85 Employee Benefits Ideas for Remote Workers [2024 Updated]

What perks and benefits should you be offering to your remote employees? 

Remote employee benefits include far more than just working from home and flexible hours. 

In this article, you’ll discover 85 employee benefits ideas for remote workers.

Why Should You Offer Remote Employee Benefits?

Remote work is here to stay. A study shows a 140% increase in remote workers since 2005. 

According to a recent Gallup research, 59% of U.S. employees who have been doing their jobs from home during the coronavirus pandemic would prefer to continue to work remotely as much as possible, once public health restrictions are lifted.

It’s high time to treat remote workers well with amazing employee benefits. These benefits can help you improve employee engagement and, consequently, business revenue.

40% of people feel the greatest benefit of remote work is the flexible work schedule.

Studies stated that 72% of the workers believe increased employee benefits lead to job satisfaction.

69% of employees say having a wider array of benefits would increase loyalty to their employer.

78% of employees reported they’re more likely to stay with an employer because of their benefits program.

These are just some of the many stats showing employees need more support from their organizations.

Here are some reasons why you should offer benefits to your remote workers:

• Employee benefits help remote workers feel they’re still together and a part of the family. It leads to employee engagement.

• Remote workers face challenges like stress, isolation, and anxiety. Specific benefits like mental health support and subscription packages will help them fight these challenges.

• Employee benefits will strengthen your company’s working culture.

• Benefits packages will make remote workers’ life more comfortable and maximize their productivity.

• They help attract top talent. 60% of people reported that benefits and perks are a major factor in considering whether to accept a job offer.

These are some reasons why you need employee benefits plans for remote workers. Now, let’s access some employee benefits ideas for remote workers:

85 Employee Benefits Ideas for Remote Workers

Here are 85 benefits that are most important for remote workers:

1. Mental health support 

Start providing mental health training and sessions virtually. Corporate mental health training should cover more practical topics that help remote workers prevent stress, anxiety, and burnout. You can onboard experts to organize mental health information sessions. 

The goal of mental health training should be to open conversations about mental health and equip people with tools to create a safe, engaged, and productive workplace.

2. Plant subscriptions 

According to US News & World Report, “having office plants created a better work environment.”

Offer your remote employees a plant subscription box. We recommend low-light, easy-care plants like succulents and cactus!

3. Home office setup

The workspace should be pleasing and functional. How can you help your remote employees set up a beautiful workspace? 

You can offer an allowance or stipend to your employees to buy ergonomic furniture,  standing desks, headphones, lights, and all the necessary items. 

4. Workout classes

Want to ensure the overall health and productivity of your employees? Offer them free workout classes. With fitness classes led by a certified instructor, your employees will be able to fit an exercise break into their busy schedules. You can also offer fitness center passes to your remote workers.

5. Childcare benefits

Remote workers have a lot of trouble balancing work and home, especially those with children. In such situations, the best you can do is offer childcare benefits to remote workers.

The cost of child daycare ranges from $2,000 to $5,000 a month. -Eldercare Locator (Source)

6. Meal home delivery

Take away the burden of cooking for a week. Bring in vendors to offer meals ready to take home or pay for a week’s/month’s subscription for a meal delivery service like Freshly. If they want to go the extra mile and cook it themselves, try a meal-delivery service like Hello Fresh.

7. Tools and technology

Having a remote team will let you save big on rent, furniture, equipment, or office supplies. Reinvest some of that into paying for technology or new tools for your employees. It can be a new laptop, monitor, and even a high-speed internet connection.

Ask them if they need an upgrade or if they hear of equipment or technology that would make their job easier.

8. Virtual team activities

Virtual games and activities will help build a genuine human connection with remote workers. Plus, it has a big impact on company culture.

Here are some virtual team activities you can try:

• Share personal photos on the company channel.
• Run virtual quizzes and word puzzles.
• Get to know your team by sharing your bucket list.
• Have some time off from work to come together for a virtual coffee/Tea break and get involved in some random chit-chats.
• DIY craft challenge and recipe challenge.
• Run a virtual 2-minute push-up challenge, start a timer or turn on a song.

9. Access to online courses

If you want to improve employee engagement levels, you need to show you’re here to help. You can help in your employees’ growth by paying for online classes or courses. 

10. Home gym equipment

We’ll all agree that we tend to move less when working from home. A healthy mind needs a healthy body. And that’s why your organization should consider offering your remote employees home gym equipment or gym passes. Including a gym business plan focused on home fitness solutions can help tailor the equipment to employees’ needs and maximize engagement.

