Are the job benefits part of salary or an insurace policy?

During the last days, I’ve been wondering if job benefits are a real thing for employees or are a purely marketing strategy. This post definitely will be influenced by the author experienced and will not reflect any particular company situation.

Every day we see more and more posts companies announcing their benefits for employees that turn them on an attractive place to work but, how many times those benefits align to the company reality?

Some of them are out of reality. Companies are offering more than they can because they need employees but how are they doing to achieve it? Well, I think they are playing the role of an insurance company.

Let me explain the theory. Companies give a bundle of benefits and every time an employee present a claim to get the benefit there is a list of requirements to prove accomplishment.

Until here nothing is questionable but, let’s think like an employee. The first case getting hired: He/she is excited about all the benefits then he/she commits to do his/her best work because he/she feels backward cover. The first month everything goes smooth, check the banking account, health coverage and everything looks like they promised you.

Later you’re expecting you relocation bonus but, It still pending to apply well, you “ask” for it and normally you receive a deposit in your banking account.

During the month you join a gym or a yoga class internally you know company pays but, something happened and you have to send a reminder to get your money back.

After several months you are part of that company start planning your entire life at least for the next 6 months. That includes a vacation session, PTO for eventualities and important events that could happen. Then it is time to ask for days off you previously checked the rules and requirements follow them and you are ready. When you request for days off, the company makes an analysis; It reviews you passed all requirements, then goes for performance review and make a decision and finally give you an answer and again nothing is bad with that but in the middle of the process is where the trick is.

Companies make decisions evaluating several situations because they are not going to stop or lose money which means if several employees ask for days off or whatever benefit one answer could be a negative one.

How do they determine, who merits the benefit? It is not always clear, fair or without an impact in your daily routine. Sometimes you have to work harder to get that merit or do an extra to get it. People with high responsibility get worst because they have to be there when fewer people want to work.

What I’m trying to say is that job benefits are like insurance policy they have you covered and you know it but does not mean you will no suffer, pay or work to get the benefit or part of it. For us, in the engineering world, teach us that the benefits are not part of salary they are just a coverage (placebo) for isolated events. They get announce every day to remind you that you have them and to get more engineers because of that you see some people using them don’t get mad, it is his/her job to announce it.

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