When asked the reasons they stay with their current employer, 50% of employees cited employee benefits as a key determinant in their decision. Benefits packages can be the deal maker or breaker when it comes to recruiting and retaining talent, particularly for small business owners, who may struggle to match what larger companies with are capable of providing.

To help you rise above the competition and secure top-tier talent, take advantage of these four tips on how you can improve your small business employee benefits packages:

1. Offer part time employee health benefits:
   
   A full 99% of full-time workers are provided with medical benefits by their employers. Similarly, paid sick leave is available to 98% of full-time workers. Contrast that with part time employee health benefits which are available to less than one quarter of part time employees and you can see the opportunity to set your business apart by being one of the few companies that offer benefits for part time employees. Consider adding part time employee health benefits as well as retirement plans, vacation time and tuition assistance programs to your benefits offering to help you attract new talent.
2. Expand your employee benefits package:
   
   The most commonly provided benefit to employees is paid leave. This includes paid holidays and paid vacation time which are available to over three quarters of all employees in the U.S. In accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), all employees are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period. Acceptable reasons for taking unpaid, job-protected leave include following: a serious medical condition, care of an immediate family member, or the birth of a child. Expand your employee benefits to include more than paid leave to increase your business’s appeal.
   
   Retirement benefits is one area where businesses can improve their part time employee benefits: Less than one-quarter of part-time employees have access to retirement benefits, as opposed to full-time employees, of whom over three-quarters have access to retirement benefits as of March 2015.

>li>Cut costs by finding an alternative to group health insurance plans:

This is particularly relevant to smaller businesses as small business employee benefits cost has risen significantly over the past couple years. According to legislation such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, companies with under 50 full-time employees are not required to offer their part-time staff health benefits. While this may seem contrary to the above points about leveraging superior part time benefits to attract and maintain new talent, it’s possible to offer an appealing employee benefits package as a small business without incurring excessive costs.

One strategy to save on your small business employee benefits package is to forgo group health plans in favor of premium reimbursement plans. Rather than offering group health insurance, small business owners can assist their employees in enrolling in individual health insurance and then reimburse their employees for the cost of their premiums. Research has shown that individual health insurance costs as much as 60% less than group health insurance plans. By cutting costs with more flexible small business health insurance options, you can afford to offer better part time employee benefits or reinvest the added savings back into your business.

3. Upgrade your human resources software:
   Another strategy to reduce unnecessary costs is to improve the human resource benefits administration software your company uses. New research has shown that on average companies use as many as four different HR software solutions. Maybe you use one platform as your administrative software, one for recruiting, another employee benefits software and yet another employee onboarding software. All this means valuable time wasted navigating between your various human resource software solutions. Save your HR team and employees time and increase your overall productivity by consolidating down to a single online HR software that brings all of your HR administration needs into one place.

In conclusion, managing employee benefits can be tricky, but they can also make all the difference in the eyes of your staff. By offering part time employee health benefits, expanding your overall benefits offering, using more cost-effective alternatives to group health insurance plans and upgrading your human resources benefits administration software, you’ll be sure to retain your hard-won employees while attracting a wealth of new talent to your team.