Dallas Cox: If you have a job, you might have fringe benefits
available to you. I'm Dallas and I'm a writer for Clark.com. I'm here today with our human
resources expert to talk about what exactly fringe benefits are.
Rebecca Jennings: Hi there, I'm Rebecca Jennings and I'm the
HR Manager at Clark Howard Inc. and I've been doing HR for about five years.
Dallas Cox: So to get started, Rebecca, what exactly are
fringe benefits?
Rebecca Jennings: Fringe benefits are pretty much anything outside
of your standard paycheck that can have monetary value.
Dallas Cox: Can you list a few examples of what fringe
benefits may include?
Rebecca Jennings: So it's everything from your sick days, vacation
days, any type of PTO, and it can be like your health savings plan. A lot of them have
added benefits. So if you work out, you can get. For instance, our plan, if you work out,
you can log your workouts and then you can collect points and those points you can redeem
for things like gift cards. We have some doctors that you can see for free. We have mental
health experts that you can see a certain amount for free. So there's a big variety
of benefits.
Dallas Cox: What is the best way to get a benefit that
isn't available?
Rebecca Jennings: A lot of companies are really open to employee
feedback. That's been a big trend, companies really wanting to make sure employees feel
valued and feel like they're being heard. So if there's something that you don't see
at your company, ask for it. If you want to set up a meeting with your HR person if you
feel really strongly about something, ask.
A lot of places do yearly surveys or quarterly surveys and they're usually anonymous, but
the business will ask for comments and feedback and people read that. So if there's something
you want to see, ask. And a lot of times, especially if it comes up more than once,
places will adjust and make sure that they update what they're doing. But yeah, we're
always happy to listen to feedback.
Dallas Cox: So as HR, how have you dealt with requested
benefits in the past?
Rebecca Jennings: The last company I worked for had a gym on
site and people loved it. Due to some liability issues with, I believe it was the weights,
that freaked out the insurance company, they had to take the gym away.
So when I got there, of course, I got it. All the people when I started, people were
upset because the gym was gone. So I got to deal with that, but we were able to adjust
and we brought on, so many people gave us that feedback that we were then able to look
at our budget and adjust, and we brought on a yoga instructor on site. The employees loved
it. We had such positive feedback. It was also a dog-friendly place. So the dogs did
yoga with us. What could be better than that? So, yeah, just ask for it and people will
make it work. Even if it's not exactly the same thing it was before, we want our employees
to be happy.
Dallas Cox: Do you have advice for getting the most out
of your fringe benefits?
Rebecca Jennings: A lot of times, these are presented when an
employee starts. They start, they get a new hire orientation and they're bombarded with
all kinds of information. Usually, a portion of that is all your benefits.
So you're hearing it at the same time. You're trying to log into your computer, use the
new software that this new place uses, so it's really overwhelming. I think it's always
good to kind of, you can check in with your HR specialist and just set up a meeting. We
should be available to you whenever you want.
So if you want to just chat with me, find out what your benefits are, I'm always happy
to go through them with employees and do refreshers. I try to also do a refresher at least once
a year of general benefits for people because you get siloed into your work.
I think doing refreshers for people is nice, but just set up a meeting with your HR person.
When you're looking at different HR perks at your company, think outside the box a little
bit too, especially if there's things you're already doing in your personal life.
Let's say you already are doing donations to your favorite charity. A lot of places,
especially big corporations, they'll match it. So even though they're not directly giving
the money to you, you're still maximizing the good you were already doing. Then I would
just always... My biggest thing for employees, people don't use all their PTO and it just...
I don't know why it's part of our culture to not use your time off because when you
do take time to reset, you get more work done once you've come back.
I think it's great to take all your time that you've earned. I will say it's also very important
to take all of your paternity leave, dads, if you're offered it. Because if you don't
take it right at that time, you're not going to take it. My husband's company, they gave
him up to a year to take his paternity leave and he never used it.
He used a few days and then life happened. He had projects. So use your time. Then just
one more thing that is just my biggest HR pet peeve is please, if your company offers
matching for your 401(k), please meet the match goal. That's free money, free money.
So at Clark Howard Inc., we match up to a certain percent and we try to encourage all
of our employees to match up to that. Make sure if you work for a big box company, a
lot of times they have it where you have to opt into the match. So they want to wow you
with all their benefits, but when it actually comes down to giving them to you, they can
be a little sneaky.
So I automatically enroll people in the full match and it's up to them if they want to
lower it or change it. But a lot of companies, you have to find out what the match is and
opt into it. So don't lose out on free money. Just drives me cuckoo. Get your money, people.
And it grows so much over time. Can you tell I work for Clark?
Dallas Cox: That's great. That's awesome. Whenever it
comes to your HSA and FSA, what are some things that you can do to maximize those benefits?
Rebecca Jennings: FSA are flexible spending accounts and HSA
are health savings accounts. They're similar. So it's pre-tax money that you put in from
your paycheck and you can use it on... They differ a little based on which one you have,
but you can use it on a variety of healthcare needs, healthcare items. Or for the FSA, you
can use it also on childcare, dependent care.
You're not having to pay tax on it, so that's also good because that's also free money and
your employers should have lists of everything that can be used for each different plan.
But the health savings account, they are a little... Even though the other one's called
flexible, I almost think the health savings one is a little more flexible. It's not like
a use it or lose it thing. They can build on themselves over time. You don't lose the
money if you don't spend it right away.
The FSA, typically for most places, have it set up that you have to use it within a year
and it's not adjustable. So if you say, let's say your plan starts every year in January.
So if you say, "Oh, I want to contribute a hundred dollars per month," you can't then
a month later it'd be like, "No, nevermind. I want $20." It is set in stone.
But with the FSA, you can also use it on childcare. So there's generally good parts to both, but
what with FSA, you also... Yeah, you do use it or lose it. So it's a little more risky,
I guess. I don't know. I have a kid and you're always going to need money for doctors and
ear infections and all kinds of things. So it's not that big of a risk for someone like me.
Then for the HSA, it has to be with a certain kind of health plan. You can't just have it
willy nilly. It has to be with a high deductible plan. So there's rules for both. But if they're
offered, it's a great option to save money because you're not having to pay tax on it.
There's limits to both, but your employers should have all the rules for each laid out.
Dallas Cox: Okay. Cool. That's what I was going to say
because we had a conversation about how to talk to your HR person about which one's best
for you and learning if it is a use-it-or-lose-it, making sure that you're getting the most out
of those benefits before they're gone.
Rebecca Jennings: Yeah, because you're not saving anything if
you're losing it. So, yeah.
Dallas Cox: What's your final advice for taking advantage
of fringe benefits?
Rebecca Jennings : I think the number one thing is use your time.
Use all your PTO time you have available and communicate with your company. If there's
something else you want, if there's something you think would add value to you yourself
or other employees, speak up because we want our people to be happy. Companies like retention.
Turnover is expensive and we want people to be happy. Happier people do better work. People
want their employees to feel valued. So hopefully, everyone will be listening. Everyone listens
to feedback, hopefully.
Dallas Cox: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking
the time to talk about all of this today. And remember, you can always find more helpful
information for your wallet at Clark.com.