Top Employee Benefit Trends for 2025

Top Employee Benefit Trends for 2025

Employee benefits are the indirect and non-cash compensation paid to an employee. These benefits are given to employees over their salaries and wages.  As we look ahead to 2025, companies are increasingly exploring innovative solutions to address the evolving needs of their workforce. Driven by shifts in work environments, economic challenges, and technological progress, the following trends are becoming key elements of a competitive employee benefits package.

Mental Health Support

With nearly 60 million Americans currently facing some form of mental illness, prioritizing mental health has shifted from being a luxury to a critical necessity for fostering a high-performing, supportive workplace. Mental health services and policies that allow mental health days have become more common as the impact of mental well-being on overall health and productivity becomes increasingly recognized.

Employees are placing greater value on employers who prioritize mental health, seeing it as a sign of commitment to their well-being. This not only helps reduce stigma but also enhances employees’ ability to manage stress and prevent burnout in the workplace.

Financial Education and Debt Management

Financial stress is well-known for its negative impact on employee morale, productivity, and overall well-being. To address these challenges, employers are increasingly emphasizing financial wellness benefits for 2025.

Offering employees resources to manage debt and make informed financial decisions can greatly enhance their overall well-being while demonstrating a genuine commitment to their financial health and education. Financial wellness programs may include tools for budgeting, debt counseling, and education on key personal finance topics like homeownership and investing.

Retirement Savings

As retirement becomes a top priority for many employees, companies are placing greater emphasis on retirement savings options. In addition to the traditional 401(k) match, some employers are now offering student loan repayment matching, helping employees reduce debt while simultaneously saving for retirement. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are also gaining popularity as a valuable tool for retirement planning, offering tax benefits and the opportunity to save for future healthcare expenses.

Voluntary Benefits

Voluntary benefits provide a cost-effective way to offer additional value to employees. From pet insurance to identity theft protection, these benefits give employees the flexibility to select coverage that meets their individual needs, boosting overall satisfaction.

Childcare and Fertility Benefits

For employees who are starting or planning to start a family, the increasing costs of family-related services, such as childcare, adoption, or fertility treatments, can quickly become a significant financial strain. Childcare alone can account for up to 10% of a working couple’s income.

  • Paid family leave is not guaranteed by law in the U.S. but it is a highly sought-after perk. A parental leave policy – one that considers both parents and accounts for adoption and fostering in addition to childbirth – can show your employees you care about supporting their home lives.
  • Childcare assistance supports working parents facing rising costs of living. While some larger employers may offer on-site childcare, smaller businesses can show their commitment to working parents by helping to subsidize the cost of childcare through employer contributions or pre-tax deductions.
  • Fertility assistance supports employees who are going through costly infertility treatments, surrogacy, and IVF.

In an era of rapid change and shifting employee expectations, businesses must prioritize employee well-being and satisfaction through comprehensive benefits packages to remain competitive in attracting and retaining talent. By investing in flexible, customizable, and employee-focused benefits, organizations can foster a thriving work environment that not only draws top talent but also keeps them engaged and loyal for years to come.

Reducing Rising Healthcare Costs in 2025

Reducing Rising Healthcare Costs in 2025

Healthcare costs are projected to rise significantly in 2025. To mitigate these increases, consider these tips:

  • Know Your Plan: Take time to review what your health plan covers—and what it doesn’t—to avoid unexpected costs. Understand your health plan’s coverage, including deductibles, co-pays, and out-of-pocket maximums.
  • Utilize In-Network Providers: Receiving care from out-of-network providers can dramatically increase costs. Check your plan details to confirm that your provider is in-network before scheduling any appointments.
  • Budget Wisely: Plan for potential healthcare expenses throughout the year.
  • Ask Questions: Don’t hesitate to ask your doctor questions during visits. If you need care, inquire about alternative treatments or services that are both effective and more affordable.
  • Get Annual Check-Ups and Screenings: The best way to ward off many illnesses is to not them sneak up on you.
  • Take Care of Your Health: A simple way to save money on healthcare is to stay healthy.  By staying at a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and not smoking lowers your risk for health problems.
  • Consider using a Health Savings Account (HSA) or a Flexible Spending Account (FSA): Many employers offer an HSA or FSA. These are savings accounts that allow you to set aside pre-tax dollars for healthcare expenses.  This can help save you several hundred dollars per year.
  • Telehealth: Utilize telehealth services when appropriate to reduce urgent care or doctor’s visits costs.

