Earlier this week I was talking to an entrepreneur and he exclaimed that we must be spending a fortune on the amazing benefits and perks that we offer. After pausing for a minute I thought about and realized that I didn’t know how much it cost for an individual employee for benefits and perks.
Here’s the cost for the different monthly items we pay for for each employee:
- Full individual-only health and dental benefits – $270/month
- Full short term and long term disability insurance – $20/month
- Free lunch Fridays – $30/month
- Catered daily breakfast – $60/month
- 401k with 50% match up to 6% off salary with $3,000 max – $150/month (avg across company)
- Unlimited drinks and snacks – $60/month
- Weekly Friday massages – $15/month
- Month car wash and detailing – $25/month
- Free Braves tickets (2 per season) – $5/month
- Total: $620/month direct expense of benefits and perks for the standard employee
Yes, ~$7,500 per year is a fair amount extra on top of the 10% employer tax on wages but in the grand scheme of things it’s priceless to have such a great team of people with an awesome corporate culture.
What else? What are your thoughts on the costs of amazing startup benefits and perks?
David Cummings on Startups 
Thanks for outlining this David – your benefits outweigh the cost.
Thanks for sharing this. Could you provide any insight into how you measure the ROI?
We don’t measure the ROI directly but based on how low our turnover is and the cost to find, hire, and train someone, the ROI is enormous.
What do you think about an employee benefit plan where your employees could access discounted legal services for estate planning with no cost to an employer? I just wanted to see what your perspective would be and how you think that could be effectively marketed to people such as yourself. Thank you!