It’s Benefits Season! Here are 5 benefits all HR professionals should know about for 2024.

A competitive benefits package can be a powerful lever when it comes to achieving your talent goals. 

Beyond the traditional benefits like health care, dental, and vision insurance, employers in the United States are increasingly using fringe benefits to attract and retain top talent. Thoughtful and impactful benefits can help companies stand out from the employer crowd while enhancing job satisfaction among the existing employee base. A strong benefits offering can help foster a positive work environment and promote increased employee engagement by improving employees’ overall financial and emotional well-being. 

For forward-looking HR professionals who want to curate an amazing benefits package for 2024 (and beyond), here are 5 fringe benefits you should know about that are hot on employees’ minds and rising in popularity: 

1. Tax-Free Employer Student Loan Repayment Assistance

‍Now that student loan payments are back in full-force, employers are stepping in to support their employees through tax-free student loan repayment assistance programs that help employees pay down their student loans. By offering this benefit, employers can both alleviate a significant financial stressor for employees and demonstrate their commitment to supporting employees’ financial well-being. Student loan repayment assistance not only helps attract and retain talented individuals, but also contributes to their long-term financial stability, providing a win-win for companies and employees alike.

2. Caregiver Assistance

‍With the cost of childcare and eldercare on the rise, cutting-edge companies have started offering caregiver assistance benefits to help employees with the financial, mental, and emotional burden of caregiving. Caregiver assistance can include offering tax-advantaged dependent care reimbursement accounts, flexible and generous leave policies, and flexible work arrangements.

‍3. Financial coaching/planning

‍If it feels like everyone’s got money on their mind, it’s probably because they do. Between inflation, resuming student loans, high healthcare costs, recession fears, and new life milestones, people are worrying more and more about their financial stability and well-being. Employees are increasingly seeking financial wellness benefits to help them make ends meet. As an easy win, many companies are now offering access to financial coaching and planning services to their employees to help them manage their money, save for retirement, and plan for their future.

4. 529 Accounts‍

Though not as popular as other student loan and tuition assistance benefits, employer-sponsored 529 plans are a great way to help employees plan for their families’ long-term financial well-being. These tax-advantaged, employer-sponsored 529 accounts allow employees to start saving up for their dependents’ future education by making elective contributions with paycheck deductions. Some employers may even offer a matching contribution to their sponsored 529 plans.   

5. Pet Insurance

After people emptied out the shelters in the midst of the pandemic, many employees now have to take their pet’s general care into consideration when budgeting their monthly and emergency expenses. Considering roughly 66% of US households now own a pet (according to the American Pet Products Association), it’s not surprising that some employers are starting to offer pet insurance as a way to help their employees who have pets and stand out from the employer crowd. 

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Compensation is about more than just salary–it’s about benefits too. HR leaders starting to consider what new impactful and cost-effective benefits they can offer in 2024, should keep these are five fast-growing ones in mind.