Why It's the Best Time to Introduce an Employee Benefits Plan

There is an old saying, the best time to plant an oak tree is today. If you wait, the tree will take longer to grow and you will miss out on the benefits in the meantime. With employee benefits this saying is especially true. Putting off starting a plan can seem like a great idea, but in the end, it can just make the process more time consuming and prevent you from enjoying the benefits right now. Benefits continue to be one of the strongest factors in the talent market today. It is a fundamental aspect of hiring and retention strategies for many small businesses, and with the job market continuing to tighten many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have found it to be the ace in their hand. But just because now is a great time to get benefits doesn’t mean that you should rush out and get any benefits plan. You should always consider the needs and expectations of your team. For example, if your team is older, allowing them to devote some or all their benefits to saving for retirement with a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) can be a great perk. If your team is mainly young and single, then maybe allowing a Wellness Spending Account, which will allow them to devote money for fitness, professional development and health supports could also be a great fit. Canadians in general find flexibility and customizability in benefits to be one of the most important factors to accepting or staying in their current position. Beyond bolstering your talent strategy, investing in group benefits for your team now has several advantages.

1. January is the natural start date for many employee benefits plans and flexible spending accounts. Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) mandates that the year starts for these plans on January 1st. This means that you will not have to worry about setting up your plan again until next year.
2. It allows your employees the benefits of coverage for the entire year, meaning that they won’t put off those necessary health or wellness activities like a visit to the dentist.
3. It ensures you and your team get the best tax benefits of your plan. This is especially relevant when you include options like RRSP which allows you to use contributions up until March 1st towards your previous year’s taxes.

The BeniPlus Wallet provides small business owners with the most simple, flexible and affordable benefits in Canada. Our plan allows employers to determine how much money they would like to spend on benefits and how they would like it distributed between their various team members. Plus, there are no set up fees, premiums, or floats required. Even better, you never have to worry about costs going up like with a traditional benefits plan!Even better, our Wallet design allows employers to choose to offer any or all our benefits categories including healthcare spending accounts (HSA), Wellness Spending Accounts (WSA), RRSP, Personal Insurance or Charitable Giving. Your team members, then have the ability to customize their benefits between their options to fit their individual needs. For more information on the BeniPlus Wallet, get a quote today!