Employers can attract and retain qualified employees by offering flexible benefit plans. These plans allow companies to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse labor pool. Flexible benefit plans also permit employers to take more control over benefit costs. By creating and maintaining flexible benefit arrangements, employers can keep their workers in step with a future system that is likely to provide them with choices of many benefit options over the Internet. The trends identified in the development of flexible benefit plans center on the areas of choice, equal treatment of employees, cost control, and enrollment and communication.
Employers can take a functional approach in implementing flexible benefit plans.
This approach conceptualizes employee benefits as an integrated program that can be designed and maintained in such a way as to make the entire program mesh with an employer's total compensation goals. Plans designed in this way can also provide functional coverage and benefits for employees. Perussina, Robert D. Employee Benefits Journal v25 no2 pp 15-17 Jun 2000 Communication of benefits and the administration of flexible benefit plans have been altered by technological advances. Many employers are turning to employee self-sufficiency systems, which they believe improve services while reducing costs. Companies that replace their paper-based benefits information with information delivered via electronic means leverage their existing technology, increase the accuracy of information, and make current benefits information and resources available on demand.