But when it comes to stipends and Lifestyle Spending Accounts (LSAs), features built for Finance teams are just as critical. They’re thinking about budgets, compliance, audits, and cash flow.

Before I founded Compt, I served as a three-time CFO and two-time COO across several high-growth companies. I was the one fielding software requests, asking the tough questions around budgets, compliance, security, and scalability. And I built Compt to answer them. We’ve intentionally built our platform to meet Finance’s unique needs — so they don’t just tolerate a benefits platform, they prefer it.

Here are eight examples of how we’ve embedded Finance-first thinking into our functionality:

1. Cash Flow Planning with Engagement + Spend Timing Insights

What it is: On the dashboard, Finance can see not just how engaged employees are with stipends—but when they’re spending.

Why Finance loves it: This helps with cash flow planning by surfacing monthly, quarterly, and annual spend patterns. Finance can proactively manage outflows and avoid end-of-year budget chaos (like a $15M stipend budget being used all in December).

2. Download All Receipts Instantly (Perfect for Audits)

What it is: A single-click export of all past receipts, including audit-trail-ready detail on each spend.

Why Finance loves it: It eliminates the scramble during audits. Auditors (with dedicated permissions!) can self-serve, retrieve documentation, and validate every expense’s accuracy — without Finance needing to store, manage, or chase down files.

3. Built-in Budget Accrual and Use-It-Or-Lose-It Logic

What it is: Custom rules that define how and when funds accrue, with clear controls over spend timeframes.

Why Finance loves it: It allows for clear liability tracking and cash planning. For example, with quarterly accruals, Finance only exposes a portion of the annual budget at a time — and use-it-or-lose-it rules prevent liabilities from building up on the balance sheet.

How it works: Below are the three budget accrual options:

1. Upfront: Employees get the full stipend amount at the beginning of the cycle.
   
   Example: For a $300/quarter stipend, they would get $300 on the first day of the quarter. If a new employee joins in the middle of the quarter, they would still get $300.
   
2. Upfront with Prorating: New employees get a proportional amount if they join after the cycle starts. When launching this type of stipend, all existing, eligible employees will get the full amount of the stipend.
   
   Example 1: For a $300/quarter stipend starting on January 1st, all eligible employees will receive $300 on January 1st. An employee who joins on February 1st would get $200 for that quarter.
   
   Example 2: For a $1,200/year annual stipend starting on July 1st, all eligible employees will receive $600 on July 1st. An employee who joins on August 1st will receive $500.
   
3. Monthly Accrual: Employees accrue their stipend balance as each month passes.
   
   Example: For a $300/quarter stipend starting January 1st, they would get $100 on January 1st and then get an additional $100 added to their balance on February 1st and March 1st.

4. Group-Based Stipends with Country-Specific Currency Support

What it is: Segment employees into custom groups (by country, employment status, etc.) and set stipend values in local currencies.

Why Finance loves it: It removes messy manual conversions. For international teams, each group sees and spends in local currency — no surprise calculations.

5. Automatic Taxability + Limits

What it is: We auto-classify taxable vs. non-taxable benefits and enforce IRS thresholds.

Why Finance loves it: Finance doesn’t have to download reports, determine which items are taxable, or claw back payroll dollars later. For example, if an employee spends over the $5,250 allowed for education assistance, we automatically tax the overage.

6. Payroll Integration That Respects Individual Tax Rates

What it is: We integrate directly with payroll to manage reimbursements and taxability at the individual employee level.

Why Finance loves it: Every employee may have different withholdings, tax statuses, or exemptions. Compt provides a clear report of each employees spending amount and stipend taxability, so your payroll system can apply the appropriate tax treatment based on individual employee profiles. That means accurate W-2s without manual back-end corrections or guesswork.

7. Employees Can’t Overspend Their Budget

What it is: Compt enforces stipend limits.

Why Finance loves it: No surprises. No manual math. If an employee has $793 left and submits a $1,000 receipt, they’ll only be reimbursed for the amount they have left ($793). It’s built-in budget control, without awkward rejections.

8. Full Visibility into Approval Flows + Receipts

What it is: Employees must provide receipts, confirm details, and (optionally) provide additional documentation.

Why Finance loves it: Fraud prevention is built into the process — before money ever leaves the company. Plus, with receipt reviews, there’s always a clear record of what was spent, by whom, and why.

Bonus: Transparent Employee View = Fewer Questions for Payroll

What it is: Employees can track the status of every claim — knowing exactly where their submissions are in process from submitted from pending, processed, or rejection.

Why Finance loves it: Employees self-serve and know exactly where things stand, reducing interruptions and manual audits. Plus, less “Did you pay me yet?” questions.

Built for Finance and HR Teams

Behind every clean, intuitive front-end experience in Compt is a deep well of compliance, budget optimization, and risk-reduction features. This is about better lifestyle benefits for employees, in a platform that Finance can trust.

Schedule a demo of Compt today.

The post 8 Powerful Features We Built With Finance in Mind (That HR Also Loves) appeared first on COMPT.

A stipend is a fixed amount of extra income employers give to their employees. Employees can use it to cover all kinds of work- and life-related expenses — transportation, health and wellness, remote work setup, you name it. I talk to clients every day about how to build an employee stipends program that makes sense for their workforce.

Since we just released our 2025 Lifestyle Benefits Benchmark Report, I’ve been fielding a lot of questions and interest from our clients about how to optimize and build their stipend program. 

Which is exactly what my team and I are here to do! So in this blog, we’re giving you the rundown on building an employee stipends program that’ll be a win-win for both you and your employees.

Building your employee stipend program from the ground up

If you’re thinking of building an employee stipends program, you need to understand the steps to put one in place. While it can feel overwhelming, let’s cut to the chase. Here are my seven steps to create your program: 

1. Figure out whether stipends are right for your organization.

Of course, we’ll be the first to tell you stipends are a fantastic benefit. But as with any people-oriented solutions, it’s not a silver bullet answer to every type of engagement and retention issues organizations may be facing.

The effectiveness of ANY perk depends on your unique context and the individual needs of your employees. A great way to understand this is through an employee benefits survey to see where your employees need support. While your employees aren’t going to call out a stipend specifically, you can survey them to see what areas you, as an employer, can help with.

Generally, stipends are a great fit when…

• You have a remote (or hybrid) workforce.
• The administrative burden of traditional perks is too high.
• You already pay your employees a fair salary and offer core benefits like health insurance and PTO, and you want to enhance your benefits package without a large salary increase.
• You have employees across different generations that have different needs and are looking for maximum flexibility.
• You want to be an employer of choice.

2. Consider stipends vs. automatic reimbursements.

You also have to consider whether the reimbursement model might be better for a particular benefit. There’s a key difference between stipends and reimbursements, which is when they’re paid.