Staying informed about your health care benefits—including the fine print—can help you save money.  By taking these steps, you can help to manage your healthcare costs and protect your financial well-being.

The Great Gloom

The Great Gloom

The Great Gloom: A Growing Challenge The term “Great Gloom” may be new, but the decline in employee engagement is a longstanding issue. Recent data shows a significant drop in employee happiness; employee engagement in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade. Root Causes of the Great Gloom By addressing the root causes of employee disengagement, organizations can create a more positive and productive work environment, leading to increased employee satisfaction, loyalty, and overall business success.
  • Decreased Productivity: Disengaged employees are less productive and may take longer to complete tasks.
  • Lower Quality Work: Employees who are not engaged may produce lower-quality work and make more mistakes.
  • Reduced Innovation: Disengaged employees are less likely to contribute new ideas or take risks.
  • Increased Turnover: High levels of disengagement can lead to increased turnover and difficulty attracting and retaining top talent.
Reversing the Great Gloom To address the Great Gloom and re-engage employees, organizations should focus on the following:
  • Create a Positive Workplace Culture: Foster a supportive and inclusive environment where employees feel valued and respected.
  • Provide Meaningful Work: Help employees understand the impact of their work and how it contributes to the company’s mission.
  • Offer Flexibility: Provide flexible work arrangements to accommodate employees’ needs and preferences.
  • Invest in Employee Development: Offer training and development opportunities to help employees grow and advance in their careers.
  • Prioritize Mental Health: Support employee mental health and well-being through programs and resources.
  • Encourage Open Communication: Create a culture of open communication and transparency.
  • Recognize and Reward Employees: Acknowledge and reward employees for their contributions to the company.
By addressing the root causes of employee disengagement, organizations can create a more positive and productive work environment, leading to increased employee satisfaction, loyalty, and overall business success.
  • Return-to-Office Mandates: Many employees value the flexibility and control they gained during remote work. Rigid return-to-office policies can lead to disengagement.
  • Lack of Purpose: Employees need to understand the impact of their work and how it contributes to the company’s mission.
  • Heavy Workloads: Understaffed teams and excessive workloads can create a stressful and unfulfilling work environment.
  • Poor Communication: A lack of transparency and open communication can erode trust and morale.
  • Negative Workplace Culture: A toxic or unsupportive work environment can contribute to disengagement.
The Impact of Disengaged Employees
  • Decreased Productivity: Disengaged employees are less productive and may take longer to complete tasks.
  • Lower Quality Work: Employees who are not engaged may produce lower-quality work and make more mistakes.
  • Reduced Innovation: Disengaged employees are less likely to contribute new ideas or take risks.
  • Increased Turnover: High levels of disengagement can lead to increased turnover and difficulty attracting and retaining top talent.
Reversing the Great Gloom To address the Great Gloom and re-engage employees, organizations should focus on the following:
  • Create a Positive Workplace Culture: Foster a supportive and inclusive environment where employees feel valued and respected.
  • Provide Meaningful Work: Help employees understand the impact of their work and how it contributes to the company’s mission.
  • Offer Flexibility: Provide flexible work arrangements to accommodate employees’ needs and preferences.
  • Invest in Employee Development: Offer training and development opportunities to help employees grow and advance in their careers.
  • Prioritize Mental Health: Support employee mental health and well-being through programs and resources.
  • Encourage Open Communication: Create a culture of open communication and transparency.
  • Recognize and Reward Employees: Acknowledge and reward employees for their contributions to the company.
By addressing the root causes of employee disengagement, organizations can create a more positive and productive work environment, leading to increased employee satisfaction, loyalty, and overall business success.
Four Misunderstood Terms in the Americans with Disabilities Act

Four Misunderstood Terms in the Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to employers with 15 or more employees. Despite its broad coverage, there’s a lot of confusion about what the law requires and what its terms entail. A big reason for this confusion is the language of the law itself; the ADA speaks of nebulous concepts like undue hardship and reasonable accommodation. Words like undue and reasonable are by their nature open to some interpretation, which is not exactly a comfort to employers.

Fortunately, employers can feel confident in their application of the law by reviewing and understanding its most important concepts. In this article, we’re going to define and analyze the terms disabilityundue hardshipreasonable accommodation, and interactive process. These are the big four terms that serve as the foundation of your responsibilities as an employer under the ADA.

