A survey conducted by a leading HR software company has revealed that half of American small business employees lost health insurance benefits as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the reduction in healthcare benefits, three-quarters of employees said they are satisfied or very satisfied with their employers current health plan, with 58% citing the benefit as ‘useful’ in the current situation. A third saw benefits like online fitness classes, wellbeing app subscriptions, and telemedicine access added to their package during the pandemic.

Half of small business employees in America have lost health insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research reveals.

Leading HR software company, Zenefits.com, conducted a study into how small business employees really feel about the benefits and perks of their employment in 2020. The company surveyed more than 1,100 full time small business employees to compile a comprehensive overview of employee satisfaction. 

The full survey results and further information can be found here: https://www.zenefits.com/workest/how-small-business-employees-really-feel-about-benefits-and-perks/

Health insurance remains top of the list when it comes to the benefit valued most by employees, with 70% of respondents saying that they are unlikely or very unlikely to accept a job if it doesn’t offer health benefits. Additionally, half of employees said they are staying in their current role due to their health insurance benefits. 

Despite the reduction in benefits, three-quarters of employees said they are satisfied or very satisfied with their employers current health plan, with 58% citing the benefit as ‘useful’ in the current situation. Of those who answered in Virginia, 31% said their employer offers health insurance as a part of their benefits package. Washington and California followed closely behind with 22% and 19% offering health insurance, respectively. On the other end of the scale, 1% of respondents in Delaware and 0.6% in North Dakota are offered health insurance, whilst employees in Idaho fall particularly short with just 0.4% being offered the benefit. 

Results also show that COVID-19 has had an interesting effect on decisions surrounding current and future benefits; more than a quarter of employees (26%) admitted that the pandemic has forced them to rethink their current benefit package. Almost a third (31%) of employees had benefits added to their current package during COVID-19, with online fitness classes, well-being apps and telemedicine being top of the list. 

Zenefits is a platform committed to streamlining HR processes, by offering software and services that are purpose built with helping small and midsize businesses in mind. Zenefits provide a wide variety of tools – such as streamlined onboarding and easy PTO tracking to org charts and performance reviews – to help small business owners manage employees, achieving the best and most efficient outcomes for everyone. 

Nadene Evans of Zenefits said, 

“We asked small business owners what more we can offer them and the general consensus was that they needed more insider information to figure out how best to help their employees. It isn’t always effective to simply ask your staff what they want or need, so we decided a survey would be a great way to find out what is most important to business owners and their employees. 

“The survey was incredibly insightful and we have had feedback from both employees and employers expressing how much it has helped them think more critically about what they are being offered and what they can offer. This is definitely a survey topic we’ll be working on again!”