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Diversity equity, and inclusion has become a top priority, as ethical companies strive to improve the employee experience for all workers.
Some set up employee resource groups to amplify the voices of underrepresented communities. Others improve their diversity hiring policies to ensure people of any race, gender, age, or background are welcome in their organizations.
Delivering inclusive employee benefits is an important way to show that your company genuinely cares about the wellbeing of its people. This guide suggests 18 trending benefits you can offer to positively impact your workplace, including how to incorporate them into your benefits mix.
Inclusive employee benefits support all workers in their personal and professional lives, regardless of their race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, work location, financial status, or any other factor. As the name suggests, inclusive benefits serve more people than traditional benefits which exclude certain groups of people.
If we take parental leave as an example, an exclusive strategy would not support families choosing to adopt. An inclusive alternative would provide leave for any employee growing their families in any way.
There are limitless ways to get creative and support more people with your inclusion efforts. Use the below ideas as a starting point:
Inclusive health insurance is a top priority for employees who want to protect themselves, their families, and loved ones in the event of illness or injury. Inclusive coverage should extend to LGBTQIA dependents, partners who choose not to marry, and individuals who seek specific healthcare benefits like fertility treatments or gender confirmation surgery. Consider offering the following to employees and their dependents:
HSAs provide employees with tax-advantaged savings accounts to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses. They’re flexible compared to traditional healthcare plans and are an excellent way to support diverse families’ unique needs. Employers may choose to match a percentage of employee contributions, making HSAs even more accessible for employees with lower incomes or larger families.
FSAs are another tax-advantaged benefit account that employees use to pay for various expenses, including medical costs, dependent care, and transportation. Again, they allow employees to set aside pre-tax dollars from their paycheck, which reduces their taxable income and boosts their take-home pay.
HRAs are entirely employer-funded accounts. In this model, employees choose from various eligible expense categories, and employers reimburse them for the cost.
To supplement a healthy lifestyle, employers can deliver wellness benefits that can be tailored to their specific needs. Try offering:
Wellness stipends are a set amount employers pay to employees regularly, for example, monthly or quarterly. Employees then choose how to spend their stipend on acceptable expenses, including:
Similarly, you can offer wellbeing memberships providing access to various health and wellness services. Employees might choose from a range of options, such as:
Requiring employees to stick to a rigid 9 to 5 routine can exclude some people from the workforce entirely. Working parents, people with physical disabilities, mental health conditions, neurodivergent employees, and menopausal women are just a few examples of people who could benefit from having more freedom over the hours they work and the leave they take. Here are some ways to make your schedule more inclusive:
Allowing employees to start and end their workday at different times increases productivity, job satisfaction, and mental wellbeing. It also allows employees with other obligations, such as caring for a child or elderly parent to structure their hours in some of the following different ways:
With an internet connection and a home office space, employees in many industries can be just as productive working remotely or in a hybrid capacity as in the office. Employees have strong feelings about the ability to work remotely, with 40% of people stating they’d rather clean their toilet than return to the office full-time. Allowing employees to work from home or in a hybrid model caters to their individual needs and preferences, such as:
Floating holidays are a set number of days employees use on top of their regular vacation time. They allow employees to take time off for religious or cultural holidays that the company’s official holiday schedule may not recognize.
Another option is to offer unlimited paid time off, allowing employees to book days off at any time without explaining what they’re for. Along with the powerful restorative benefits of taking a vacation, some employees might use their PTO to cover unplanned days, such as their childcare falling through or sudden healthcare appointments. In this way, PTO alleviates stress and anxiety for anyone torn between work and home.
