What benefits should you offer your remote team?
When you have a full time employee you are quite stock with options on perks and benefits. But how do you tailor the best benefit package for your international contractors team? We listed few options that can work for you.
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Although health insurance is typically a benefit provided to your employees rather than contractors, there are still ways how you can make it work. Typically, your contractor will have the option to choose whether they want to be insured locally in the country they are based in or with an international company providing worldwide health insurance.In the former case, every country has it’s own private medical insurance provider. Your contractor will simply choose the package they want to sign up for and your company can reimburse their price afterwards. In the latter, you can consult some companies out there like SafetyWings. The principle will be quite similar, with the contractor actually signing up themselves but your company will have access to a portal where you can see all your contractors being insured in one place. This should make things clearer and reimbursements easier.Keep in mind, that the decision of who pays for the insurance may impact if someone is classified as an employee or contractor. If they sign the contract and pay for it directly — they're closer to being contractors. If you are the one signing the paperwork and paying for it, they look more like employees.🏖 Paid time off
Another great way to show your team you care about them is by giving them some paid time off! It’s, again, important to remember that paid holidays package is typically an “employee benefit” but you can still make it work. One way to do so is by agreeing on monthly, rather than hourly payments with your contractor. This way, they will always receive particular amount of money for their services to you, but they can plan their time off including holidays and long weekends without the fear of receiving a lower salary. It’s a great way to make your workers feel appreciated and comfortable, while staying fully compliant.🧱 Stock Options
One of the simplest ways to appreciate your team is by issuing stock options for them! It’s simple because according to most jurisdictions, it’s very easy to be compliant in this step. Technically, you should be able to issue stock options for any entity as long as they have some kind of relationship with your company. So it’s a pretty universal solution on how to erase some differences in the benefits you’re giving your employees and the ones you’re giving your contractors. In this case, you can treat them equally! We wrote a piece where we explain in details whether you can give stock option to your remote contractor or not.🧑💻 Remote office set up contributions
As an employer, you're obliged to provide your employees with any tools necessary for them to do their work. As a company working with contractors, the opposite applies! The tools your contractors are using are their property and their responsibility. Which, of course, doesn't mean you can't chip in! From laptop and accessories, through office chair and supplies to various software solutions, these are all things your contractors have to think of to be able to work for you.According to this Buffer State of Remote work for 2020, over 20% of people working remotely get their phone costs covered by their company. Similar amount of remote contractors get their home internet costs reimbursed as well. There are endless ways how you can contribute and show them you care. Try vouchers or gift cards for electronics, refund them 50% of the price of their new screen or send them new headset as a little present twice a year. And if you don't want to spend too much time thinking about it, you can always give then regular bonuses with their salaries meant as set up support. It will not go unnoticed and you will find yourself working with happy and appreciated team.📕 Education budget
Similar to the previous point, but not quite the same. Having skilled talent who is constantly improving their skills and staying on top of the current trends is in the interest of every company. So why not encouraging them to keep learning? There are endless ways of doing it. Try paying their access to conferences, online classes or webinars. Make sure that if there’s a book which would help them be better in their work, they know your company will reimburse its price. If they want to attend an event or a training for their particular skills, offer to pay for it too! And remember, part of keeping your team sane is also giving them the right tools to disconnect and recharge, therefore keep in mind that guided mediations subscription or a course on mental hygiene habits at work should also be part of this deal.🎡 Events and gatherings
Being part of a remote team can be a unique, wonderful experience. But the more companies offer this option to their teams, the more attention is being focused on how to keep this team engaged and create a loving virtual workplace. Apart from strong company culture and intense online communications, regular gatherings are one of the ways to achieve that. Depending on how much your team is distributed, you can choose a destination and once or twice a year gather the whole team for work-cations. Such team building holidays are wonderful to spend time with the teammates outside of work, create meaningful memories and simply have some fun. It doesn't have to be far away in a hotel so expensive your company would need to do a fundraising just for this purpose. Every little thought counts and bringing your team together will help them do better in their work and, at the end of your day, build your business.
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