When you offer stipends, employees get the money upfront and can spend it freely (within the category). With reimbursements, employees spend their own money first. Then, the expenses are reviewed and approved for repayment (which can take time!). 

With Compt, you can actually pay out several categories (up to 27!)  of reimbursable expenses as stipends. ‘Stipend reimbursements’ have three benefits:

1. Employers don’t have to front the money.
2. (Which means that) employers don’t pay for unused benefits.
3. Your employees still control where and how they spend, so it’s more personalized and effective than standard reimbursements.

3. Ask employees which spend categories they care about most.

Again: Whether or not a stipend is effective depends on how important your team actually thinks it is. As part of your benefits survey, don’t just ask whether or not they’re interested in ‘stipends,’ as they may not fully understand the true benefits or variety in them. Instead, ask more questions around what sort of financial or other support they need.

Here are a few that we’ve recommended our customers start with when considering how to build an employee stipends program: 

• If you could spend money on anything to improve your personal or professional life, what would it be?
• What are some hobbies or interests you wish you had more time or resources to pursue?
• What activities or services would support your mental or physical well-being outside of work?
• Are you a parent or caregiver? If so, what benefits or resources would make your life easier? 
• If we offered stipends for services that improve your work-life balance (e.g., meal kits, house cleaning, pet care), would you find value in them?
• What’s the most unexpected or WOW workplace benefit you’ve seen or heard of?

Depending on the type of company you’re running, you might already have a head start. For instance, if you’re in the veterinary or pet care industry, a pet care stipend is a no-brainer — it aligns with your company values and your employees’ interests.

Still, those aren’t the only stipends that’ll matter to them, so you’ll have to confirm that.

4. Look at your current number of employees and set a budget.

Before moving forward with your stipends program, it’s important you have a realistic idea of what it should look like and what you’ll spend.

At an absolute minimum, if your budget can support it, we recommend you offer a quarterly $100-$150 all-inclusive stipend (LSA).

But, across the tech industry, these are a few standard offerings we’re seeing:

• $50/month cell or internet stipend
• $150/quarter all-inclusive stipend
• $250+ one-time bonus for new hires for remote work office setup

To be more competitive, you could offer $1,000/year for professional development, give your team members $100 on their workiversary, and/or up that $150/quarter LSA contribution to $300.

So, if you have a 100-person team, your program will cost up to $40,000 per year at least, and increase from there. It all depends on the usage and how you set up your program to maximize your budget (which is what my team and I can help you with!)

5. Diversify your employee stipends program according to your company’s values and goals.

The stipends you offer should reflect (a) your current team’s interests, (b) who you’re trying to recruit (and retain), and (c) the values you want to instill. Here’s how to think about connecting your recruitment strategy to your benefits offerings: 

• Need entry-level sales reps and marketers? Student loan repayment assistance will give you a competitive edge when it comes to talent sourcing.
• Several employees are approaching their 30s and/or you have a mainly married or partnered workforce? Maybe they could use a family stipend to spend on costly daycare or a health and wellness stipend to buy groceries and healthy meals.
• Is your workforce mostly Gen Z or Alpha? Studies show that this current and upcoming generation care (a lot!) about corporate social responsibility. Charitable giving stipends are an easy way to help your team members give back in a way that’s meaningful to them. They also might be interested in professional development opportunities with more experienced people in their field, so consider stipends that support mentorships or career coaching. 

6. Set up the program in your stipend software.

I’m here to shout it from the rooftops: Stipend management software makes things so easy. You can set up stipend budgets for each category you want to offer, customize your pre-approval preferences to make expense review easy, and track how much money you’re spending on the program.

For each stipend, setting things up only takes a few minutes. And when it comes to disbursement, tax compliance, and enrollment tracking, your stipend software will do all the heavy lifting (and reporting).

We can get you up and running quickly (as little as two weeks, depending on your program needs!), so if you’re thinking about switching providers, now’s the time. 

7. Invite your team members!

The last step is an easy one: Tell your people about what’s being offered! When it comes to communicating employee benefits, your team needs to know a few things:

• What’s available to them
• How to register or access the stipend program
• What’s in it for them (why should they care about this new program?)

The best way to introduce your new stipend program is through a company-wide meeting. Explain what it is, why you’re offering it, and how they can use it. One easy way to get people excited is to offer a spot bonus stipend for lunch, so they use the stipend right away (who doesn’t love a free lunch?!). 

But you have to maintain open access to benefits information and make it easy to enroll. Make sure all new hires know about your program, and track enrollment so you know who still needs to sign up.

While registering is a part of the battle, regular and ongoing communications about the stipend program will lead to higher utilization — we see our customers as true champions of their programs, with a 94% engagement rate! 

To help get you on the right track, my team provides companies with a one-pager that you can share with employees, along with an employee-facing ‘Getting Started’ guide with videos and articles for step-by-step help. 

What makes stipends such a great benefit?

Stipends are more flexible than traditional benefits options. And with software, they’re easy to administer. In a world where 80% of employees say they’d even take more benefits and perks over a pay raise, they’re the ultimate way to put more money in their pockets while improving your team members’ overall satisfaction and well-being.

100% accurate, tax-compliant, and secure

Most importantly: When you administer stipends through Compt, you can design your own program with any combination of our 27 categories, already divided into taxable vs. non-taxable categories. 

We make tracking and reporting for taxes simple, whether through an API, integrations, or a simple one-click transfer to sync Compt reimbursement data to your own payroll system.

This eliminates the compliance burden from your HR team and keeps your reporting accurate (we like to keep finance happy, too!)

Flexible for you and your employees

Unlike vendor-specific and marketplace solutions, employee stipends are uniquely customizable and can flex with your employee needs (but still giving your team ultimate control over what categories to offer and how much). A higher degree of personalization leads to higher employee satisfaction, as they feel like their individual needs are being taken into consideration.

Inclusive for all team members

Flexibility means stipends are an inclusive benefit. Many perks are not.

Let’s say you offer free 24 Hour Fitness memberships as part of your wellness program. That’s great for your team members who live near a 24 Hour Fitness or who enjoy working out at the gym. But what about your team members who prefer to exercise outdoors or who don’t have a 24 Hour Fitness nearby?

With stipends, everyone can spend their money in a way that works for them. And you won’t have to spend time and effort trying to guess which expenses would be most meaningful.

Easy to administer (set it up in under 1 hour)

With a platform like Compt, it’s as easy as making a post on Instagram:

1. Set your budget.
2. Determine your spending cycle.
3. Choose your spend categories.
4. Name the stipend.
5. Launch and let your team know.

You can set this up in less than an hour, something that isn’t possible with spreadsheets and expense software.

Tax-efficient compared to salary additions

Besides the fact that, statistically, most employees prefer additional perks to a pay raise, there’s a big reason stipends can be better than extra money on a paycheck: taxes.

