Small Business 101: Episode 34 - Employee Benefits Package: Where To Start - YouTube

Alex: Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Small Business 101 here on

Arbeit U. Spencer: Yeah and we're talking about we're

talking today about benefits, right? If you're, if you're a new company what

benefits you should offer. What you shouldn't offer. What's absolutely

ridiculous like what Arbeit does and what's more you know... Alex: When you should

offer them. Spencer: Yes, when you should offer them. At what point an employee should be eligible

for them all this fun stuff. oh just a great topic all the way around. So

let's start with when should someone be eligible for benefits I pulled that out of

my butt. That seems like a good place to start. Alex: oh when should they be?

Spencer: yeah, an employee like

you know how a lot of people say after a year? Alex: I think it depends on the benefit

well no actually yeah it depends on the benefit so I'll just I think a lot of

benefits of day one like, right? PTO. I think it's ridiculous that somebody who

starts and then they're gonna have to wait a year to have Spencer: I was just

talking to someone about that and they said they actually I think it might be

after 90 days or something and they were like their PTO doesn't kick in for 90

days. I'm like so what happens in the first 90 days? Alex: It's common for people

to not get it for a year. Spencer: I've never heard of a year but still it's ya. Alex: No, I know my

uncle, he has a company I think they don't offer it for a year. He

actually was talking to me about it once and he was saying how well somebody's

had some things come up and it's like what do you do? Do you let them just have the

days off or do you give them paid time and I was like well we offer paid PTO day one so

Spencer: Yeah well, I'm like what if someone gets sick? Spencer: Yeah it's I think that's why I think day one

it's like kind of ridiculous. it doesn't you don't you don't offer a month

vacation. Spencer: Yeah there's a happy medium Alex: But there's like no matter what in a year

somebody's getting sick. Somebody's gotta go to the doctor. Your kids gotta go

sick. There's an emergency that comes up so I think that's just yeah. Spencer: and another

thing about PTO that like Arbeit is really good job but I've heard like

other things is you you have X amount in the year right and if you don't use

the thing Arbeit buys out the PTO. Alex: I think that's common, right? Spencer; No, oh well I

shouldn't say it's not common. I worked at places where you just lose it. You

don't use it. You lose it and that creates like alright it's the

end of the year I have you know 10 PTO Days. See you guys in 10 days.

Alex: The month of December the office is closed. Spencer: Yeah and there's a like obviously a limit to the

number of weeks you can use it in a row but that that's the nice thing, right? like

you're almost rewarding people who don't use their PTO. Cause you get a nice

little check. I mean certain like so yeah should you PTO. It's the it's the

most basic benefit. You should offer it no matter what size company you are. No matter

when you started. People need time off that's just it. If you just opened

yesterday and you have two employees you need to offer PTO. Spencer: Yeah but PTO is kind

of like a basic one, right? So let's talk about kind of what Arbeit does is a

little more unique I think profit sharing. Alex: Right, so profit sharing yeah.

That one we don't make somebody eligible for it for a year and I think. Spencer: That makes

sense. because you could work here four days and catch the the profit

sharing payout. Alex: Right, exactly so this is like we give proper sharing out because

we want because everyone here contributes to the success of Arbeit

right? So everyone here directly contributes to Arbeit's success so they

should be rewarded for that. Now something like that right how long

does it take for someone to contribute to success? Well about a year

we think. So after a year we start giving it to them but yeah again I think that's

something that's an easy one to offer so you just offer it's like if the company

does poorly you know you're not paying it out if you don't have profit cuz its

profit sharing you're taking a percentage of the profit splitting it up

over everybody so I think that one I think you should offer that too. I

think it motivates people to genuinely they should obviously already want the

company to succeed in everything like that but what better way to them to

motivate somebody for then give them a direct benefit. The company has high

profits I personally benefit by getting a big profit sharing. Spencer: I have two questions

for you I guess to gear up. I guess we'll switch a little. So you are notorious for

offering way too many benefits, right? like like you offer way, you're way too

nice. Alex: I think we should offer I would rather offer more. Spencer: yeah,

you're you you've wanted offer more but you know hasn't

worked you know been shut down. What are things that you want to

offer that Alex: oh boy Spencer: that you don't. Alex: I have no idea. Spencer: No idea?

Alex: I don't know. Spencer: and do you think anything is ridiculous? Do you think there's a

like like you've gone too far in the... Alex: We've gone too far? Spencer: Yeah, free lunches every day

we already have a flexible work schedule. Alex: Ah so what I would want to offer is to have

instead of free lunches I would just like to have a personal chef. Spencer: If anyone's

out there. So you know the places that do the meal preps here? They'll do that.

They'll do corporate cooking. I've always been I've seen I think about this all the time

Alex: Should have brought it up to us. I didn't know that.

Spencer: Yeah, they do corporate cooking. I can we can talk about that it.

