Voluntary benefit
What is voluntary benefit?
This refers to an insurance policy that employees can add (at a cost) to complement their existing mandatory benefits as provided by their company. For example, many governments may mandate a basic level of health insurance that companies operating in their territory have to provide, but that level of care may be very simple.
Voluntary benefits work to ‘top up’ whatever mandatory insurance is offered and may include things like dental treatment, disability allowances, optometrist visits, and other aspects of healthcare. The employee must pay for this themselves but it can often come at a discounted rate and is usually tax-deductible, and does a lot to boost the employee’s sense of engagement with their company.