hi guys it's me again Jen if you're new here I'm a Filipino living in Ireland
and I'm sharing some of my stories here in my YouTube channel [Music]
I get asked about this a lot mainly by my friends from the internet like yourselves who probably
just recently got an offer from an Irish employer and then you're trying to compare if the benefits
in your offer are reasonable other than you guys believe it or not I get this question also
from my friends who are already here in Ireland they want to just check if the current package
that they have is somehow comparable with other people in the same industry and that's completely
acceptable because you know you want to make sure that you are compensated or remunerated correctly
and today I finally decided to share with you guys the Irish employee benefits based on my previous
experiences now remember that benefits could be different based on the company's industry
your profession the number of experience you have and obviously the grade of your role in
the company consider that if you want to compare this information to your current salary package I
have it listed in these pieces of paper because I want to make sure that I don't miss anything and
what I did is also categorize them into four first would be kind of like the small ones you know not
too big but they're still very nice to have second category I want to call the Main benefits because
I believe that these ones should always be in an employee contract obviously the leave credits
lastly I want to call it as things but no thanks because they're very good but you kind of wish
not to get into a point to use them let's start with the smaller benefits and I have five points
in this bucket first is a travel insurance if your role requires traveling then obviously your
company would have this International SOS hotline that you can call whenever you are on a business
trip to make sure that you are supported in case of emergencies in addition to that they would
also provide a travel insurance for you for the duration of your trip next is the flu vaccination
it is normal in a company here in Ireland to offer its employees flu shots of course to make
sure that their employees are protected from flu especially during the winter time this is
administered by health professionals who sometimes go to the site or you might have an option to just
go to a pharmacy and have your flu vaccine from them this is optional I don't think a company
can require all of their employees to get the vaccine I remember my first year here in Ireland
I didn't get the flu vaccine because my friends told me that oh when I got it I got really sick
that scared me a little bit so I didn't get it guess what three months later I got the flu next
we have Financial advice this usually pertains to free Solutions advice recommendations via digital
platforms to help you manage your financial Wellness this would normally apply when you're
applying for a mortgage or looking for tax advice if you're thinking of making some Investments or
you just want to have your financial Wellness scored this is really good especially if you
want to look at your Financial Health next we have the visual display unit or the vdu I assessments
if your role requires you to be in front of the screen like a laptop or monitor all day or almost
all day then it's normal for the company to give you this offer what it is is a free eye test and
if it results to you needing glasses then that will also be covered by this benefit last in this
pocket would be the discounts offered by local businesses your employer might have partnered
with businesses within the vicinity I think think it's really good especially if you live within the
area because it could be like you know 10 or 20 percent of of products and services for example
gym memberships products from the pharmacies and so on moving on to the main benefits I have
six points for you first is the health insurance I've experienced two types one is that the company
gives you a health insurance allowance which you receive in cash and then it's up to you if you
want to really use it to buy a health insurance coverage if you have this benefit I recommend to
use it accordingly because no one knows what can happen it's always nice to be protected and the
second type is when you get an allowance only if you register to a health insurance company that is
approved by your employer either of the two is great as long as you are protected and insured
next we have pension if you are watching in this video I expect you to know what pension is what's
interesting to know about this is the percentage that your employer is going to contribute for you
the normal one would be you and your employer contributing the same percentage of your gross
salary to your pension but then there are other companies who contribute more for example if you
select four percent they'll provide eight percent if you say five percent they can give nine percent
which obviously is way better than equal equal next we have the travel saver ticket now this
is very good for people who are commuting for work you'll get the tax benefit on the cost of
the ticket so what's going to happen is your company is going to pay for this saver ticket
and then that will be deducted from your salary on a period of time next is Bike to Work scheme
you'll realize that Ireland promotes commute to work so what it is is you'll have a tax benefit
on the cost of your your bicycle there's a limit if it's a normal bicycle it's 1250 and if it's
an e-bike or electric bike the limit is 1500 same with the travel saver ticket the company will pay
or will cover for the cost of the bike first and then that will be deducted from your salary giving
you that tax benefit note though that you can only use this every four years this next one is one of
my favorites it's called the share participation scheme this benefit is usually available for those
roles that are eligible for bonuses you'll be able to reinvest your bonus or a portion of your bonus
to the success of the company so what does that mean instead of getting the bonus taxed on that
here you can opt to invest that money to buy the company's share and then after a period of
time you will have the option to either sell the shares or keep the shares you'll benefit in this
in two ways first is the tax saving because the amount that you decide to reinvest is non-taxable
so for example 2000 that 2000 will not be subject to income tax but you will still pay prsi and USC
at least you could be saving 20 to 40 percent of that amount depending on your tax plan the other
benefit is if the company's value is going higher then by the time you sell the shares you will have
gains that's double whammy right on the flip side it also has a risk if the company's value
then declines then that means by the time you sell your shares you will incur a loss that might upset
your initial savings but obviously if you believe in your company it is a great benefit to utilize
last in this pocket is the tuition support if your role requires CPD units or continuous professional
development units your company will also cover these expenses for you like tuition fees exam
fees they will also be giving you study and exam the company might have some classes for example if
you don't pass the exam within the next two years then you will reimburse them with the amount or
if you leave the company within a certain period then you will also need to pay it back to them now
let's talk about the leaves I have 35 annual leave credits and it increases by one day for every five
consecutive years that I'm with the company so in 15 years I will have 28 days and then we have sick
leave and normally this differs based on your length of service to the company for example if
you're less than three years then you have six weeks worth of sick leave on the other hand if
you're with the company for more than three years you might have 26 weeks worth of sick leave I
also have a wedding leave so if I decide to get married I'll get three additional paid leaves
why not next we have the maternity benefit between the company there's 26 weeks of paid leave that
could be extended for another 16 weeks but then that extension will be unpaid normally all the
public holidays and annual leave that were accrued during that period needs to be used before going
back to work and on top of that there's also something called the parents leave which could
be utilized within the two years since birth or adoption that's another five weeks but during this
period you won't be paid by the company you will get a social welfare benefit instead if you decide
to use all of those that's a total of 47 weeks of course that's get paternity leave as well which is
two weeks worth of paid leaves and on top of that they can also have the parents leave we also have
adoptive benefit which gives you 24 weeks of paid leave last in this pocket is the parental leave
which is unpaid you can use this if you decide to spend more time with your kids before they
reach the age of 12 years old you can use this as continuous 26 weeks or separate blocks with
a minimum of one week each block a structured or recurring all up to you and the last pocket which
I called things but no thanks has five things in it first is the carrier sleeve it's an unpaid
leave wherein you can take 13 to 104 weeks if there is someone in your family that needs care
from you and that you'll not be able to provide services to the company second is compassionate
leaves paid time off for the unfortunate event that an immediate family member passes you'll
have three days for that and then we have Force Major which is three days worth of paid leave
that are for unforeseen family emergencies second to the last we have the long-term
disability cover which only kicks in after the 26 week sick leave normally your company will
have a set percentage of your gross salary that will be paid to you less the State Disability
Pension it's definitely something we don't ever want to utilize death in service normally this
is a multiplier of your gross salary that will be payable to your beneficiary so sometimes it
the three times or four times or whatever depending on the company's policies and
actually I have one bonus which is the bonus so it's always good to have a bonus included in your
package because that drives your performance in the company so sometimes it's based on your
performance or the company's performance or both it's always nice to have that extra every year
alright that's it guys if you found this video useful please don't forget to subscribe to my
channel like this video and leave a comment on the comment boxes below see you in the next video ciao