Employers can show their support to employees going through a difficult time by offering compassionate leave, or a leave of absence for employees to take when they need to take time off for personal reasons. Some examples include:
Modern employers recognize that families take many forms, from single parents and stepchildren to foster families and adopted siblings. The one thing they all have in common? Families could all benefit from some financial, logistical, and healthcare support. Here are some family planning and childcare benefits you could offer:
Fertility benefits support employees with the costs of assisted reproductive treatments such as IVF, artificial insemination, egg sharing, and mental health services that go alongside these. However, broader family forming benefits packages encompass:
Families thrive when parents take an active role in caring for their children, regardless of gender or biological identity. Employers can make their parental benefits more inclusive by providing leave for:
Families with young children have plenty to navigate, from long daycare waiting lists to sky-high costs that cause some working parents to consider leaving the workforce entirely. Support your employees by offering a range of childcare benefits such as:
Employees must progress in their careers to remain relevant in the current job market. According to LinkedIn data, “helping employees develop in their careers” is the fourth-highest priority for L&D leaders in 2024, jumping five places from ninth position last year. There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy for professional growth; each employee’s career trajectory is unique and requires different types of support at every stage, including the following:
Allowing employees to rotate through different lateral roles within the company can give them a broader understanding of how the organization operates and new skills and perspectives.
For example, a marketing team member might spend a month in sales to better understand the link between their campaigns and sales conversions. These rotations are valuable in building a diverse and cross-functional workforce, breaking down silos, and fostering collaboration.
Offering training and development courses allows employees to upskill, whether they are learning new technology, soft skills, or industry-specific knowledge. These courses help employees stay competitive and keep progressing in their careers.
Many employees want to continue their education while working, but the cost of formal certification paths can be eye-watering. Employers can overcome this challenge by offering tuition reimbursement, a valuable benefit for attracting and retaining top talent. In this model, employers pay back the cost of training to their employees either following course completion or, in some cases, at the point of sale.
Attending conferences and networking events is a great way to mingle with relevant professionals in the industry, ensuring employees are constantly building their connections. Covering the cost of employees attending these events fosters their personal development and brings new ideas and perspectives to the company.
Workers who receive frequent recognition at work are 137% more likely to feel a sense of community and 131% more likely to experience above-average employee engagement, according to O.C. Tanner’s research. There are multiple ways you can deliver this praise and appreciation to individual employees and teams for their contributions, including the following:
Praising someone in front of their peers gives them a sense of pride and also motivates others to want to achieve the same accolade. Public rewards and recognition could include:
While praise can be an excellent motivator in its own right, adding rewards to the message establishes a clear link between working hard and receiving something tangible. Essentially, if your employees receive a reward, they’ll want to replicate that feeling and repeat the pattern again and again. Rewards could include:
Employers may create their own informal program or opt for a formal structure. For example, the Benepass Rewards and Recognition Program enables employers to acknowledge their employees based on career achievements, birthdays, work anniversaries, career milestones, and employee awards.
Curious about the variety of stipends you can offer to employees? We put together a guide to employee stipends to provide an overview of this popular employee benefit and offer inspiration as you design your stipend program. Download the guide to learn about the types of stipends available and how to design a successful program.
It’s uncomfortable to recognize that your current benefits package excludes people. But by working through the steps below, you can thoughtfully change your approach:
Look through a lens of inclusivity by benchmarking what your current benefits provide and who you’re offering them to. Identify if there are subsections of your employees who are missing out on crucial support because of their gender, marital status, sexual orientation, religion, etc. Here are some examples:
For a truly inclusive approach, don’t prescribe benefits to your people without asking what they want and need from you. Perhaps you haven’t considered that you’re missing a particular benefit, or you don’t understand the impact on team morale when some employees don’t have enough leave available to celebrate their home nation’s holidays. Understand employee sentiment better by:
Overcompensating for the benefits you’ve lacked in the past is tempting, but not the right approach here. Instead of serving up brand-new benefits to underrepresented groups in your workforce, achieve inclusivity by focusing on flexibility:
A lifestyle spending account is an excellent option for many types of perks and benefits. It allows employers to offer set funds for employees to spend in whatever way makes the most sense to them. For example, employers may pay $150 a month into each employee’s account, which they can put toward their top priorities, such as wellness, commuting, childcare, or professional development. It’s flexible, inclusive, and a great way to engage and retain your staff.
Here are three ways that employees use their inclusive Benepass LSA to accommodate their personal needs:
Benepass is a people-first platform that makes it easy to roll out generous benefits offerings to every member of your diverse workforce. Whatever your mix of pre-tax or post-tax benefits, the process of connecting to Benepass is straightforward:
Ready to design a highly inclusive workplace that welcomes and supports every team member? Book a free Benepass demo to see our platform in action, or contact sales@getbenepass.com to connect with a benefits specialist.
