What is Included Under the Term “Benefits”?
Employers in the United States must follow legislation set forth by the designated state and federal governments. These laws and rules are always changing, but their foundations are in place to ensure a safe working environment for everyone, free from discrimination, harassment, and other negative factors.
Part of these legislations discusses which benefits are essential for employees and which are optional. When an employer hires an employee, either a national US citizen or an H-1B worker, they must offer the same benefits to everyone in a similar position of employment.
Benefits include programs like retirement and savings, insurance (health, disability, and life), bonuses, and non-cash compensation. While the employer is required to offer these to everyone, employees are not mandated to accept any of the benefits.
Benefit Conditions
Temporary H-1B employees heading to a different branch of a multinational firm aren’t entitled to benefits if they’ll be on the home country's payroll for 90 days or less. In other words, if the worker is doing their job in the US for under three months while staying on the payroll in their original location, they keep their salary and benefits from their home base. The same thing applies to US nationals who work in another country for 90 or fewer continuous days.
Once the consecutive count hits 91, H-1B workers are entitled to benefits that are equivalent to those provided to other employees in the US in similar positions.
Health insurance in the United States depends on the size of the employer. It’s only mandatory to offer employees if the business has fifty or more full-time employees and/or full-time equivalent employees. The insurance must be affordable and provide at least a minimum value to 95% of the full-time workers and their dependents. The employer mandate requires the insurance to cover children until the end of the month that they turn 26. (Note: full-time refers to employees who work 30 hours per week or more.)
Life insurance and disability insurance are optional, but they’re common perks offered by employers who want to attract top talent. You’ll see these benefits alongside the salary and other offerings from larger companies and businesses that want to be seen by the best-skilled workers in the industry from around the world. If you qualify as one of the top workers, you may be able to negotiate your salary and benefits.
What’s Next?
When you’re ready to see what an H-1B visa can mean for you and your family, contact Visa2US before you do anything else. Our friendly legal experts will guide you through the process, explain what kind of job sponsorships and visas are open to you, and get you started!