Alex: But it started you know why I want to do it? because I went to and visited my uncle in

New York City and they have a chef and he goes around takes

everyone's orders brings them food. I'm like wouldn't you love that what like I

would like you just have it. Spencer: and the food's good when we were there, you

remember what they had that day? Alex: like chicken noodle soup. Spencer: It was something

crazy. Like a dreary day. He made like a homemade chicken noodle soup. It's like

that's homey. Alex: So that's why I want to do it. Spencer: And he shows up I think he cooks

lunch and leaves so he's only there for a couple hours but Alex: Yeah and I mean people

love it here. Everyone says they love and I think they love it. I love it. We eat fast

food a lot. Spencer: I was saying the food kills you. Alex: You know maybe we'll make Spencer: we're

we're eating Chipotle in the middle of the day. Alex: but some okay so back to what

you said is there something ridiculous that's somebody that other companies do?

something like Netflix has this policy that you can get unlimited vacation

right? Spencer: Oh yeah, there's a lot of places that do that. Alex: So in Regards I think it's dumb. Two

reasons. One is because its impossible if it's a fake policy. Spencer: Because you can only take

many days of time? Alex: Because nobody there because the study. They actually researched it.

No one actually people at Netflix because of the culture of how much you

have to do and how big your workload is actually take less

PTO than other companies. So it's like this it's all it's is this marketing

ploy. yeah like. Spencer: Is it bad? Alex: Two if it was a real policy, let's

say it was let's say everyone took advantage of it, you're it's just not

possible to make the company. unlimited so I'm just gonna work half the year. Spencer: I

wouldn't be here right now. Alex: Right it's just yeah it's not. Spencer: It's raining outside

Alex: and any reasonable person would understand that you can't just take

every like unlimited vacation. yeah paid vacation again. Alex: Yeah, I mean you

read these stories like the for for people work four days a week like it's

just there's some incredible. Alex: I like that four day a week thing. Spencer: I'm a big believer in

the four-day week. All joking side cuz I think like I mean as we all

know five days. It just makes me sound lazy. 5 days is a lot of work

days but you you can get just as much done in four days as you can in five days.

Right like if you want to like talk about work-life balance like you

know it's technically much more work then it is life like evening it out would be

like four and three. Alex: But lets um Spencer: So yeah shifting gears. Alex: Yeah um when you should

offer certain benefits like their are certain benefits that maybe don't make sense

right away. It's like understandable there's certain things that are really

expensive health insurance it's super expensive. Spencer: That's another thing you do that's

ridiculous. Alex: Well we pay we pay health insurance like we cover five hundred

dollars with the health insurance here for everybody

and again day one we start. Spencer: That's a month. Alex: Oh a month 30 days so I think it

takes 30 days. We start operating right away though pretty sure. Thirty days it

takes thirty days to go into affect. But um but yeah that's one where it's

like okay maybe it's a little more understandable not to offer that day

one if you're a small company that literally just started and have like two

employees. Spencer: And especially if like a lot of companies buy into it like the employees

buy into it so they don't offer exclusive health care, right? So if

you're offering exclusive health care and like it is possible for someone like

sign up take advantage of the health care then leave. You know what I mean? Alex: yeah but

with that being said if you can't get to a point where you can offer your

employees health insurance I think then you're doing something wrong like your

business models just bad. Spencer: Why do you say that? Alex: Because I think you should be able

to that's like a benefit you should be able to offer for employees. It's so

expensive I mean that Spencer: Health insurance? Yeah but like a lot of companies

are like I don't know I mean I don't exactly know but they'll match half,

right? So if it's five hundred dollars the employee contributes two hundred and

fifty a month. Alex: Yeah I'm not saying you have to do there's different

levels depending on what you should there should be some realistic reasonable okay

so yeah you mean verse like not offering health insurance. Alex: Right, not offering it at all

or paying ten percent I mean that's Spencer: Is that an real thing? Alex: I'm sure somebody does

it but like you know paying half is a lot because if

somebody's on it there's family plans that are twelve hundred bucks so that's

more than we contribute then but yeah paying half is a lot so that's

good to pay half but paying you need to be able I think get to a point to

where you do that because again like I don't I've never not had health

insurance but I imagine it's stressful not to have it so you're gonna

you're getting benefits like intangible benefits come from all this

it sounds maybe selfish for the business to do it but you know there are

intangible benefits that the business does get by

providing these things. Spencer: It's hard for someone to leave Alex: Exactly people aren't gonna Spencer: Free

health care, free lunches, profit sharing, we work a 36 hour workweek, right? Alex: Come in

like and you're gonna attract talent. You know yeah so but yeah there so you and

then of today like one of our biggest challenges I think it's a big challenge

for a lot of companies that are finding good people and keeping good people

so doing these things offering benefits think about it. You know when you decide

to do your benefit package put you know put the other person's shoes on put

yourself in someone else's shoes that would be working for your company. What

would you want? What would you appreciate? What would make you want to stay? What

would make you never want to leave and then make your benefits like around that.

yeah, that's all. Spencer: Yeah way to end the episode right like so good good employee

benefits attract good employees. Alex: There you go. simple as that. Spencer: In a nutshell. Alex: Thanks

for watching. Spencer: See you next week Alex: See you.