Know Your Job Benefits

Written By Adam English

Posted July 19, 2013

Outsider Tip of the Week

If you are a full-time employee with benefits, you undoubtedly know about some of your benefits. Every year, you get information on health insurance enrollment and 401(k) information.

However, most employees rarely sit down with their HR staff to go over all of the benefits offered by their company… They simply wait for it to come up in a mass email that they file away for another day.

Here are some potentially great benefits you may be eligible for through your job, but you never knew existed:

Gym Membership: Many companies strike deals with local gyms and either subsidize or fully cover the cost of a membership. Some even include access to personal trainers. This is a win-win situation because healthier employees cost far less to insure over time.

Employee Discounts: If you work for a company that makes something, you can often buy the products at a steep discount. Your employer may have even struck deals with businesses nearby. You could get discounts from restaurants, movie theatres, sporting events, barbers, and other stores. At a previous job, I received a 10% discount on beer and wine from a local store.

Emergency Funds: Companies often allow employees to donate unused sick and vacation days to employees that are facing medical emergencies in their families.

Tuition: Companies are often willing to reimburse all or a portion of tuition for futhering employees’ education in a way that benefits the company. You can then use your new knowledge or certification as leverage for raises or promotions in the future.

Transportation Costs: A popular option with companies is to allow you to put pre-tax money aside to cover costs like transportation, parking, and tolls.

There are many more potential benefits you may be able to use. Take a couple minutes and schedule a meeting with an HR staff member to find out.