11. Surprise day offs

Nothing brings a break to a monotonous work routine like a day off! Give your employees surprise day-offs after an especially tough week.

12. Internet reimbursement

When your employees are working from home, it is natural that Internet costs will add up.  Make sure you reimburse these as a responsible and caring organization.

13. No meeting days

Remote working can turn into day-long zoom calls, giving employees hardly any time to do the actual work. Give a break to this with no meeting days. With no meetings, your team enjoys an uninterrupted day that is perfect for deep work.

14. Virtual happy hours

After a project is well done, a virtual happy hour may just be the reward your employees are looking for. Happy hours will help them beat the stress and catch up on some extra talks with their best buddies.

15. Pet support Insurance

Consider offering pet insurance as an employee benefit. To help address pet medical care costs, your organization should consider providing pet health insurance as a voluntary benefit to their workforce. 

16. Food vouchers

Provide digital food vouchers and meal cards to your remote employees.

17. 4 Work Days a week

You can introduce one short work week (4 day work week) every month if your employees are generally good with their ETAs and deadlines. Or try having one half-day Friday in a month and see if it improves the productivity.

18. Yoga classes subscription

Adapting to the new pattern of working from home, it is possible for the mind and body to go out of sync resulting in various health and productivity issues. To avoid this from impacting work, offer your employees a yoga class subscription.

19. Home cleaning services

With hectic work schedules at home, cleaning can turn into a big challenge. Help your employees relax after work by offering them home cleaning services. 

20. Employee wellness programs

If you implement employee wellness programs properly, it can provide a significant return for your business. Start programs like walking challenge, drinking water program, meditation program, sleep program, etc.

21. Send goodies to new employees (Company Swag)

Remote employee swag kits are a great way to build remote team culture and engagement. What can you include in this kit?

– T-shirts

– Water bottles

– Socks

– Mugs

– Tech Accessories

– Sneakers

– Notebooks

– Stickers

(Company branding logos on all the products)

22. Peer-to-peer recognition program

EngageWith is an employee recognition and rewards platform that enriches your company culture. Employees can recognize peers, juniors, or managers by giving them Kudos or Shoutouts for a job well done.

It can also be used to celebrate and reward/gift employees on their birthdays and milestones like work anniversaries.

23. Access to Co-working spaces

Provide co-working space passes to your remote workers. If remote workers can’t work comfortably from home – due to limited, shared space – or don’t want to do it, you can consider providing a stipend to cover a coworking space.

24. Start a travel-based reward program

Why not offer a travel incentive to employees who have outperformed during a certain period, with the help of a business travel agency? Happy employees lead to a happy organization.

25. Volunteer hours

Volunteering can be a life-changing experience and an important chance for employees to build new skills. Support a non-profit organization and an employee’s passion! 

26. Vacation stipend

Employees need longer breaks during the year to recharge. As an employer, you can offer vacation stipends to improve an employee’s long-term health and well-being. Vacations allow employees to spend quality time with family and friends and return to work recharged.

27. Annual meetups and gathering

Give your employees the chance to connect with each other even when they are working remotely. Don’t shy away from organizing annual meetups, even if they are through a virtual medium. A retreat is important for teams to better understand who they work with and how each team member thinks.

28. Flexible working hours

Allow them flexible work hours (let them decide their working hours). It will establish the boundary between work life and home life. It allows employees to work when they accomplish most, feel freshest, and enjoy working.

29. Paid time-offs

A paid time off from work can help workers refresh their minds and bounce back with new ideas.

30. Paid parental leaves

Being a parent is a full-time job. If your employees have been blessed with a child, support them by offering paid parental leaves. Increasing parental benefits for mothers and fathers has been shown to have positive outcomes for the employees, their families, and their employers.

31. Professional development fund

The more employees develop and learn new skills, the better it is for your business. Have a professional development fund or arrange a virtual training program for the remote team, or let them choose the book, webinar, or course of their liking. 

32. Child education stipend

Acknowledge the hard work of your employees and the hours they put in building your organization. Offer stipend for their child’s education and help them remain stress-free.

33. Employee Referral program

Have a great employee referral program and offer attractive incentives to employees when they recommend candidates to open positions.

34. Investment programs

Companies can encourage employees to acquire ownership in the form of shares. These shares are allotted to the employees at a rate considerably lesser than the prevailing market rate. 

35. Healthcare benefits

The least you can do for your employees is offer them healthcare benefits. Make sure they have a plan that provides adequate care privileges. Life insurance can be an excellent way of making your employees feel valued ecure, as it offers financial security for their families in case of unexpected death.

