Any entrepreneur who decides to take a risk and start their own business must carefully manage an operational budget. Since most of these corporations have limited funds to begin with, it can be difficult for a new worker to secure proper employee benefits, especially if there is no official HR management system in place. Here are a few things both employers and workers need to know about health care plans and benefits programs in start-ups.
According to the Boston Business Journal, the average start-up company has less than 10 full-time employees. This statistic is a double-edged sword, because although there is likely a lack of HR consulting, only 10 people need to be provided with a basic benefits plan. This includes medical coverage like dental, disability and other features that employees consider important.
However, Vegas Inc. suggests a different route such as consumer-driven health plans. These essentially place an employee in control of their respective health care needs, offering adjustable savings plans and low premiums. This saves funds for the parent company in the long term because workers take advantage of a larger external provider network rather than a tiny internal one.
"How do companies decide on a health care plan? First and foremost, as I always like to tell people, is selecting the right broker, which is always the best resource," said Aetna VP of sales and service Rachel Scales, according to the news source. "The broker's responsibility is to help them work through answering all those questions, and in fact kind of anticipating what those questions are."
Both owners and employees can hire an outside consultant to take a look at existing plans in order to ensure that all workers are being compensated correctly.
