The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically accelerated the growth of remote work, with many employees shifting to working from home full-time. While some companies are starting to bring workers back on-site, remote and hybrid arrangements are here to stay.
As more organizations embrace distributed teams, it’s becoming increasingly clear that traditional employee benefits packages must be re-evaluated for the remote work era. Companies that want to attract and retain top remote talent must understand these changing needs and offer benefits explicitly tailored for remote staff.
This guide will explore the best employee benefits for remote work in 2025 and beyond. Read on to learn about the wellness, lifestyle, financial, and other incentives.
Health Insurance Options for Remote Employees
Providing quality health insurance will always be a top priority for employees. However, the traditional company group health plan may need to be clarified with remote staff. Here are some of the best ways to offer health insurance to remote teams:
Individual Health Insurance Plans
Getting everyone on one group plan can be challenging with employees across different states or countries.
Reimbursing individuals to purchase their health insurance plans gives remote workers flexibility. Companies can set a monthly or annual subsidy amount for employees to use towards premiums for individual/family plans purchased on public exchanges or through health insurance providers.
Small Business Group Health Plans
For smaller distributed teams in the same geographic area, setting up a traditional group health plan through the company can still be a good option.
Small business health plans for under 50 employees typically offer more price stability than individual plans. Employers can also negotiate group discounts and customize coverage options.
Health Insurance Stipends
If providing group or individual health insurance isn’t feasible, companies can still support remote employees’ coverage by offering tax-free monthly stipends.
These stipends can be applied towards premiums for health insurance purchased independently. Stipends give remote staff added flexibility and are simpler to manage than group plans.
Telemedicine Benefits
Making it fast and convenient for remote employees to consult healthcare providers virtually is hugely valuable. Companies can provide access to on-demand telehealth platforms that allow remote workers to message/video chat with Licensed doctors 24/7 for non-emergency issues.
Remote Work Health and Wellness Benefits
Along with medical insurance, providing programs and perks that support employees’ overall well-being is critical for distributed teams.
Remote work has unique health and wellness challenges, from lack of social interaction to long sedentary hours. Here are some engaging wellness benefits to provide:
Mental Health Support Resources
Remote employees have faced heightened stress and anxiety over the past few years. Offering access to mental health services like counselling, therapy, support groups, and apps ensures your remote team has support channels. Providing stipends for these resources is ideal.
Virtual Exercise & Fitness Classes
Sitting at a desk all day can affect remote employees’ physical health. Providing stipends and subsidized access to virtual workout classes incentivizes remote staff to exercise and stay active.
Healthy Eating & Meal Delivery Subsidies
It’s easy for remote employees to rely on unhealthy, convenient snacks and takeout while working from home.
Consider subsidizing meal delivery kits and prepared meals to help remote staff eat nutritious foods. You can also provide healthy snack care packages or gift cards for grocery delivery services.
Ergonomic Equipment Stipends
Allowances to purchase ergonomic office equipment and furniture make it easier for remote employees to create comfortable and injury-free work-from-home setups.
Common requests include ergonomic chairs, adjustable desks, computer monitors, keyboard trays, and laptop stands. Set annual stipend amounts to cover some or all these costs.
Flexible Work Arrangements Benefits
Offering flexibility and autonomy over when and where remote employees work is highly valued. Businesses can offer Flexible Benefits Plans and build flexibility into roles, schedules, and environments.
Flexible Work Schedules
Allowing remote employees to set their own start and end times (within reason) gives them the freedom to work when they’re most productive. You can establish a set of “core hours” for required meetings and collaboration. Outside of those, remote staff can determine their schedules.
Part-Time & Job Sharing Remote Work Options
Enabling employees to work remotely part-time gives them flexibility to balance work and personal life. Job-sharing roles with part-time schedules are another creative way to build flexibility between two remote employees.
Part-time and job-sharing options are especially helpful for remote workers with caregiving responsibilities.
Extended Leave & Sabbatical Policies
Extended paid leaves and sabbaticals (3-6 months) allow remote employees to disconnect and recharge completely. While remote workers don’t need to commute, they can still experience burnout.
Providing occasional extended leaves gives high performers the incentive to commit long-term. Employees return refreshed and refocused.
Financial & Lifestyle Benefits
Remote employees have unique financial costs and lifestyle needs compared to on-site staff. Benefits that simplify taxes, reduce expenses, and support work-life balance are critical for high remote worker satisfaction.
Remote Work Expense Reimbursement
Setting clear policies for reimbursing costs like home office supplies, ergonomic furniture, internet/cell service, and co-working space memberships takes the financial stress off individual employees.
Companies can set monthly or annual maximum reimbursement amounts. An expense policy for remote workers helps them understand what the company will cover.
Professional Development & Learning Stipends
Offering stipends for remote employees’ continued learning and upskilling helps them stay challenged and engaged.
Stipends can be used for courses, workshops, conferences, software, etc. Another good perk is allowing remote workers to expense books related to their role. Educational stipends lead to greater career satisfaction.
Co-working Space Subsidies
Some remote employees thrive working in shared co-working spaces rather than alone at home all the time.