Disability

Let’s start with the term disability. Under the ADA, a person with a disability is someone who:

  • Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;
  • Has a record of such an impairment; or
  • Is regarded as having such an impairment.

Major life activities include caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. A major life activity also includes the operation of a major bodily function, such as digestive, circulatory, and reproductive functions.

Although determining whether an impairment meets the definition of disability is an individualized assessment, some conditions “virtually always qualify.” For example, according to the EEOC, deafness substantially limits hearing; HIV substantially limits immune function; and bipolar disorder substantially limits brain function. Other conditions may vary from case to case in whether they substantially limit a major life activity.

It’s important to note that the definition of disability is broad. After the ADA was originally passed, the courts interpreted the definition very narrowly, and Congress responded by amending the ADA in 2008 so that more disabilities are covered. If an employee asks for an accommodation because of a physical or mental condition, it often won’t be hard for them to show that the condition substantially limits a major life activity.

Reasonable Accommodation

Employers often encounter the ADA when an applicant or employee asks for a reasonable accommodation. A reasonable accommodation is a change to the workplace or the job application process so that people with disabilities can perform the essential functions of their job, access employment benefits, or be considered for a job they’re qualified for. The intent of reasonable accommodations is to remove workplace barriers for people with disabilities—barriers that don’t prevent people without disabilities from performing the work or applying for the job. But don’t focus too much on the word reasonable; in the context of disability accommodations, reasonable means feasible or plausible.

Common types of accommodations include modifying work schedules, altering the way job duties are done, re-assigning a non-essential job duty (like asking the receptionist to stack the monthly 100-lb paper delivery in the storage room), granting additional breaks, providing accessible parking, and providing materials in alternative formats (e.g., Braille, large print). Another type of accommodation is a temporary leave of absence. Although a bit counterintuitive (because the employee isn’t working while on leave), the theory with a leave as an accommodation is that the time off will enable to employee to perform the essential functions of their job when they return.

Not every requested accommodation is required, however. For one, employers don’t have to remove an essential job function (e.g., the receptionist can still be expected to answer the phone). Employers also aren’t required to provide items for personal use, like wheelchairs or hearing aids. And, as we turn to next, an accommodation doesn’t have to be provided if it causes an undue hardship.

Undue Hardship

Under the ADA, an employer is not required to provide reasonable accommodations to employees or applicants with disabilities if doing so creates an undue hardship on the organization. The basic definition of undue hardship is an action that creates a significant difficulty or expense. Generally, this is a high standard to meet.

The cost of an accommodation could be an undue hardship on the employer, but so could an accommodation’s duration or disruption. An accommodation that would fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the business would be an undue hardship even if the cost was negligible. But if cost alone is the basis for claiming undue hardship, employers should remember that the standard is a significant expense.

Undue hardship is determined on a case-by-case basis, considering the following factors:

  • The nature and net cost of the accommodation, including the availability of tax credits and deductions, as well as outside funding;
  • The overall financial resources of the facility providing the accommodation, the number of employees at the facility, and the effect of the accommodation on expenses and resources;
  • The employer’s overall financial resources, size, number of employees, and the number, type, and location of its facilities;
  • The type of operation of the employer, including the composition, structure, and functions of the workforce, and the geographic separateness and administrative or fiscal relationship of the facility providing the accommodation; and
  • The impact of the accommodation on the operation of the facility, including the impact on the ability of other employees to perform their duties and the impact on the facility’s ability to conduct business.

An employer can’t claim undue hardship based on employee or customer fears or prejudices toward the disability. An undue hardship also can’t be based on the possibility that an accommodation could reduce employee morale.

Interactive Process

The interactive process is an ongoing conversation between the employer and employee to explore potential accommodations so that the employee can perform their essential job functions or access the benefits or privileges of their job.

Basically, the interactive process starts with brainstorming. The employee—and in some cases their medical provider—is often the best source for accommodation options. However, the employer should do some research too, for example, by searching for the disability or functional limitation on the Job Accommodation Network website.

Next, the employer chooses an accommodation from all the options. Employers should give consideration to which accommodation the employee prefers, but, at bottom, whatever accommodation they choose must be effective. If it’s not clear initially, the employer can implement an accommodation for a trial period to determine whether it’s effective. If that accommodation doesn’t work, employers should then try a different accommodation. In addition, circumstances may change over time, so the best practice is to keep an open dialogue with the employee to see if further adjustments are needed throughout the employment relationship.

By Megan LeMire

Originally posted on Mineral