how do you spot when a company has good benefits?

Ask about their benefits package. Every company should let you know what benefits they offer.

I personally expect at a minimum paid vacation, paid holidays, a retirement plan (hopefully with a company match if its a 401k), and health insurance that doesn't take a huge chunk of my check every week. Anything I can get above that is a plus. Anything less would be a job I would only take if there wasn't a better option.

Everyone has different ideas of what a "good" benefits package is though.

 

All companies that have good benefits put a red heart with a gold star on their home page.
That's what it looks like.

 

If you don't get the company car and country club membership, I'd say keep looking!

 

You're absolutely right about everyone having a different idea of what a "good" benefits package is.

Personally, I don't want a company making decisions about my health insurance options based upon their bottom line. I have my own individual policy that has all of the coverages I want and no unwanted exclusions for a price I'm willing to pay. I don't have to pay a ridiculously high premium for "COBRA" coverage if I change jobs...or take my chances without insurance while waiting for my new employer's benefits to kick in. It is MY insurance, and it goes where I go. I'd rather a company pay me the money they were planing to spend on health insurance in the form of a higher wage and let me decide what to do with it.

I'm also not very keen on the idea of being paid not to work. That paid vacation and paid holidays simply means that for the days you DO work, you are being paid less....the money has to come from somewhere. For every dollar you COULD be paid for the work you are doing, you're probably only going to be offered $0.94...the last $0.06 out of every dollar you could be making is what pays your time off. I'd rather get paid that extra $0.06 per $1 while I'm working and just take time off unpaid if and when I feel like it. Want to do something special for the holidays? Pay me extra. You're probably charging your customers extra to have the freight picked up or delivered on the holiday anyway...so pass that on to me if I work the holiday. If I don't work the holiday, I had the time off...so why should I be paid for it?

About the only point you and I agree on is the 401K deal with matching contributions from the employer...which is a nice way to earn a little extra while you save up for your future retirement. Whatever the retirement plan may be, the money in the plan needs to be owned by the employee. I wouldn't want to work a job with a pension, because you have no control over it. If the company goes belly up of files bankruptcy, your "benefits" will be changed and at that point it may be too late in your life for you to make any alternate plans...meaning you'll be stuck relying upon Social Security and Medicare, which at the current trend will both be insolvent long before I'm eligible to receive any of the benefits I've been paying for. If I could opt out of that government run ponzi scheme, I would.

The "benefits" I want include decent equipment for me to run, treat me with respect, and pay me what I'm worth. Beyond that, I'll take care of it myself.

 

Excellent question !!

Very few companies have good health care at a reasonable price.

Some companies have inhouse worker compensation insurance, be REAL careful with that !

If the company doesn't match much of the 401k plan, it's almost worthless. Only put in what they will match......

Good Luck, let us know what you find out.

 

The barometer is how much they'll deduct for health insurance each month.
The closer it is towards what you'd pay yourself on the open market, the worse the "benefit".
I had a recruiter tell me that "...and only $325 per month is deducted for health insurance coverage!".

 

So the money you put in dosn't add up?
If you only put in lets say 3% cause they will match that 3% your not gonna have much to retire on!

"Only put in what they will match......" VERY POOR ADVICE!

 

I think we all would like to take care of it ourselves.

 

How do I know?


Simple.

My wife TELLS me it is.