The concept of remote working has seen exponential growth in the past few years. Even more so with the current pandemic situation. Having to abide by the social-distancing norms, remote working is virtually the only option available.
This rise in the numbers game for remote workers begs the question, ‘What about the employee benefits for remote workers?’ Since they are also a part of your workforce, surely they deserve it. However, things may get a bit tricky here because you will need a different approach in this matter.
This is because things are different for remote workers than your typical office workers.
Remote employees do not always have access to an office workspace, proper tools and general office amenities. They do not enjoy the stability of working in a confined time zone of 9 to 5 either. Their work nature is rather spontaneous, which requires them to put in extra hours.
There are many more ways in which remote working is different from working from the office, and this necessitates rethinking of the employee-benefits package by the board.
To give you a headstart in this regard, here are the employee benefits you must consider.
Six must-have employee benefits for remote workers
The concept of remote working has seen exponential growth in the past few years. It is more so the case with the current pandemic situation. Having to abide by the social distancing norms, remote working is virtually the only option available.
This rise in the numbers game for remote workers begs the question, ‘What about the employee benefits for remote workers?’ Since they are also a part of the workforce, surely they deserve it. However, things may get a bit tricky here because things for remote workers are different from what they are for those working from office, and therefore, a different approach will be required in this matter.
Remote employees do not always have access to an office workspace, proper tools, and general office amenities. They do not enjoy the stability of working in a confined time zone of 9 to 5. Their work nature is rather spontaneous, which requires them to put in extra hours.
There many more ways in which remote working differs from working at the office. These differences necessitate a rethinking of the employee benefits package.
Here are the employee benefits you must consider, and get a head-start in this regard:
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Insurance
Financial independence is often the first aim of employment. It is the reason why individuals prepare day and night for the job of their dreams, and the first step to financial independence is insurance.
Everything in life is uncertain. While uncertainty is unavoidable, fortunately, some of it can be insured. As an employer, you must take care of this and offer the best health insurance benefits.
With the insurance market full of competitive quotes for corporate insurance, it is even easier to get a great deal. Furthermore, you can also patch your remote employees with your insurance broker to get all sorts of insurance plans at a discount.
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Workstation
Workstation support is one other aspect that most of remote workers need assistance with. This is because remote workers do not enjoy the liberty to work at well-maintained office workstations.
This has an adverse effect on both the productivity and health of the employees. Therefore, a proper work-from-home setup must be made available to them. As an employer, you can help provide some hardware and paid software to help them ease into their projects.
You can reimburse them for a few of the office work essential commodities, such as net connectivity and proper home office furniture.
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Training and development
Learning never stops. It is an essential part of employee development that, as an employer, you must include in your benefits programmes. It means, providing ample opportunities for your employees to learn and develop their skillsets.
This will boost employee motivation levels at work and help employees excel further in their career. All this also means better job satisfaction with increased retention. For remote workers, this need for training can be readily fulfilled through countless online courses.
There are plenty of certification courses from giants, such as Google and Hubspot, that can get you started just right. Other than these, you can also offer your remote employees a paid course pack to polish their skills.
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Health and fitness
Employee health is a vital element that employers must take responsibility for, daily. Since an employee spends a considerable amount of the day working for you, she/he may not get time to take care of themselves.
This results in an inactive life leading to health problems, such as body posture, obesity and high blood pressure, which can be a menace to employee wellbeing. The health and well being of an employee can only be controlled through an active lifestyle. Therefore, you must encourage remote employees to remain physically active.
In this aspect, implementing a corporate wellness platform will work wonders. These are platforms that encourage a healthy lifestyle through challenges, daily tasks and rewards.
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Subscriptions
Remote working can get quite isolated sometimes, because while office workers can bond with one another, remote employees tend to work alone. While this can be a choice for few, complete social isolation can be mind-numbing at times.
Therefore, you must think of something to keep your employees happy and engaged at such times. It can be a subscription pack for online streaming services to keep them from getting bored.
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Childcare options
Last on our list is the essential childcare and home-care services. While working away from the office, the tendency to get easily distracted by many things is more. Two of these are, having to take care of a child, and managing the home.
These are two tasks that an individual cannot rationally neglect, and therefore, any help in this regard will be welcomed by your remote workers. Relieving them from these will free up their mind to concentrate more on work and gets things done with more accuracy.
In this regard, you can provide childcare services, such as providing professional babysitting or day-care services. For home-care services, you can furnish your employees with laundry and cleaning services, home-delivered meals and so on.
Conclusion
Employee benefits play a significant role in attracting top talent. This is because, benefits packages are as crucial as hefty pay packages in the current job market. They help attract, hire and retain ace talent.
