often comes with enriching or learning new skills.

There are many ways to create an education assistance program. This includes tuition reimbursement, student loan repayment, or continuing education resources.

This is an excellent way to support your employees' interests and provide professional development opportunities, which can support your organization's overall skillset. If you have employees who lack certain skills required for them to advance in the company, this is a great chance for them to learn new skills and seek other opportunities within your organization.

Conclusion

While your employee benefits package may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about creating an inclusive work culture, it's one of the best ways to support all of your individual employee needs. This, in turn, will help boost productivity, reduce absenteeism, and improve your company culture.

If you're interested in offering inclusive, personalized benefits to employees, PeopleKeep can help! Our personalized benefits administration software allows organizations of all sizes to easily offer HRAs or health stipends.

This blog article was originally published on June 29, 2022. It was last updated on December 31, 2024.

1. Pew Research Center
2. Great Place To Work