Employers are often caught in a catch 22 as to if they should offer their employees health insurance. There is no labor law that states that you have to offer employee’s company health insurance for their labor. However, there is a labor law says that there is no grounds for discriminating against an employee in offering them health insurance, but that is for those instances in which an employer does decide that they are going to offer health insurance. You do not have to see it as an exchange for an employee’s labor, but you should see it as an added benefit. Although there is no labor law that requires this, you may receive quite a few benefits from doing so as well. Most employers are just happy that there is no labor law that forces them to do so, in exchange for labor or not. They are content with the fact that the choice is theirs.
1. One reason that you may want to offer health insurance even though it is not a labor law requirement is because employees like to see that you offer these benefits, because most people need them. People want to know that their labor is being appreciated. They want to know that their labor is highly valued, and for that, even though there is no labor law in place to require an employer to give health insurance, this is something that the company offers its employees. They appreciate the fact their employer is making one of the most necessary expenses in their lives a little less costly. Although there are situations where this is not the case, this is typically the employer’s intention.
2. Another reason as to why you may want to offer health insurance even though it is not a labor law requirement is because of the competition. Nowadays for all types of labor, employers are offering health insurance. No matter what the degree of labor you are employed, you may be presented with medical insurance. Whether the labor that you perform is hazardous or not, you may be offered health insurance. Even though there is not a labor law that is in place, that makes this the standard, many people see this as an unwritten rule. Depending on the type of labor that you may have your workers doing, you may be frowned upon if you do not offer health insurance. In order to compete with your competitors to hire qualified, long term workers, this is certainly a step in the right direction.
3. Even though the labor law does not require that you give your employees health insurance, you may want to do so because of the tax deduction that you are going to get. By doing so, despite the fact that there is no labor law to make this requirement, you will usually be able to reap the benefits of a tax deduction.
4. Another reason why you may want to offer health insurance even though there is no labor law to require this is because you may be able to obtain less expensive benefits. Even if you do not perform any hard labor for the company, the labor that you perform as CEO may get you cheaper health insurance under a company offered group plan.
