When it comes to finding ways to support their staff, the Best Firms to Work For are engaged in a sort of arms race, working constantly to find new and ingenious ways to make their employees’ lives easier.
Long gone are the days when subsidizing CPA Exam review courses and giving candidates time off to study was considered anything but table stakes, and reimbursement for the cost of tuition or achieving new credentials has been fairly common for a while. Instead, the Best Firms to Work For are constantly rolling out new forms of support to help them stand out from the crowd.
Here’s a selection of six of the most interesting or frequently mentioned from 2018:
- Beaird Harris in Dallas doesn’t just serve its clients: “All of our employees have access to any of our tax, accounting or wealth management services at no cost regardless of which team [they] work with,” the firm reported.
- A surprising number of firms are making pet insurance available to employees. “So many of our employees have pets that are like their family that we feel it is important to include them as well,” reported Georgia’s Hancock Askew. (The firm also offers a voluntary supplement short-term disability plan, and a voluntary cancer insurance plan.)
- Similarly, identify theft insurance was mentioned a number of times, at firms as far apart as RBT CPAs in New York and Berntson Porter & Co. in Washington.
- Virginia’s Keiter aims to promote flexibility and boost employees’ remote working capabilities by giving them $45 a month to help cover the cost of their cell phone
- Florida’s Kaufman Rossin offers “on-site services such as massage and physical therapy, car washes and dry cleaning” – and not just during tax season.
- More and more of the Best Firms are offering clothing allowances of one kind or another. Iowa’s McGowen, Hurst, Clark, & Smith, for instance, offers new hires who are accepting their first full-time job $500 for clothing, as well as 50 percent off all wearables for existing new associates, and a free branded t-shirt.