According to EBRI, 83% of employees say health insurance is extremely important when deciding whether to stay in or change jobs.

36. Adoption assistance

Many companies now offer adoption benefits to employees. If your company does not have an adoption assistance program, build a program and help your employees who want to adopt a child.

37. Virtual book club

Remember the Finer Things club from ‘The Office’? Having a book club can bring coworkers together in wonderful ways. Employees express what they’re interested in reading about, which leads to the book choice. Let them choose the book format — whether it’s an audiobook, ebook, or printed book.

38. Work Anniversary/Birthday gift vouchers

There is no end to the choice of gift cards that you can give to your employees on their special days. Be it Amazon, Flipkart, Zara, or beauty brands like Bodyshop, you can choose from any of them depending upon the preferences of your employees.

Recommended Read: How to Celebrate Employee’s Milestones and Work Anniversary [2022 Updated]

39. Family perks

Your employees working remotely deserve perks for their families as well. Be it vouchers, exclusive access, or healthcare benefits, make sure you extend value to your workers’ families. 

40. Charitable giving

Sometimes helping others lifts our spirits. The same goes for your employees. Partner with an NGO or program and motivate your employees to participate in the charity event. 

41. Smoking Cessation Program

Quitting smoking can enhance the quality of life and add to its longevity.  Incentivize your employees to quit this bad habit by organizing a cessation program. 

42. Massage therapy coupons

Help your employees beat the stress with a massage therapy session. Be it a reward for a job well done or a festive bonus, offer them free coupons. 

43. Virtual mentorship program

Remote employees feel isolated, and anxiety and lonely workers don’t come cheap. By assigning virtual mentorship programs with the senior managers/leaders in your organization, they’d become better at what they do. 

44. Free legal advice

Once in a while, it will be beneficial to offer free legal advice on matters troubling your employees. If you know someone going through some kind of trouble, take the first step by offering help. 

45. Discounted stays at hotels

Another great perk of being associated with your organization can be discounted stays at hotels. Partner with a hotel chain and let your employees save money and enjoy at the same time. You can also consider offering Airbnb credits.

46. Pension/Retirement plan

Your employee benefits package must include a retirement plan. You can start by opening pension fund accounts for your remote workers and contributing monthly to it. A pension plan is a promise of better financial health for employees during retirement.

47. Performance bonuses

Create some healthy competition and reward excellent performance with incentives for successful goal achievement. You can also try some non-monetary programs., such as certificates, trophies, days off, etc.

48. Onboarding program

Make your onboarding process fun and introduce your culture and vision clearly to new employees. Conduct virtual icebreaker activities to introduce new hires to teammates in a fun way to make them feel comfortable.

49. Spotify premium subscription

Don’t let the horribly jarring ads ruin their focus while they’re listening to their favorite music. Eliminate those moments by offering your remote employees a Spotify premium subscription.

50. Mindfulness app subscription

Take care of your remote workers’ mental and emotional well-being. A gift of a mindfulness app subscription like Headspace can provide guided meditation sessions that’ll leave employees feeling relaxed.

51. Feature them on the company blog or newsletter

Showcase your employees’ stories in your company’s newsletter or blog page. Consider including a spotlight section in the Newsletter where employees know the company’s top performers’ stories.

52. Session with a financial advisor

Most people struggle with managing their finances in spite of earning well. Help them make sound decisions by organizing a one-on-one session with a financial advisor. 

53. Book a laundry service

Set them up with a laundry service that will pick up/drop off their laundry at their home. This incentive gives your employees more than just clean laundry – it helps restore some work-life balance to their lives.

54. Care-packed gift boxes

Send your team snack-boxes with a message from the boss once every month. It shows that the organization cares for their remote workers, and it reduces their spending on snacks.

55. Sport event tickets

A football match being organized in your remote employee’s city? Give your employees tickets to witness the thrill and craze with their own eyes. 

56. Movie Tickets

Reward your hard-working employees with movie tickets to upcoming shows.  Remember that all work and no play make employees dull!

57. Netflix subscription

Load up fifty dollars on a Netflix gift card and feed their binge-watching habit for a few months.

58. Cooking lessons

For employees, with a zest for cooking, offer them the secret to some of the lip-smacking recipes. Make their weekends, food ends!

59. FitBit

Make your employees aware of the importance of fitness. Offer them fitbits to help track their sleep, fitness, and exercise regime. 

60. Sleep webinars

The most underrated key to wellness is a goodnight’s sleep. Invite experts and conduct webinars or sessions to promote the importance of sleep.

61. Cool socks

When you think about wardrobe staples and necessary items, socks can be considered apparel essential. There are certain everyday items people wear. Gifting socks allows people to take an item off their shopping list and save a little money.