You can offer plenty of benefits, like commuter allowances or cell phone reimbursements, tax-free through a lifestyle spending account (LSA). On the other hand, additions to their paychecks are subject to payroll taxes, so both parties wind up overpaying when you use salary for these things.

Loved by employees

Since they’re receiving contributions towards a specific service, like remote work equipment or wellness activities, they hold more weight than a generic raise or cash bonus. In our 2024 Lifestyle Benefits Benchmarking Report, we discovered that 84% of Compt users find their stipends through our platform to be a “valuable benefit.”

What can employees pay for with stipend money?

So…now you’re probably wondering: What can employees buy with their stipends in the first place?

The answer is: A lot. It all depends on what kind of stipend you offer and the categories within which employees can spend them.

Let’s say you’re offering a health and wellness stipend. In that case, they might use it for…

• Gym memberships
• Fitness classes or personal training sessions
• Yoga or meditation retreats
• Healthy meal delivery services
• Mental health therapy sessions
• Wellness coaching programs

…or anything else related to improving their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

But if you have a professional development stipend program, employees could use it for things like…

• Online courses or professional certifications
• Leadership or communication workshops
• Industry conferences or events
• Professional coaching or mentorship
• Training materials and resources

…you get the idea.

Want to see more? We dive into a dozen of our best employee stipend ideas in this article.

Stipend types and spend categories

Since stipends really come in all shapes and sizes, it’s easiest to break stipend categories down into two types: taxable and non-taxable. (Hint: Compt does this for you, automatically.)

Taxable spend categories

A taxable category is one that’s subject to payroll taxes. Employees need to report these on their tax returns.

• Caregiving
• Charitable giving
• Entertainment and experiences
• Family
• Financial wellness
• Food
• Health and wellness
• Home (not to be confused with “work-from-home”)
• Personal development
• Personal travel
• Pet care
• Productivity
• Tech (e.g., earbuds, wearables)
• “Treat Yourself” (a Compt exclusive, and one of our most popular)

Non-taxable spend categories

Non-taxable stipends are ones that aren’t subject to payroll taxes. These are generally either (a) deductible business expenses or (b) excluded fringe benefits.

• Business travel (including airfare, hotel, food, car rental, and local transportation)
• Cell phone and internet bills
• Commuter transit and parking expenses
• Coworking and office space rentals
• Professional development
• Professional certifications
• Remote work office equipment
• Safety equipment
• Student loan repayment
• Team events

Lifestyle spending accounts (LSAs)

A lifestyle spending account (LSA) is an innovative way to provide employees with more flexibility and control over their benefits. Your team can use their LSAs for various lifestyle expenses, such as wellness, fitness, education, transportation, or even pet care — anything that contributes to their well-being and work-life balance.

If you offer a broad array of lifestyle benefits, an all-inclusive LSA is the perfect way to consolidate them and make your program easier to manage. According to our recent report, we actually see higher utilization (up to 20% more!) from employees when offering an LSA versus exclusive stipends, as you can assign different categories to the LSA to make it, well, more inclusive.

Compt: The complete employee stipends solution

When you’re running an employee stipends program, you have several things to track and manage.

• Which perks qualify?
• For which categories and vendors?
• What’s the approval process once someone uses a perk?
• The reimbursement process?
• What about tax compliance?
• And what if employees have remaining balances?

We know it can feel overwhelming, but we have great news for you. Compt takes care of it all.

Book a demo and see how it works.

The post How to Build an Employee Stipends Program appeared first on COMPT.

The widening wage gap for women of color during the pandemic overshadowed progress for women in the workplace. According to LeanIn’s 2021 study, Black women are paid 42% less than white men and 21% less than white women, while Latinas earn 49 cents for every dollar a white man makes. Regularly conducting a pay equity analysis or a gender pay audit can ensure that you are compliant with local pay laws and are offering competitive salaries to attract talent.

But what is the best practice for addressing the gender pay gap? Salary transparency on job descriptions? Banning salary-history questions during hiring? Annual compensation reviews?

To help you achieve pay equity for your employees, we asked HR managers and business leaders this question for their best insights. From matching employees’ skill sets with their compensation to forgoing salary negotiations while hiring, there are several tips that can ensure pay equity for your employees.

Here are 10 pay equity best practices to bridge the gender pay gap in your organization:

1) Match Employees’ Skillsets with Their Compensations

2) Create a Safe Space for Anonymous Discourse

3) Use Outside Auditors and Go Beyond Salary

4) Allow for Fair Negotiations

5) Check in With Employees Who Do Not Ask for Raises

6) Follow the Job Market and Compensate Accordingly

7) Prevent Pay Inequity Starting with Job Offer Negotiations

8) Annually Review Compensation Inequity

9) Involve an Employee-led Committee in Discussions

10) Implement Salary Bands to Support Women

1) Match Employees’ Skill Sets With Their Compensations

The best way to ensure employee pay equity is by thoroughly evaluating each employee’s skillset and experience and then mapping those qualifications to the corresponding job title and salary range. Antreas Koutis, Administrative Manager of Financer has seen firsthand how this process can help to ensure that employees are fairly compensated for their skills and experience.

When I was first hired by my current company, I was given a job title and salary range that did not reflect my prior experience or skill set. After bringing this to my manager’s attention, we worked together to create a new job title and salary range that better matched my qualifications.

This process not only helped to ensure that Koutis was fairly compensated but also gave him a greater sense of satisfaction with his employment. By taking the time to evaluate each employee’s skillset and experience, companies can ensure pay equity for everyone on their team.

2) Create a Safe Space for Anonymous Discourse

One crucial step to achieving pay equity is not just to allow but encourage employees to openly discuss compensation. John Li, Co-Founder & CTO of Fig Loans, advises making space for those conversations. “We’ve made it clear that they won’t be retaliated against and that management and employees are on the same side – we want everyone to feel valued and treated fairly.”

We have quarterly teamwide meetings about our pay equity efforts, ask for feedback, and give employees a space to do so anonymously if they prefer.

While getting feedback in person or through other channels is great, you want to remove any burden from teammates, especially those belonging to a minority, to speak up publicly. Li states, “We don’t care if our employees name themselves – the point is to improve our workspace, and we need honest discourse to achieve it!” Train managers to discuss compensation decisions with employees and explain everything. Transparency is the key to making it all work.

3) Use Outside Auditors and Go Beyond Salary

Auditing your pay equity once isn’t enough, especially as you work to change a system that’s been broken for so long. It takes time to erase unconscious biases. Marina Vaamonde, Real Estate Investor & Founder of HouseCashin suggests using an outside compensation management software to annually audit pay equity.

Once you’re on track, you want to stay on track by measuring critical KPIs, report any discrepancies, and create solutions. Vaamonde says, “It’s crucial to go outside your organization for equity audits – you need analysts that aren’t close to the system to reduce bias.” Beyond salary, these pay equity audits must include bonuses, stocks, and other perks that can significantly affect the results.