Consider subsidizing co-working memberships to provide this option. The flexibility to work from a professional office environment some days can help reduce isolation and exhaustion.
Remote Team Travel Opportunities
Organizing periodic team trips and meetups for remote staff to get together in person is invaluable for company culture and socialization.
These could be weekly team lunches, quarterly getaways, or annual retreats. Paid travel opportunities bring remote employees together to bond and brainstorm in new environments. Budgets allowing getaways to inspiring locations are hugely motivating.
Paid Volunteer Time Off
Giving remote employees a set number of paid days or hours off annually to volunteer for causes they care about enhances loyalty and satisfaction.
Compared to PTO, it is less prone to burnout than vacation days since employees are helping communities. With geographic spread, volunteering also helps remote workers connect to their local regions.
Performance Incentives & Rewards
Creatively rewarding remote employees for great work is vital for engagement and motivation. Since remote managers can’t hand out praise in person, creating channels for recognition is essential.
Remote Worker Recognition Programs
Allowing remote employees to praise each other’s contributions and nominate peers for bonuses builds community and camaraderie. Managers can also surprise top remote performers with gifts and praise.
Unique Experience Rewards
Instead of just cash bonuses, consider giving remote employees carefully chosen gift cards for excellent experiences as rewards.
Remote workers will be excited to earn gift cards for restaurants, hotels, online classes, concerts, subscription services, and unique life experiences. Experience rewards combat isolation.
Spot Bonuses for Top Performers
Help remote employees feel genuinely valued by giving top remote performers and major team contributors unexpected bonuses when they achieve milestones and crush goals.
Spot bonuses given without warning feel more meaningful than expected quarterly bonuses alone. They also motivate other employees.
Additional Perks for Remote Workers
Many companies provide extra perks to help remote workers stay motivated, comfortable, and productive.
Home Office Tech & Equipment
Providing stipends or company-purchased devices like laptops, monitors, printers, webcams, headsets, and other critical tech makes it easier for remote employees to be productive at home.
Ergonomic equipment like standing desks, online ergo assessments, and home office furniture allowances also demonstrate investment in remote workers’ well-being.
Remote Team Community Building Activities
Remember bonding experiences that bring your distributed team together virtually for socialization and fun.
Ideas include online cooking classes, escape rooms, paint nights, photo contests, virtual talent shows, game events, and more. Sending care packages or fun team swag ahead of the events enhances the excitement.
Annual Retreats for Distributed Teams
Hybrid and fully remote teams highly value multi-day annual on-site retreats for in-person collaboration and culture building.
Offsite getaways to inspiring destinations allow bonding time for remote employees who rarely see each other face-to-face. Retreats drive strategic thinking, social connections, and a shared sense of purpose.
Care Packages & Corporate Gifts
Periodically sending wellness care packages or fun gift boxes demonstrates corporate appreciation for remote staff.
Care packages could include healthy snacks, branded water bottles/tumblers, self-care items, gift cards, or tech accessories. Corporate holiday gifts like custom notebooks, apparel, and office essentials also delight remote employees.
Developing a Remote Work Benefits Plan
The benefits above provide a template of perks and programs to consider when optimizing your remote work benefits strategy. But how do you put together the right plan for your distributed team? Here are some tips on structuring a benefits package tailored for remote employees:
Conduct Employee Needs Assessments
Survey your remote employees for direct input on their highest priority benefits and preferred perks.
Needs assessment polls help identify benefits gaps based on what remote workers value most. Assessments can be done when rolling out new remote policies or optimizing existing plans.
Weigh Different Benefit Options & Costs
Research pricing and implementation costs for new benefits you are considering. Analyze the ROI by comparing costs to engagement and retention benefits.
Remember to promote employee contributions and copays to share costs. Offering benefits virtually is also more affordable.
Get Leadership Buy-In for Benefits Spend
Present data on how optimized remote work benefits will improve culture, recruitment, and employee retention to obtain leadership buy-in—frame benefits as an investment in the remote workforce. If the budget is limited, consider phasing in bigger-ticket offerings like retreats.
Communicate Benefits to the Distributed Team
Don’t just email benefit policies to remote employees—schedule virtual meetings to explain plans and answer questions.
Create one-pagers, infographics and quick reference tools on new benefits for easy visibility. Record short video overviews that remote workers can reference on demand.
Evaluate & Optimize Remote Work Benefits Over Time
Check-in frequently with employees on benefits satisfaction, participation rates, and evolving needs. Adjust perks and policies based on feedback. Regular surveys help spot new needs. Ensure benefits align with corporate values and culture as your business scales.
Paving the Path Forward with Remote Work Benefits
Leading companies investing in long-term remote work know that re-evaluating their employee benefits for remote workers is crucial—traditional benefits packages no longer meet most remote employees’ needs and priorities.
By focusing benefits spent on healthcare access, wellness incentives, professional growth, collaboration opportunities, unique rewards, and work-life balance support, companies can provide “best-in-class” remote work benefits.
These perks boost employee satisfaction day to day and demonstrate that the company truly values remote and hybrid staff, cares about their well-being, and wants to invest in their long-term success.
