Top 4 Employee Benefits that Service Technicians Love

Offering good benefits can help attract and retain the best technician talent.

Expanding your business and hiring new employees represent exciting milestones. But once you do these things you’ll suddenly discover that you have many new decisions to make… How much will you pay employees? How will you conduct hiring interviews? And what kind of benefits package will you offer? 

Although an extensive benefits package may seem extravagant and can eat into your profit margins, consider this; can you afford to not offer great benefits? Benefits packages help to attract and retain good employees and contribute to employee wellness and satisfaction. In turn, this creates happier and more productive employees. Unhappy employees also tend to look for opportunities with competitors who not only offer more attractive salaries and hours, but also better benefits.

Take a look at the top four employee benefits that potential field service workers look for and existing workers appreciate.

1. Insurance Packages

Your company can offer a robust insurance package that includes life, health, dental, vision, and disability insurance. Or, you can stick to a basic health insurance plan, or mix and match. 

In fact, legally speaking, you do not even have to provide insurance benefits to your employees at all. However, it remains such a standard practice that you may have trouble attracting new hires or retaining existing employees if you fail to offer at least a bare bones health insurance plan. 

2. 401(k) and Retirement

Offering a 401(k) means a certain percentage from each paycheck (typically 3% to 6%) gets deposited into a special retirement fund. This takes the guesswork and effort out of saving for retirement, much in the same way as withholding taxes.

Employees appreciate companies that help them prepare for retirement. A 401(k) allows employers to match the employee’s contributions. In essence, this provides an extra income boost that the employee will access during retirement. Like insurance benefits, no legal requirement for a matching 401(k) program exists despite the popularity of the practice.

3. Paid Vacations, Sick Days, Holidays

If you want happy employees, paid time off will win them over in a heartbeat. Paid time off tells your employees, “We value your health and the contributions you make to this company.” It allows them to take a break from their rigorous work schedule in order to relax, spend time with family, or just take care of important things that they haven’t had time to address. But crucially, paid time off lets them do these things without worrying about how they’ll pay the bills this month.

One common approach to this benefit involves increasing the amount of paid time off the longer an employee works for the company. This practice gives someone who has worked for you for ten years several weeks’ worth of paid time off each year, whereas someone just starting out may only have five days. This encourages employees to remain with your company for longer stretches of time.

As an employer, you should familiarize yourself with the Family Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, which outlines workers’ rights for unpaid leave under certain circumstances. Qualifying circumstances include caring for a newborn or recovering from a serious illness. FMLA protects workers’ rights to return to their position and to retain their benefits during leave, but only employees who have worked for the company for a certain length of time and completed a certain number of hours qualify for FMLA. 

4. Employee Discounts

Consider offering employee and family discounts as part of your benefits package. A set discount such as 25% off all services or 10% off all products still puts money into your coffers while making your employees feel valued and appreciated. Extending the discount to family members also widens your customer base and encourages family members to advertise via word of mouth. 

If you have company partnerships with other service providers, talk to them about reciprocal employee discounts. This means that your HVAC company employees can use their employee discount for a partner plumbing company, and vice versa. 

Other Benefit Options

If you want a stellar benefits package for your employees, get creative! Negotiate discounted gym memberships or even coffee discounts. Have “Donut Friday” or a similar perk that involves a free lunch at the office. 

Get to know your employees to find out what kinds of benefits would serve them best. For example, some workplaces also offer childcare discounts or onsite childcare. Others offer tuition reimbursement for continuing education. You might consider offering your field service technicians a company-owned vehicle to make it easy for them to dispatch to a client without having to stop by the main office first. 

In short, the benefits you offer your employees help them feel valued and appreciated, but there’s no one-size-fits-all benefits package. Get to know your employees and find out what they need. Don’t forget to research your competitors’ benefits packages as well to make sure your employees don’t feel like the “grass is greener” at another company.