4) Allow for Fair Negotiations

According to D&I Leader Marshelle Barwise, pay equity is a long-standing issue by design. Barwise warns, “Employers will have to consciously do away with intending to attract the best possible talent at the lowest possible salary if we want to overcome the issue on a broader scale.”

Working professionals should continue to support widespread salary transparency, learn how to do market analysis, and go into every new opportunity ready to negotiate based on the market analysis information they know.

5) Check in With Employees Who Do Not Ask for Raises

Another solution to building a more equitable work environment and culture is having management do routine compensation reviews of employees who have not asked for raises. Shaun Connell, Founder of Writing Tips Institute, says, “Sometimes, people who are the most vulnerable or disadvantaged don’t ask for raises out of concern that they have more to lose.”

Go out of the way to make sure that they are not falling behind just because they’re being careful and conscientious. Connell says, “We’ve found that this has built an incredibly loyal and satisfied workforce because everyone knows that we are actively making sure nobody is left behind.”

6) Follow the Job Market and Compensate Accordingly

Pay equity means listening to the market when hiring. If the candidate negotiates a 10% increase in their starting salary, this points towards a change in the market. It shows that their skill set is growing in demand and value. As it does so, their rate of compensation must also follow. Should you hire this candidate, it sends a message to your team that the work is worth more than it was before.

Max Wesman, Chief Operating Officer of GoodHire says, “Employees in the same position may have accepted a lower salary in different market conditions, but they should be rewarded – not penalized – for their loyalty to the company. As such, they deserve a raise at least in line with your new hire.”

Honesty and transparency are essential for pay equity in the workplace. Asker Ahmed, Director & Founder of iProcess says, “My team researches pay rates regularly to ensure our people are getting the most competitive compensation out there. We also schedule regular 1:1 meetings with employees and listen to employee requests regarding salaries.” When employees are satisfied with their salaries, morale is boosted and they often look forward to their work.

With a more market-centric compensation structure, you’ll address pay inequities before they start. This is a crucial step in keeping spirits high and preventing wage compression. It minimizes resentment from longer-tenured employees and keeps your business competitive during future rounds of hiring.

7) Prevent Pay Inequity Starting with Job Negotiations

Pay inequity begins at job offer, and women and underrepresented groups have historically been less likely to negotiate at that phase. This is the genesis of pay equity issues and can be prevented by eliminating or greatly limiting negotiation at the offer phase.

The ability to negotiate in order to hire the best talent is a tool most organizations rely heavily on, and hard to imagine living without. Rachel Kleban, CEO & Principal Consultant of Rachel Kleban, LLC states,

“With solid pay guidelines and clear, upfront communication with candidates as to why you don’t negotiate (pay equity is a compelling reason for most!), I have found it to both simplify the process and reap tremendous rewards down the line for pay equity.”

The only requirement is that you don’t make exceptions. The integrity of the practice relies on consistency and transparency. If you think you will need to make exceptions in certain roles or levels, decide that upfront and put guardrails around how you will negotiate in those situations.

Deepa Tailor, Owner and Founder of Tailor Law ensures pay equity by using a simple system of fixed entry salaries and raises based on billable hours. It does not leave much room for negotiation, and some employees might not appreciate it, but it is one of the best ways to ensure pay equity. Tailor says, “It prevents conflict because if one person is given a raise, everyone would want a raise as well.” This strategy would not work for creative fields such as arts, performance, and movies since talent and skill play a much bigger role in such industries. It makes sure employees are paid fairly and creates a predictable payroll for the employer.

8) Annually Review Compensation Inequity

Annual compensation reviews play a key role in ensuring pay equity. This allows employees to discuss their salary and performance with their managers, and work together to identify any discrepancies or areas that could be improved. Checkr actively tracks the demographics of their workforce throughout an employee’s lifecycle. Linda Shaffer, Chief People Operations Officer of Checkr states, “This not only allows us to identify any existing inequities, but also helps us track progress and make adjustments over time.”

Overall, there are many different strategies that businesses can implement in order to ensure pay equity for employees. By being proactive and focusing on transparency, fairness, and equality throughout the hiring process and beyond, we can create workplaces where everyone is valued and rewarded for their contributions.

9) Involve an Employee-led Committee in Discussions

To ensure fairness, encourage participation, and secure employee buy-in while implementing pay equity, CEO & Co-Founder of Circuit Jack Underwood set up a pay equity committee selected by employees for collective representation. Jack says, “The committee helped inform our team about pay equity and discuss a plan of action with management.”

Once leadership settled on a plan, the committee updated the team and explained the process moving forward.” Since pay equity is all about creating a more fair workplace, employees should feel empowered to take an active role in the process. A committee provides a way for teams to have their voices heard. By having representatives for teammates, pay equity process moves quickly.

10) Implement Salary Bands to Support Women

One of the best ways to ensure pay equity is to have salary bands as opposed to rigid pay scales. Salary bands help women and women of color, who are underpaid on average, get the salary they deserve.

Luciano Colos, Founder & CEO of PitchGrade says, “One of my clients, a growing tech company, implemented salary bands in order to ensure pay equity.” They found that women were not being paid the same as men on average, and they wanted to fix this. To ensure pay equity, they implemented salary bands that allowed employees to negotiate their salaries within a certain range.

This took away the employer’s ability to influence the negotiation process, and there was no room for unconscious bias or employer power to influence the result. Since implementing salary bands, they have seen pay equity increase, and they have also seen employee satisfaction increase as well.

At the end of the day, we all want to be treated fairly. We want to be compensated for our work and rewarded for our achievements. Achieving pay equity is important because it can help employees have better mental health and less stress. It can also help the company improve its reputation by treating their employees with respect.

Help your employees feel valued by offering perks that support their wellbeing at work. Check out the most popular employee benefits in the 2023 Perk Study.

About the author:

Kisha Velazquez is an HR tech content marketing leader and Compt’s Senior Content Marketing Manager.

The post 10 Pay Equity Best Practices to Bridge Gender Pay Gaps appeared first on COMPT.

In this article, we’ll break down exactly what that means for you as an employer and how you can stay ahead of the curve by creating an effective total rewards strategy.

What is a total rewards strategy?

A total rewards strategy is your company’s plan for providing monetary, non-monetary, and tangible benefits to your employees in exchange for their work. It’s designed to recognize employees who achieve specific business goals, like meeting a sales quota or completing a project.

Think of your total rewards package as a hybrid between total compensation and a rewards and recognition program. It’s an integrated approach to employee compensation that extends beyond salary, bonuses, and benefits, with an emphasis on incentivizing achievements that reinforce your company’s goals and values.

Total rewards programs help companies motivate and retain employees. They also help with talent sourcing-prospective employees are a lot likelier to consider a company with a rewards program that aligns with their goals.

