Employee benefits are basically types of compensation offered to employees by their employers in addition to their normal wages or salaries. There are mainly two types of employee benefits: statutory and discretionary benefits. The main purpose of employee benefits is to increase the economic safety of all working people and in doing so, employers are able to better the lives of their employees as well as improve their worker retention rate.

Just as the name suggests, discretionary benefits are those kinds of benefits that are optional and employers offer them from the goodness of their hearts. But what are statutory benefits for employees? Statutory refers to something that has been authorized, fixed or established by statute. When used to refer to benefits, it could mean the kinds of benefits employers are required by law to offer to all their employees.

There are several types of statutory employee benefits that every employer must know about in order to comply with the legal requirements:

1. Social security benefits:

These are types of legal employee benefits that are meant to protect the employee and their dependents in case of his retirement or sudden loss of a job. After retirement, for instance, the retired worker and their spouse will receive social security benefits monthly. The same benefits are available to qualified persons who are completely and permanently disabled. These benefits are basically a form of social insurance and are meant for workers at the lowest end of the income bracket as a way to protect these people and their families from retiring into poverty.

2. Unemployment compensation

This too is a form of employee benefits that are paid by the state to unemployed workers who have lost their jobs as a result of retrenchment or layoffs. This kind of benefit is provided in order to give jobless workers a source of income until they can find another employment. To be eligible for these kinds of benefits, certain criteria must be adhered to by an unemployed worker, for instance, he must have worked for a certain period of time before the layoff. He must also be actively looking for employment.

3. Earned leave

This too is one of the legally mandated benefits for employees especially those who work in the government sector. However, for employees in the private or corporate sector, this is a voluntary type of benefit. This kind of benefit is meant for employees who work all day, every day, without taking a break. Such employees are likely to be less productive on the job if they are not allowed a break from time to time. A paid vacation is one way through which employers can offer compensation to avoid burnout situations.

There are so many employee benefits that employers can use to attract and retain quality talent in their organization. But first, it is important to find out what employee benefits are required by the law, then you can add a few more to set yourself apart from your competition.