What are discretionary benefits? According to Career Minds, discretionary benefits are employee benefits that are not mandated by law. A lot of benefits are a companies competitive advantage to stand out and be chosen over companies that don’t offer a good benefits package. Some discretionary benefits that are not mandated by but are a nice perk are the following: Paid Time Off, Sick time, Health/Medical Leave, Medical Insurance, Life Insurance, Dental Insurance, Retirement match for 401(k)s, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Saving Accounts, Paid Holidays, Education Assistance.
Mentioned above are only some discretionary benefits that employers voluntarily offer to their employees. If the HR department of my company were ever asked to eliminate some over our discretionary benefits to meet budget, then their would be a lot of hard decisions made. When deciding which benefits to keep, the company has to ensure that they are still maintaining a competition advantage while maintaining their budget
Out of the list I mentioned above, I would suggest the HR department only keeping five of them. To begin, Medical Leave is highly suggested to keep because it protects employees from keeping their job while they are away. In addition, offering a retirement program to employees is a good way to motivate them to stay long-term. Similarly, offering vision, dental, and life insurance are highly recommended to offer not only competition but to retain employees as well. PTO is a nice perk to have if the budget allows it however could be left behind. In addition, I would consider eliminating Paid Holidays, Education Assistance, Health Savings Account, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Sick time to save on costs.