What’s included in a total rewards package?

WorldatWork defines five elements that comprise total rewards: compensation, benefits, well-being, recognition, and careers.

• Compensation refers to base and variable pay. In the context of your rewards strategy, it refers more to your employees’ bonus and commission structure, stock options, profit sharing, and ability to qualify for a raise. It doesn’t usually refer to salary (which is more standard and not usually tied to specific goals) unless a critical employee is able to negotiate it based on their achievements. But, companies should still ‘reward’ their employees by offering competitive salaries.
• Employee benefits are the non-wage compensations you provide employees, such as healthcare, retirement plans, and paid time off (PTO). There’s a lot more to benefits programs, but the three other elements get into that.
• Employee well-being includes anything that promotes physical, mental, social, or financial wellness for employees. This can include fitness programs, employee assistance programs (EAPs), and financial planning services. It also includes work-life flexibility options like remote work or flexible schedules.
• Recognition is the way you acknowledge, reward, and celebrate your employees’ achievements, whether remotely or not. You might use awards, spot bonuses, and peer-to-peer recognition to recognize your employees’ work.
• Career development refers to the opportunities your employees have to grow professionally. Mentorship programs, training and development, and internal career advancement are all examples of this.

The exact type of rewards you offer will depend on your company’s values, what you can afford, and, ultimately, what your employees tell you is a priority for them. A lot of times, your industry plays a role in this-companies in the pet industry offer pet care stipends, for example, even though that isn’t a normal benefit in other industries.

Total rewards should fit Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

A simple way to grasp the concept of a total rewards strategy is to look at Maslow’s 5-level pyramid of needs – a psychological theory that suggests people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before they can focus on higher-level needs.

Incrementally, total rewards strategies support your employees at every step of Maslow’s pyramid with the five elements outlined above.

• Financial compensation satisfies your employees’ physiological needs. They use their take-home pay to cover expenses like food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare.
• Employee benefits support their safety and security needs. For example, when an employee has a baby, employer-sponsored health coverage and parental leave benefits can help them keep their financial security and sense of safety intact while they attend to their family.
• Employee well-being addresses the love and belonging needs each employee has. DEI programs, work-life balance support, and company-sponsored events give your workforce the opportunity to connect with one another, see your company as a safe place for them, and prioritize their personal lives.
• Recognition satisfies the esteem needs. It makes employees feel seen, respected, and valued for their contributions to your company. This, in turn, gives them motivation to continue excelling (and, ultimately, drive business performance).
• Career development opportunities have the most profound impact on fulfilling employees’ self-actualization needs. When a company invests in its employees’ development, they’re more likely to grow professionally and achieve their full potential (in terms of professional and personal growth).

This is exactly how you structure an effective total rewards program.

In 2026, these are the most important elements of total rewards:

• Mental health. Across every industry, employees have become more candid in 2020 through 2023 about their mental health. Now, 81% of companies say they’re investing more in the issue, though 1 in 3 say it’s still inadequate.
• Financial wellness. Aside from the obvious stressors like rising goods and rent prices, situational employee stress like student loans, medical bills, and mortgage rates keep employees on edge about their finances. According to PwC’s 2023 Employee Financial Wellness survey, 60% of full-time workers are stressed about finances. Among those making $100,00+, it’s nearly half (47%).

Below, we’ll break down the best ways your total rewards package can support your employees in these two critical areas.

Recognition

Insights from Quantum Workplace about the future of total rewards tell us recognition is the #1 reason employees leave their jobs. Companies with structured recognition programs showed 31% lower employee turnover, 12x higher probability of healthy business performance, and significantly higher levels of employee satisfaction.

Around 50% of professionals involved in the study said they wanted more recognition. And that’s from management and their coworkers.

There are tons ways to recognize your employees:

• Manager-to-employee spot bonuses
• Peer bonuses
• Public acknowledgement in the company Slack channel
• More responsibility in their job (i.e., a promotion)
• A feature on the company LinkedIn or blog

Structuring and launching an employee recognition program is fairly simple. All you need is employee recognition software, which you can use to track bonus programs, create peer-to-peer recognition opportunities, and automatically process rewards for employees who meet specific goals.

Work-life balance

Employees are generally less stressed and more secure when they don’t have mountains of personal things to take care of waiting for them while they’re away at the office. So, by prioritizing work-life flexibility, you support their wellness in all four categories (mental, physical, social, and financial).

There are plenty of ways to support this:

• PTO (unlimited or at least 2 weeks)
• Remote work options (as well as a work from home allowance so employees can optimize their home office)
• Flex time (i.e., working from home Tuesdays and Thursdays)
• Paid sick days (employees don’t have to worry about using their PTO or losing pay when they are genuinely ill or need to take time off for a personal emergency)
• Flexible scheduling
• Commuter benefits for employees who do have to work in person.

Remote.co’s Work and Financial Wellness Report found that 63% of employees around the world would “absolutely” search for a new job if their current one stopped allowing them to work remotely. When it comes to evaluating a new job, it’s the most important factor-84% say it’s a consideration.

Depending on the nature of the job and what’s possible for your company, you might not be able to offer fully-remote options. The point is to remove friction around your employees’ ability to attend to their personal lives.

College assistance

From a financial standpoint, a college degree is a necessary evil. Your employees need one to seem attractive on the job market. But, they usually go tens of thousands of dollars in debt for it.

Although there are plenty of financial wellness benefits out there, two stand out:

• Student loan repayment assistance
• Tuition reimbursement

These support your employees’ professional development in addition to their financial well-being. And, they’re tax-advantaged perks — in 2026, employers may give up to $5,250 per year tax-free in education assistance benefits.

Extensive mental health resources

Aflac’s 2022 Employee Well-Being and Mental Health report shows us 80% of the workforce sees mental health as equally important to (or more important than) physical health coverage. But less than half (43%) say they actually have access to such resources.

The big companies like Google and Meta can pour millions into their benefits. But even if you’re a small or medium-sized business, you can still make an enormous impact on your employee wellness in the following ways:

• Choosing a health insurance plan that covers mental health services (like counseling)
• Setting up a reimbursement program for certain services
• Offering access to digital therapy, which is more affordable and accessible than traditional therapy
• Employee assistance programs (EAPs) that help employees deal with personal issues, mental struggles, and work-related stressors
• Enacting companywide mental health days
• Covering wellness app subscriptions

Offering a health and wellness stipend is the easiest way to do this. Employees can use it to cover things like counseling or app subscriptions. Or, they can use it for something different entirely, like a gym membership.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

Globally, the world’s top employers prioritize DEI over just about everything, notes WTW’s July 2022 Salary Budget Planning Report.

Diversity is inviting someone to the party; inclusion is asking them to dance. This primarily concerns your employee experience. As far as your total rewards strategy goes, you need to offer an inclusive employee benefits package.

