Almost 80% of workers said that the benefits they receive is one of the reasons they choose to work for a particular company. Benefits cause employees to feel that their company appreciates them, according the 2011 Mercer Workplace Survey.
While benefits help with recruiting and retention, it can have other positive benefits such as "greater engagement, personal accountability and overall satisfaction," said Suzanne Nolan, partner, Mercer's U.S. Outsourcing business.
Other workplace initiatives that are catching employees' attention are wellness programs. Nearly a third of employees say they take advantage of their employer's wellness program up substantially from 23% last year. Looking specifically at disease management programs, 26% of employees surveyed took advantage of these programs up from 15% last year.
One reason however that employees might be so interested in wellness plans it that employees are being asked to pay a larger share of health care costs. This year, almost half (44%) of the employees surveyed reported that they were asked to pay more out of their own pocket for health benefits in the last 12 months.
Yet, 46% still identified their health benefits are "definitely worth" the cost (up from 38% in 2010).
Health Care Reform
Changes in health care coverage will continue as the health care reforms become reality. More than a third of the population of insured workers (36%, double the 2010 level) report that their employer has signaled coming changes in their health plan as a result of the new law. For companies with 250 to less than 5,000 employees, the figure rises to 45%.
