It’s easy to assume most employees know there’s more to their total compensation than the wage received. However, unless employers take the time to itemize and more importantly promote the “actual” perks to employment, they may be missing out on a valuable morale boosting tool.
While it’s true, salary is typically the biggest component of an employee’s compensation, when added all together—wage, vacation days, paid statutory holidays, personal days, daily breaks, workers’ compensation, employment insurance, the benefit package, any retirement/pension plans, parking, gym, etc.—an employee may in fact be earning between 9-23% more than salary alone.
Using this outline as an example, an employee who earned a base salary of $60,320, had an actual TOTAL COMPENSATION of $83,204, once the additional perks of the profession were added in. This employee actually earned an additional $22,884 annually.
This isn’t taking into account the value of claims on a benefit package. Let’s look at a 45-year old employee diagnosed with Cancer. Unable to work for 9-months while undergoing extensive treatment, the salary was protected on the disability program, while the benefit plan covered the costs of scans, and expensive medications not covered under the provincial program. This added up to more than $75,000 for 9-months!
How about an active employee member who was prescribed Harvoni for a set treatment period to cure Hep C. The drug claim amounted to $86,000. Or the employee, still active as a full-time staffer, who needs an oral chemotherapy pill at an annual cost of $120,000.
Without proper promotion of the basics of compensation, few employees may realize the full investment the employer makes in their overall well-being. Vastly underestimated, this is why an annual compensation statement can be so powerful for both retention and recruitment efforts as the company grows and expands. Remember these “perks” of the job set you apart from the competition.
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