• Extend your benefits to contractors working 30+ hours per week.
• Find a health insurance plan that allows coverage for domestic partners to support LGBTQ+ employees and those who choose not to get married.
• Use flexible paid holidays, so employees who celebrate something other than Christmas don’t have to use PTO.
• Offer parental leave, rather than maternity or paternity leave.
• Provide adoption assistance for employees who don’t go the traditional route to becoming parents.
• Offer wellness programs in multiple languages and content formats.
• Set up a remote work stipend employees can use to buy ergonomic home-office furniture or anything else they need to be comfortable working from home.

These simple adjustments make your total rewards program more useful and effective for your entire workforce.

Pay equity

You might not realize it, but some parts of your total rewards program might disproportionately benefit certain groups over others.

For example, you might offer raises to those who ask in an effort to keep up with rising costs of living. Statistically, fewer women and POC ask for raises, and they do so less often.

All you have to do to fix this is:

• Establish transparent policies and procedures for raises.
• Make sure your pay bands are based on market rates, rather than arbitrary factors like tenure or prior salary.
• Conduct regular pay equity audits to ensure everyone is being paid fairly for their roles and experience levels.

When everyone (in the same role) needs to meet the same targets for a raise, promotion, or access to benefits, you eliminate the potential for subjective decision-making.

In addition to total rewards, look at your base pay.

Globally, inflation and labor market pressures impact companies differently. The one constant seems to be employees are more interested in a competitive salary today than ever before.

In the US, more than half (55%) of Americans say their salary hasn’t kept up with rising costs of living (even after a raise or moving to a higher paying job), according to a 2022 Bankrate survey.

An analysis of the G20 countries conducted by Willis Towers Watson indicates that, across the world, the trend is quite similar (and will continue). Last year, employers were expected to raise their salaries less than the year prior.

Most companies revisit the issue every year or so, but those in countries experiencing hyperinflation (like Argentina) readjust employees’ salaries, on average, about 4 times throughout the year.

Since inflation causes employers to consider salary more frequently, it is unsurprising that a full compensation and benefits review for some or all employees takes precedence over total rewards strategy components like cash bonuses and spot awards, even among countries with much more stable economies.

While performance-based raises are the most common (and most equitable), they sometimes isolate employees who aren’t working in commission-driven roles. While it’s easy to structure a sales or recruitment promotion/raise structure based on revenue-based KPIs, other teams like development and accounting require a more subjective approach.

As an employer, you should consider whether or not a flat percentage raise for all employees after a certain period would be more beneficial or, if you’re able to, individualized career development plans based on merit. You should also consider, based on how dramatically the cost of living changes where you hire employees, how often you’ll reevaluate this critical element of total comp.

Updating and implementing your new total rewards program

With the right tools, implementing your program is quite simple. Here’s a brief rundown of the steps you’ll need to take:

1. Gather employee feedback. Use an employee benefits survey to evaluate your current rewards package, changes in employees’ priorities, and what they’d like to see more of.
2. Align leadership on priorities and goals. Create a committee or team that represnets each department and level within your organization, to establish priorities, goals, and metrics for your new program.
3. Translate goals into meaningful rewards programs. Using the information gathered in steps one and two, map out your program to align with what employees want while achieving organizational goals.
4. Communicate the new program clearly. Educate your HR team and other leaders, so they can help your employees understand how to use their benefits, earn rewards, and more.
5. Set up a system to track feedback. Employee needs and priorities are ever-changing. In addition to staying on top of trends, you’ll want software that eases the burden of administering various benefits.

Choose Compt to complement your total rewards strategy

Compt is an employee stipend software you can use to administer custom lifestyle benefits in a tax-compliant manner. Our innovative approach to rewards won us the 2024 Transform Rewards Trailblazer Award: Total Rewards Strategy of the Year.

Want to learn more? See how it works.

The post How to Build a Total Rewards Strategy for 2026 appeared first on COMPT.

In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about creating a compensation strategy. And we’ll use our compensation philosophy as an example.

What is a compensation strategy?

A compensation strategy is your organization’s overall approach to pay and benefits. This includes setting salary ranges, creating your commission structure, defining methods for raises and bonuses, and designing your employee benefits package. Essentially, it’s how your company handles total compensation.

At the broadest level, there are two categories of total comp: direct and indirect compensation.

• Direct compensation refers to employees’ take-home cash pay. This includes an employee’s base salary, extra pay for holidays or extra shifts, and performance-based rewards. When people hear “compensation,” they generally think of direct (monetary) compensation.
• Indirect compensation is all the other rewards, perks, and benefits employees receive. This includes health insurance, retirement plans, stock options, paid time off, parental leave, tuition reimbursement, and just about anything else you can think of. Basically, it’s non-monetary compensation.

Creating the perfect mix of direct and indirect compensation is the key to getting total comp right. How you balance these two categories will depend on your company’s goals, values, and budget (as well as employee preferences and market rates). Every company’s is different.

That’s the question your compensation strategy answers.

5 steps to create a compensation plan

Compensation strategies vary wildly, depending on…

• Your company’s goals and values
• The industry you operate in (some industries necessitate certain fringe benefits)
• What you can afford to offer
• Employee expectations
• Market data

That being said, developing a compensation strategy always follows these five steps:

1. Salary is the first step.

There’s no way around it. You have to pay your employees their market value to ensure a baseline level of satisfaction. Salary is ultimately the most critical factor in everyone’s decision to work for a company (especially in the age of continuous cost of living increases).

A 2023 Washington Post x Ipsos poll asked 1,148 workers aged 18-64 what their most significant factor in a job was. 45% ranked pay (salary/wages) as the most critical component — a significant proportion, considering the second most influential factor (having a good boss) was chosen by just 14% of respondents.

Salary includes:

• Base pay (annual salary or hourly pay)
• Payment frequency (monthly, bi-monthly, every two Fridays)
• Scheduled or structured pay raises
• Salary grades or range details (how far can someone go in your organization?)
• Overtime pay (this is usually mandated by law)

With base pay, fairness is the ultimate goal. At Compt, we don’t negotiate salaries. Everyone at the same level gets paid the same base.

Why? Historically, this has been a huge contributor to the pay gap in the US. Women and POC negotiate for higher salaries at statistically lower levels. Even if they didn’t, negotiations could result in discrimination on other grounds within your organization. To ensure pay equity, it’s better to eliminate them altogether (with the exception, of course, for high-level exec roles, which there would only be one of).

2. Then, offer incentives.

Eventually, employees will expect to be fairly compensated for their loyalty and performance. That doesn’t mean you have to pay them far above market rates or take unsustainable measures to retain them. Part of building a sustainable and effective compensation strategy is offering incentive pay.

During times of financial uncertainty, like high inflation or a global recession, it’s crucial to support employees financially. Bonuses and incentives can help alleviate uncertainty while providing employers with flexibility in a rapidly changing market.

