What Are the 4 Main Types of Employee Benefits?

To set your Ohio business apart in the competitive employee marketplace, it is paramount that you look into various types of employee benefits. Particularly for small businesses, investing in an attractive employee benefits package is a must. Having benefits will not only help your business with recruiting, but it will assist with retaining your talented workers.

Additionally, employee benefits can improve employee health and morale while also giving your business certain tax advantages. To help you determine the right employee benefits that best fit your business and industry, refer to the four main types of employee benefits for inspiration.

The 4 Main Types of Employee Benefits


The four main types of employee benefits are medical insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and retirement plans. Here is a closer look into each category.

Medical

This is the most expansive of all four categories and possibly the most important. Within this category, there is of course medical insurance, that covers things like hospital visits and surgeries.

  • Group health plans, from fully-insured to self-insured, covers medical care for participants or dependents through insurance.
  • Group dental insurance covers annual exams, teeth cleanings, and even policies that teach proper dental health and disease prevention.
  • Group vision helps employees cover vision care expenses like eye exams and prescriptions.

Other benefits that fall under the umbrella of medical insurance include a flexible spending account (FSA), health savings account (HSA), and health reimbursement account (HRA). An FSA is an account that your employees put money into to pay for out-of-pocket expenses. An HSA is similar to the former and is an account your employees can use to pay for qualified medical expenses. An HRA is a group of health plans funded by your business to help reimburse your employees’ medical expenses.

Further medical insurance benefits include cancer insurance, critical illness insurance, and hospital insurance.

Life

Group life insurance provides a safety net for employees. If one of your employees were to pass away, their family would receive a lump-sum payment from Group Life Insurance. A life insurance policy is orchestrated through an insurance company and overlaps with accidental death and dismemberment insurance. The latter is self-explanatory in its title as a payout is given to the employee’s family or the employee themselves should they get seriously injured or die.

Disability

These benefits assist your employees who are unable to work due to serious injury or prolonged illness. Group disability insurance pays a percentage of an employee’s income while they are impaired and can be split into short-term and long-term. Accident insurance helps employees pay for medical expenses due to accidental injuries.

Retirement

The last type of employee benefit deals with long-term savings. There are various retirement plans such as 401(k), 403(k), Simple IRA, and Roth 401(k). It is recommended that your business partner with an advisor when dealing with retirement plans to prevent issues.

About Haughn & Associates

Founded by Michael Haughn in 1986, Haughn & Associates is a full-service, family-owned, independent insurance agency based out of Dublin, Ohio. H&A strives to provide the best possible price and unique insurance solutions across a myriad of industries, including construction, IT, Habitation & Commercial Property, Agriculture, and Engineering. Devoted to providing the best of business insurance, life and disability insurance, personal insurance, employee benefits, and bonds, H&A is proof that success lies in long-standing client relations and satisfaction. To learn more about how H&A can be of service to you, contact us at (877) 802-2278.