Benefits

In today's economy, employees look beyond just salary in determining which jobs to apply for and which positions they will remain in. Often the determining factor will be the benefits that go along with the job. Benefits can help protect employees from economic loss, assist in dealing with illness, disability or death and can help employees plan for the future. Benefits also help with employee retention and are important for employers to get an edge on the competition. However, benefits do not come cheap. Employers often spend over 30 percent of an employee's annual wages in order to offer a competitive program.

Most benefits are just that, they are not required by law. There are three areas, however, in which benefits are mandatory:

• Social Security;
• workers' compensation; and
• unemployment insurance.