A few common forms of incentive pay include:

• Bonuses
• Commissions
• Noncash rewards (i.e., vacations, gifts)
• Stock options or shares
• Profit sharing

Some companies choose to structure their employee compensation strategy with incentive pay as the primary motivator. Sales roles are the perfect example of this – SDRs typically have a low base salary but large commission potential if they meet or exceed quotas.

Incentive pay is challenging to get right. When it comes to bonuses and commissions, make sure you’re balancing individual results with team/employee performance (to avoid pitting colleagues against one another).

3. Find the benefits that matter to employees.

Employees are 70% more likely to stick with a company when they’re happy with the benefits package. Your benefits strategy should revolve around making the largest possible positive impact on the largest percentage of your workforce.

Your first step is running an employee benefits survey, which gives you the opportunity to ask employees which benefits matter most (and which don’t). You’ll find out whether your company’s current package is meeting their needs and how much employees value each benefit.

When creating a benefits strategy, keep these categories in mind:

• Legally required benefits: Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, family and medical leave under FMLA, health insurance under ACA
• Table stakes (you have to offer these to compete): Employer-sponsored health insurance, paid vacation, retirement plans, dental/vision insurance
• Financial benefits: rewards and recognition programs, bonuses/incentives (note: while bonuses may fall under ‘incentive pay,’ they typically have a financial benefit connotation)
• Lifestyle benefits: Gym memberships, childcare, commuter assistance, paid parental leave, health and wellness stipends, and all the other things that make people’s day-to-day better
• Personal and professional development benefits: Tuition reimbursement, learning and development programs, mentorship opportunities, leadership training
• Industry-specific benefits: For example, a pet toy company would definitely offer pet care stipends, even though most companies would consider them a nice-to-have.

The easiest way to offer these is to tie your employee benefits/bonus program to a perk stipend. That way, your employees can use your additional compensation how they want, when they want. And everyone’s included!

4. Don’t sleep on flexibility.

In today’s workforce, flexibility is a massive draw. Employees have, personal responsibilities, hobbies, demanding family lives they need to balance.

Depending on the nature of work and what job allows, there are a few ways you can be more flexible:

• Remote work (best)
• Hybrid model (second best)
• Flexible schedules
• Unlimited PTO
• Job sharing
• Part-time work/returnships

Flexibility is sometimes tied closely to results-based compensation. In roles where it’s easier to measure output objectively (i.e., sales), it’s easier to justify flexible work arrangements because the results are clear.

Certain roles also permit more flexibility than others by nature. Data analytics, for instance, is commonly remote, even at companies requiring on-site presence. IT teams can easily work from home if they have the right tools to do so.

To develop a competitive compensation strategy, you and your team will have to set work flexibility policies with careful consideration for the nature of each role. It’s a balancing act that requires you to weigh the needs, wants, and limitations of both your employees and company.

5. Be inclusive.

80% of employees say they want to work for inclusive companies, and their first impression of inclusivity comes from job descriptions. You have to offer inclusive employee benefits and ensure equal pay for equal work.

Here are some ways to practice inclusivity in your compensation strategy:

• Mandate diverse interview panels
• Be transparent about pay and promotion criteria from the beginning
• Have a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination and harassment
• Switch regular employee benefits (like paid maternity leave) to gender-agnostic ones (like paid parental leave)
• Offer benefits that cater to the needs of different demographics (like fertility treatments and flexible paid holidays)
• Standardize base pay for roles with more than one team member (and avoid salary negotiations)
• Create a milestone-based structure for raises and promotions that everyone in the department follows
• Train managers to recognize and address unconscious bias

You might not realize part of your compensation package excludes certain groups. On an ongoing basis, you’ll want to survey your employees and monitor KPIs like employee engagement and benefits enrollment to ensure your compensation package is truly inclusive.

Determining your compensation budget

A lot of companies increase headcount to meet their growing demands, then consider how much they can afford to offer. To develop a strong compensation strategy, you need the opposite approach.

• Compensation strategy first
• Hiring (based on what you can afford) second

By hiring employees before creating a compensation philosophy you can stand by, you’ll ultimately fall short. You’ll make offers you can’t sustain, employee satisfaction will go way down, and it will be harder to rearrange your strategy around the expectations you’ve set. Plus, you’ll find it wayyy harder to fill your open roles when job prospects know they can get something better elsewhere.

So…

1. Start with the market rate for the role (or what you currently pay employees in the role).
2. If applicable. Set your commission structure, aiming for 60:40 (base pay:expected commission) or on-target earnings at 20% of a rep’s annual quota.
3. Figure out which benefits you need to offer.
4. Pinpoint the fringe benefits your current and target employees care about most.
5. Calculate how much it costs to offer your benefits package on a per-employee basis.
6. Then, based on your ability to pay employees equitably and competitively, calculate how many you can afford to bring on.
7. Only bring on what you can afford.

Trust us… This will help you win the talent game by a landslide.

Compensation and company culture have a bidirectional relationship.

Company culture represents the intrinsic values, beliefs, behaviors, and shared vision your organization embodies. It’s the collective “personality” that affects how employees interact with each other, with clients, and how they perceive their roles.

Your compensation strategy involves how you pay your employees, financially and otherwise. It’s a reflection of what your company values and how it wants to motivate and retain its workforce.

• The way you compensate your employees should mirror and reinforce your organizational culture. If you value teamwork and collaboration, your compensation strategy should include spot bonuses and peer-to-peer recognition.
• At the same time, your chosen compensation strategy influences your company’s culture. If you reward individual performance, you’ll foster an individualistic, competitive atmosphere. Overdone, this causes employees to feel isolated, afraid to ask for help, and focused solely on their own achievements.

Realistically, you won’t get this right on the first go. Compensation packages come with hiccups and unintended consequences. Or, you may find your compensation strategy doesn’t mesh well with the business direction you’re headed in.

The point is you can use your compensation strategy to reinforce your company’s values and guide your workforce in the direction you want. But you have to be prepared to take reactionary measures when it doesn’t work out in theory the same way it does in practice. And, of course, build flexibility and inclusivity into it from the get-go to avoid the obvious pitfalls.

When hiring, follow the data that benefits your employees.

Market data is obviously a major component of setting pay ranges. But, even with data, the ideal pay system for the current job market is shrouded in ambiguity.

That’s why, rather than rely too heavily on it, take all the advice and follow the steps we’ve outlined here when you’re hiring new employees and revisiting your compensation strategy for new ones.

