If you’re feeling squeezed between rising healthcare costs and employees asking for “more,” you’re not alone.
Maybe your team wants better perks, but your margins say otherwise. Maybe you’re competing with bigger companies that can afford flashier benefit packages. Or maybe you’re just trying to hold onto the great people you already have—without blowing up your budget.
Here’s the good news: you don’t need to offer more expensive core benefits to make a big impact. Voluntary benefits—low-cost, employee-paid perks like vision, dental, gym memberships, or identity protection—are an easy, effective way to support your team and strengthen retention.
And they cost your business little to nothing.
Voluntary benefits are add-on offerings that employees can opt into and pay for—usually at a lower group rate—through payroll deductions. You’re giving them access to better rates and convenience without having to subsidize the benefit.
Some of the most common voluntary benefits include:
Why it matters: Employees like options. Offering these kinds of perks shows you’re thinking beyond the basics—and that you care about their full quality of life.
Not everyone wants the same thing from their benefits package. Your 25-year-old team member may be looking for fitness perks, while your office manager with three kids is prioritizing vision coverage for the family.
Voluntary benefits let you offer more without assuming what matters most to each person.
When employees see their company offering useful, modern, flexible perks—especially ones that align with their lifestyle—they feel seen. And employees who feel seen are more likely to stay.
In fact, benefits are often a deciding factor when employees consider whether to stay or leave. According to LIMRA, 7 in 10 employees say their benefits are a key reason they stay at their current job.
Most brokers or payroll providers—like Cadence—can help you bolt on voluntary benefits to your existing package. You don’t have to handle the administration or vendor negotiations on your own.
Benefits only work if people know what they are and how to use them. Send a simple one-pager during open enrollment. Include voluntary benefits in new hire onboarding. Remind your team about what’s available quarterly.
Give them easy access to choose what they want, when they want. That could be through an online portal, enrollment meeting, or email series. The easier it is to opt in, the more value your team sees in the benefit.
You don’t have to match the benefit budgets of giant corporations to compete for talent. Voluntary benefits let you say yes to more perks, show you care about your team, and improve retention—without increasing your overhead.
And in today’s hiring market, that’s a smart move.
Schedule a call to learn what you can add—without increasing your costs.
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