Executive Benefits

Employers know that to attract and retain the best talent, they need to offer competitive wages and employee benefits. But providing benefits to highly compensated employees can be tricky. How can employers make sure they are offering the best benefits to attract and retain their top executive talent?

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Executive benefits typically fall into two buckets: those that cause equity issues and retention benefits. Equity issues arise when companies try to get benefits for highly compensated employees up to the same level as those provided to rank and file employees, typically the result of either how the group program is designed or qualified retirement plan discrimination testing.

Retention benefits can be provided as a tax deductible expense to the employer, and are not treated as income to the executive. In the current competitive employment environment, both of these are important considerations for attracting and retaining key employees.

• Retention benefits

• Retirement plan

• Employer stock equity plans

• Company-provided Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans (SERPs)

• Company-provided automobiles

• Planning sessions

• Other fringe benefits as may be deemed necessary for the executive to perform their roles