Creating viable maternity leave benefits is a vexing problem for many small businesses. Helping female workers fund their maternity leave is a noble goal. But funding maternity leave is very costly, and creates a favored employee class: working women in the growing family life stage. Voluntary employee benefit programs help employers create maternity leave benefits that fund maternity leave, treat all employee classes equally, and come at no direct cost to the employer.
Maternity Leave Benefits
Women in the growing family life-stage will gravitate to employers offering maternity leave benefits. Having and raising children is quite expensive, and to begin the journey with six to eight weeks of unpaid leave is a burden to many couples. Plus, there is also the chance that mom may miss additional time from work prior to delivery due to complications, after work because of postpartum problems, or to take care of a sick or prematurely delivered baby. Any employer offering solutions to this wage gap problem has a leg up on recruiting and retaining workers in this category.
But how can a small employer offer maternity benefits without driving up costs, or unfairly favoring one employee segment over another? Providing six to eight week of paid leave is an option many small employers can not afford. When you add on the need to replace income for complications and/or care of a sick infant the costs can quickly spin out of control. Plus, employers need to consider how male employees and older female employees may feel about the extra benefits provided to one small segment of the employee population. Many employees will never use maternity benefits, and may seek an alternative form of compensation - raising the stakes yet again.
Voluntary Employee Benefits are the Answer
Voluntary employees benefits provide answers to these employer dilemmas. Voluntary benefits allow working women to create maternity leave income for their normal labor and delivery, plus provide protection in case of pregnancy complications, delivery complications, and premature birth. Employees pay for the programs themselves by payroll deduction, so there is no direct cost to the employer. Make the options available to all employees, and no special favors are being done for any single employee segment. Women in the growing family life stage will have their maternity benefits, and the remaining employees will have expanded options to protect themselves and their families in case of unexpected accidents and illnesses.
The most common forms of voluntary benefits are flexible spending accounts, and supplemental health insurance. Flexible spending accounts use pre-tax dollars to help lower a variety of maternity related expenses. A healthcare flex accounts can lower the costs of infertility treatments, pregnancy expenses, and left over medical bills associated with a long NICU stay for a sick infant. Dependent care flex accounts help lower the costs of child care, making it easier for women to return to work. Supplemental health insurance helps women create maternity leave pay for their normal delivery, plus it provides additional protection in case of pregnancy complications, delivery disorders, premature birth, accidents and illnesses.
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