• Be clear with your pay range. If you’re talking with a candidate, let them know upfront your salary range is between $X,000 and $Y,000 base (plus equity, benefits, time off, etc.) If they aren’t happy with that, let them know you’ll keep them warm for potential increases in the future.
• Set your range using data. At Compt, our compensation philosophy is to pay people market rates (as compared to other companies of our size) for a role. We start with data (which, by the way, goes beyond a “average Position X salary” Google search).
• Data isn’t always right. If you notice one (or multiple) of your candidates brings up data you weren’t expecting, talk to your team before you write them off.
• Don’t penalize candidates for working against their best interests. If a candidate presents a data-oriented case for their salary, go with your predetermined salary range if their request falls below it.

Is Compt part of your compensation strategy in 2026?

Compt makes it easy to offer employee stipends, expense reimbursements, and rewards/recognition in one platform. You can test out different compensation strategies, offer new benefits to employees (like health and wellness stipends), and give employees the freedom to choose how they spend their total comp. We’ll show you how it works.

The post How to Create a Winning Compensation Strategy for 2026 appeared first on COMPT.

Companies today are doing anything and everything they can to attract, engage, and retain top talent, and a direct result of this is more comprehensive total compensation plans.

Because of the expansion and increased investment in total compensation packages, now more than ever, the industry needs clear definitions of what benefits, perks, perk stipends, and lifestyle spending accounts (LSA) are. Continuing without a consensus, people will continue to be confused, time and money will continue to be wasted, and worst of all — we won’t understand our employee’s actual needs.

Below are the elements of compensation we’ll cover in this piece:

• Compensation
• Salary
• Benefits
• Perks
• Perk Stipends/Perk Allowances
• Lifestyle Spending Accounts

Compensation

Compensation Definition:

While once considered just salary, the definition of compensation has expanded to describe the entire package that employees receive for their labor.

Compensation includes salary, bonus commission, stock options, benefits, perks, and any other additional financial or non-financial extras.

According to an Ernst & Young report, 63% of respondents said that an employer which “provides fair compensation and good benefits” was a leading factor in determining the level of trust to place on their employer.

Sources: Small Business Chron, The Balance Careers

Benefits

Benefits Definition:

Benefits are non-salary compensation given to employees.

There are two forms:

1. Government-mandated benefits and company-determined benefits.

2. Benefits that employers are required by federal or state law to provide (within specific parameters):

• COBRA
• Family and Medical Leave Act
• Minimum Wage
• Overtime
• Unemployment Benefits
• Workers Compensation

Below are examples of benefits a company can offer to make their organization a more attractive place to work. They often include insurance, retirement benefits, health-related accounts, and formalized paid time off.

Examples of benefits:

• Paid time off (aka holidays, vacation, and sick days)
• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Disability insurance (short-term and long-term)
• Retirement benefits: 401(k)
• Healthcare spending or reimbursement accounts (HSAs, FSAs, HRPs, and HRAs)

What benefits are not:

• Commuter stipends or benefits
• Lifestyle spending accounts
• Flexible work location or working hours.
• Things that have tax advantages. While it’s true some do have tax advantages such as ROTH 401k or an FSA, not all of them do.

Sources: The Balance Careers, HR Zone benefits definition.

Perks

Perks are additional ways to support the needs of employees beyond salary or benefits and include ones that are purchasable and programmatic.

(Read here to find all the secrets you need to know to build a top-notch perks program)

Purchasable perks include catered lunches, books, fitness stipends, pet insurance, and student loan forgiveness. Programmatic perks are policy-driven advantages to working at a company such as being pet-friendly, Summer Fridays, or remote work.

Perks are one of the largest umbrellas of offerings as many items fit within them.

Examples of offerings:

• Beer
• Car allowances
• Career coaching services
• Casual dress
• Catered meals
• Charitable matching
• Child care (in-office support or subsidized)
• College loan repayment services
• Commuter Stipends
• Company outings
• Conferences & training
• Continuous Learning Stipends
• Dedicated time for learning
• Fitness Stipend
• Flex Work Hours
• Game Room
• Generous Parental Leave
• Gym memberships
• Happy Hours
• Lifestyle spending accounts
• Meditation rooms
• Mentorship Programs
• Online learning classes & courses
• Onsite gym
• Performance bonus
• Pet-friendly office
• Pet insurance
• Professional memberships
• Certificates
• Recreational clubs (company-sponsored teams)
• Relocation assistance
• Remote work opportunities
• Sabbatical leave
• Software stipends
• Summer Friday’s
• Tech goodies stipend
• Tuition reimbursement
• Volunteering opportunities
• Wellness programs

Other, less-discussed perks:

• Birthday lunches or gift cards
• Spot bonuses
• President’s Club

To see a comprehensive list, check out this employee perks listing page.

What perks are not:

• A company’s mission, vision, and values.
• Strong leadership or managers.
• Excellent programs or processes.
• Working close to the office.

Sources: JustWorks, Compt Employee Perks, Robert Half

Perk Stipends/Allowances

Perk stipends are monetary amounts allocated to employees for them to spend on perks that align with specific company policies, values, or culture initiatives. The amounts can be given to employees on credit cards, paid back through reimbursement (while accounting for taxes), or through a lifestyle spending account.

Examples of perk stipends:

• Health & wellness stipends
• Continuous learning stipends
• Remote work stipends
• Family perk stipends
• Travel stipends
• Software stipends

Examples of companies using perk stipends today:

• Airbnb: $2,000 a year to spend on travel.
• Qualtrics: $1,500 a year to spend on experiences.
• Facebook: $4,000 in “baby cash” stipend for new parents.
• Microsoft: Annual $800 “StayFit” reimbursement to pick your favorite way to stay fit physically, emotionally, and financially.
• Basecamp: $100/month for health and wellness, $100/month for massages, $1,000/year for continuing education, and $1,000/year for charitable giving with matching.
• Buffer: $20/month for continuous learning, $3,000/year dependents grant, and $200/month remote work stipend.
• Circle: $200 a month to spend on lunches.

Sources: Perk Stipends: Everything You Need to Know.

Lifestyle Spending Accounts

A lifestyle spending account is an employer-contributed account set up for employees so that they are able to purchase the perks which are most meaningful to them and their needs.

To set up a lifestyle spending account, companies set basic parameters for their employees’ lifestyle spending accounts including how much each employee can spend, within what timeframe, in which categories, and who pays the taxes. Companies often align the categories of spending with the mission, vision, values, culture, or company goals.

Lifestyle spending accounts are an ideal option for companies that wish to personalize their employee perks, support satellite offices or remote employees, ensure IRS tax compliance with perks, and remove the administrative burden on HR for managing individual perks and vendors.

This sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Want to learn more about how LSAs work? Read all you need to know about them here.

Sources: HR Daily Advisor, Lifestyle Spending Account eBook.

Want to learn more about Lifestyle Spending Accounts?

We have a helpful resource for you. Download our Ultimate Guide eBook and receive 22 pages full of what you need to know.

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The post Definitions & Differences between Compensation, Salary, Employee Benefits, Perks, Perk Stipends, & Lifestyle Spending Accounts appeared first on COMPT.