62. Paid time off on birthday

Birthday leaves are a great way to tell your employees that they are an essential part of your company. Let them make the best of it with a day off!

63. Time off to attend a child’s event

When your employees work from home, give them the time off to attend their child’s important events. Be it an annual function, fancy dress, or a lemon race, make sure the parents catch up on their growing toddlers.

64. Disability insurance

Help your special employees feel an important members of the organization by providing them insurance. Value their contributions and their lives!

65. Marriage counseling

For an employee to give the best of their potential at work, they need to be mentally sound.  Small troubles at home can impact work and their wellbeing. As an organization, you can support your employees by offering marriage counseling from professionals if they are facing any issues. 

66. Newborn baby bonus

Make special days in the lives of your employees even more special with company perks. Offer them bonuses and make their smile even brighter.

67. Career guidance service

Partnership with a career counselor who can help employees tackle their toughest career problems and achieve their highest career aspirations.

68. Kindle/Audible Subscription

Encourage your employees to read more with kindle subscriptions. Audiobooks are a great option since they’re delivered digitally. Offer an Audible subscription to your remote workers.

69. Let them work on side projects

Allow your employees to work on side projects. Side projects provide a place where your employees can make all the decisions. You can also call this their creative release, which then helps them be more accommodating at work.

70. Pet adoption support

Provide pet adoption support by covering expenses up to $XXX annually for employees adopting a new cat or dog into their family.

71. Complimentary car wash

For employees owning a vehicle, give them a break from doing chores. Offer occasional car washes and help them enjoy their day-offs in the true sense.

72. Property buying assistance

Many of your workers might be looking to invest in real estate. Provide them with support in purchasing property and guide them in making informed choices. You might want to connect them with a Eugene real estate agent for personalized assistance. Also, You can also use real estate CRM to easily automate communication & manage leads, put daily tasks on auto-pilot, and improve everyday productivity. Additionally, you can also leverage real estate software development to enhance their experience. Consider using the best CRM for real estate investors to streamline your processes and maximize efficiency.

73. Home furniture buying assistance

Help your hardworking employees make the best decision with their money when buying interior decorations and furniture. Offer them a consultation with an expert. 

74. Virtual fitness challenges

Fitness challenges can help your team achieve their fitness goals and build camaraderie along the way! 

75. Occasional Grocery delivery

Once in a while, you can offer grocery delivery for your employees. Remember that these little things go a long way in nurturing your relationship.

76. Local café membership

Is there a coffee place your employees love going to? Offer them a membership to the cafe so that they get to enjoy the best of work and food/beverages.

77. Museum membership

Go out of your way to help your workers rediscover the magic of history and art. Get access to a museum’s membership.

78. Thank you video

Thank you video is a great way to say thanks to your employees on their work anniversaries. Come up with a list of 5-10 funny questions to ask your employee’s teammates and make them record the responses on video. To make the video editing process easier, you can utilize the best AI video editing software that offers various features such as transcribing video to text, adding subtitles, merging videos, trimming videos, and incorporating visual effects.

79. Virtual wall of fame

Create a virtual wall of fame in your company’s channel. Each month, add an employee’s photo (or employee of the month) to your Wall of Fame to ensure that they are recognized for their great work and contribution.

80. Uber credits

If your employees travel to work or otherwise, offer them uber credits. Help them cut down on their travel expenses. 

81. Remote Work Expense Management

Provide tools and software for remote work expense management, allowing employees to easily track and submit expenses incurred while working remotely.

82. Environmental Initiatives

Support remote workers in adopting environmentally friendly practices. This could involve providing resources for sustainable home offices, offering eco-friendly incentives, or organizing virtual events focused on environmental awareness.

83. Social Impact Sabbaticals

Offer extended paid sabbaticals for employees to dedicate a significant amount of time to a social impact project. This benefit provides remote workers with the opportunity to immerse themselves in a cause they are passionate about.

84. Cloud Storage Access

Employees are granted access to cloud storage services, allowing them to store and access work-related documents and files from anywhere with an internet connection. Cloud storage enhances collaboration, facilitates remote work, and ensures data accessibility and security.

85. Virtual Tech Workshops

Companies organize virtual workshops to keep employees updated on the latest technological trends, tools, and innovations. These workshops can be interactive sessions that provide hands-on experience or demonstrations related to specific technologies.

I hope you like these employee benefits ideas for remote workers. Start working on your benefits plan right away!

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Originally published on Feb 2, 2021, 3:23 PM, last updated Feb 16, 2024