What Caregiver Benefits Should Your Home Care Agency Offer in 2020?

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Did you know that employee experience affects the productivity and profitability of your company? Your employees are your greatest asset and it’s important that you care for them as such.

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Did you know that employee experience affects the productivity and profitability of your company? Offering the right benefits plays a key role in adding value to your employees’ personal and professional lives. Your employees are your greatest asset and it’s important that you provide and care for them as such. In this article, you’ll learn how benefits help your company, what caregiver benefits other agencies are offering and how to administer the right benefits to your employees.

Benefits Help the Whole Company

Benefits can jump start an agency’s growth. By law, companies are required to offer certain benefits such as time off to vote, workers’ compensation, short-term disability programs and Federal Family and Medical Leave. However, today companies are offering added benefits such as retirement plans, health plans, dental and vision plans, paid vacations and flexible schedules. 60% of home care agencies report having to turn down cases because they didn’t have enough caregivers to staff them. Addressing and administering the right caregiver benefits can help agencies reduce caregiver shortage and turnover.

Companies that offer benefits that meet the needs of their employees are jump-starting their growth because they can attract good talent and more importantly, hold on to it. While the ability to offer various benefits will depend on the size and circumstances of your individual agency, it’s still important for every agency to continually evaluate whether they could expand their benefits to better meet their employees’ needs.

Benefits can be a short-term fix for long-term growth. In the short term, it’s easy for business owners to hold on to dollars for fear of never seeing them again. However, in order to give your business a chance for long term growth and success, it’s essential that you offer benefits that drive personal and professional improvement for your employees. “When you give employees the benefits they value, they’ll be more satisfied, miss fewer workdays, be less likely to quit and have higher commitment to meeting the company’s goals,” said Joe Lineberry.

As you begin to administer or continually analyze your caregiver benefits, keep in mind the opportunity for long-term growth. Dedicating time and resources into benefits packages can appear lower on your priority list at times but know that employee benefits will help generate long-term growth by reducing employee turnover and combat employee shortages.

Offering good benefits can keep employees from jumping ship. Offering standard pay nowadays isn’t enough to motivate people to keep working for you. If you can offer the right benefits, your company will be able to hold onto good talent and even attract new talent. Benefits help motivate and unify a company, resulting in higher productivity for individuals and more success for the company.  Whether you’re a startup agency or have been in business for 5+ years, it’s important to meet the professional and personal needs of your employees through benefits that add value to their lives.

Most Common Caregiver Benefits Provided in 2019

While reviewing this chart, keep in mind the importance of having a good feedback loop. It’s most important to understand your employees and offer the benefits that are of most importance to them. A good feedback loop provides you with knowledge of what your employees needs are, so that you as an employer can meet them. Benefits aren’t a one-size-fits all; find and focus on the needs of your staff.

The following data comes from the as a result of data collected from Q4 surveys in 2018. This data is the most up-to-date in the industry and can help your agency reassess recruitment and retention strategies moving into 2020.

Caregiver Benefits Provided in 2019

The size and circumstances of your agency play a major role in dictating which benefits are realistic to offer. Here’s an in-depth look at which benefits different-sized agencies are offering around the country.

Caregiver Benefits Provided in 2019 by Number of Caregivers Employed

After looking at these charts, here are some questions to consider:

  • Of the top five benefits listed, are there benefits I’m not offering that I could be offering? Am I offering similar benefits to agencies about my same size?

  • Are my employees satisfied with their benefits?

  • What benefits listed, could add more value to my employees?

  • Do I have a good feedback loop to know the needs of my employees?

How to Administer Benefits Properly

Find the right person to organize & execute your benefits.

In home care, (especially start-up agencies) administrative staff usually juggle a lot of hats. It can be easy to assign someone the role of administering benefits that already has a lot on their plate. Take time to train or find an employee that is familiar with the technicalities of benefits and can pay attention to the details. There is a lot of paperwork and organization attached to this role and it could be a costly mistake throwing someone uneducated or overloaded into this position.

Make sure your benefits packages comply with the law.

A big mistake companies overlook is leaving employees out of a benefit package/plan. It’s critical to standardize your benefits plan and make sure all of your employees are receiving benefits that comply with the law. There are certain regulations for part-time and disabled workers; we recommend you seek expert help to ensure you’re complying with state and federal laws if applicable. If such a mistake does happen, IRS audits can discover these nuances and can turn into loss of tax benefits or other penalties.

Understand that you don’t have to absorb the entire cost of employee benefits.

The cost of offering some of the benefits in the charts above could increase your employee’s base compensation by about 30 to 40 percent. One way to combat the cost of benefits could be sharing that cost with your employees. Establishing an employer/employee benefit contribution can help your employees recognize the value of the benefits they’re getting. Every benefit comes with a cost and that cost varies from a few dollars every pay period to hundreds of dollars every month. Find what benefits meet the needs of your employees and establish a suitable policy to cover the cost of those benefits.

caregiver recruitment retention

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Tell your employees what their benefits cost – adds value.

PRO’s Silverstein says, “Most employees don’t appreciate their benefits, but that’s because nobody ever tells them what the costs are.” Experts in the financial industry recommend sending out an annual benefits package outline letting employees know exactly what they’re getting and at what cost. A simple one sheet can act as a powerful tool letting employees know the value of their benefits.

Don’t offer unwanted benefits.

In home care, we do see a variance in ages of employees, particularly caregivers. Sending out a simple company survey having your employees rank benefits is a good place to start. Each of your employees is at a different stage of life and has different needs. As an employer, do your best to meet the needs of the greatest amount of your employees. Here are 47 ideas for employee benefits – it includes benefits caregivers frequently ask for and a long list of other great ideas.

Caregiver Appreciation Ideas

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50+ ideas for recognizing your caregivers and increasing caregiver retention.

Employees are Your Greatest Asset

Benefits have the power to improve your whole company. We hope this blog has instilled ideas, data and warnings to help you analyze your current benefits packages and think about ways you could improve it. Continually listen to your feedback loops and understand the needs of your employees. Add value to your employees by offering benefits that improve their professional and personal lives.

From the words of Amy Mulcahy, “Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission.”

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