Beyond Health Insurance and 401(k): What Else Should a B2B SaaS Company Offer Its Employees?
Health and 401(k) are the core of any B2B SaaS benefits package. Ninety-one percent of employees at companies with 50+ people don't rank perks in their top two — they rank health and retirement. But once those two are solid, the next question from every senior candidate is the same: what else do you offer? This post answers that question in priority order, with real cost benchmarks, so you build a defensible benefits stack rather than a random list of vendor relationships.
What to Look for in a Secondary Benefits Stack
Three criteria determine whether a secondary benefit is worth adding:
- Cost-to-perceived-value ratio. Dental and disability cost almost nothing relative to how much candidates weight them. LSAs and mental health benefits cost more but signal values clearly.
- Whether it's expected at your stage. Dental and vision are not perks at Series A — they're baseline expectations. LSAs and premium mental health are differentiators.
- Administrative simplicity. Benefits your people ops team can't explain in one sentence during onboarding don't drive retention.
The list below is sequenced by the order most B2B SaaS companies should add these, not alphabetically.
1. Dental — Table Stakes, Not a Perk
What it is: Preventive, basic, and major dental coverage, typically via a DPPO (dental PPO). Standard design: $50 deductible, $1,500 annual maximum, 100/80/50 coverage tiers (preventive/basic/major), orthodontia at 50%.
Best for: Everyone. This is non-negotiable by Series A.
Cost to employer: Average employer contribution for employee-only dental is under $40/month. According to the Sequoia 2026 SMB Benefits Benchmark, 89% of Series A+ SaaS companies cover 100% of employee dental premiums.
Watch out for: Dental networks vary significantly by geography. Verify your chosen carrier has strong in-network coverage in the states where your team is concentrated before you enroll.
2. Vision — Costs Almost Nothing, Employees Notice If It's Missing
What it is: Annual exam coverage plus a frame/contact lens allowance. Standard design: $10 exam copay, $180 annual frame or contact lens benefit.
Best for: Everyone. Near-zero employer cost.
Cost to employer: Vision runs $5–10/employee/month for employer-only coverage. Survey data from 143 B2B SaaS founders and operators shows 100% of Series A+ companies cover 100% of employee vision premiums.
Watch out for: Vision carriers (VSP, EyeMed, Cigna Vision) vary in network size and reimbursement speed. Check which your employees have used before and match when possible.
3. Life Insurance and Disability — The Highest-ROI Benefits Line Item
What it is:
- Life / AD&D: Employer-paid basic life insurance, typically 1× annual salary, capped at $500k. Voluntary buy-up options available for employees who want more.
- Long-term disability (LTD): Replaces 60% of income after a 90-day elimination period. Coverage cap typically $10–15k/month. 87% of tech companies offer LTD.
- Short-term disability (STD): Replaces 60% of income for up to 12 weeks. 84% of tech companies offer STD.
Cost to employer:
| Benefit | Employer cost per employee/month |
|---|---|
| Life / AD&D (1× salary) | < $20 |
| Long-term disability (60% of salary) | $15–25 |
| Short-term disability (60%, 12-week max) | $5–15 |
Watch out for: These are often bundled with your LTD or group health carrier. Check whether an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) is included — most LTD bundles include one, giving you 3–8 free counseling sessions per employee at no additional cost.
4. Lifestyle Spending Accounts (LSAs) — One Debit Card Replaces Five Vendor Relationships
What it is: An employer-funded account employees use to pay for defined categories of expenses — gym memberships, home office equipment, professional development, pet care, childcare. Delivered via a debit card (Benepass, Forma) rather than reimbursement forms.
Cost to employer: Median annual all-inclusive LSA funding is $980/year (Forma 2026 Benchmark, n=300 companies, ~1M employees). Key advantage: notional funding. You only pay when employees spend. Unused funds don't accrue.
What employees actually use:
| Account type | Median annual funding | % of companies offering |
|---|---|---|
| All-inclusive LSA | $980 | 53% |
| Fitness & Wellness | $590 | 21% |
| Professional Development | $1,090 | 12% |
| Home Office Setup (one-time) | $540 | 12% |
| Work-from-Home (ongoing) | $640/yr | 10% |
Watch out for: Tax treatment varies by category. Gym reimbursements are taxable fringe benefits. Learning stipends up to $5,250/year are tax-free under IRC Section 127. Your LSA platform (Benepass or Forma) handles classification — but your CFO or finance team should review the setup before you enroll.
5. Mental Health — Activate the Free Option First, Upgrade Later
What it is: A spectrum from EAPs bundled into your existing LTD or group health plan (often free and underutilized) up to premium networks like Lyra Health and Spring Health.
Cost to employer by option:
| Option | What's included | Cost to employer | When to add |
|---|---|---|---|
| EAP (via LTD or health plan bundle) | 3–8 counseling sessions/year; 24/7 crisis line; financial counseling | Often $0 — bundled | Activate it now if you haven't |
| Telehealth via health plan | Virtual mental health visits | Included in most health plans | Activate and communicate it |
| Spring Health | Therapist matching; precision mental health | ~$200/emp/yr | Series B+; talent competition |
| Lyra Health | Premium therapist network; broadest access | ~$200–$300/emp/yr | Series B+; high-cost talent markets |
Watch out for: Most companies have an EAP and almost no one knows about it. The highest-ROI mental health action at seed/Series A is communicating the benefits you already have. According to KFF health benefits research, telehealth mental health access is included in 86% of employer health plans — and routinely unused.
6. HSA Seeding — The Highest-Perceived-Value $1 You Can Spend
If you offer an HDHP (High-Deductible Health Plan), seed the HSA. The Sequoia benchmark shows the median employer HSA seed is $156/month for single coverage and $229/month for family coverage. This is not a nice-to-have — it's the mechanism that makes a high-deductible plan feel fair to employees.
An unseeded HDHP is a cost shift onto employees. A seeded HDHP is a tax-efficient, employer-funded savings vehicle that employees own forever. The difference in employee perception is large. The cost is meaningful but predictable.
How to Sequence Your B2B SaaS Benefits Build-Out
| Stage | What to add | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Seed | Health, 401(k) — nothing else | Focus capital on product and team |
| Series A | Dental, vision, life/LTD/STD, HSA seed | Table stakes; cheap; close senior hires |
| Series B | LSA ($980/yr), mental health (EAP → Spring/Lyra), dependent care FSA | Differentiators; retention for 50–150 employees |
| Series C+ | Fertility benefits, family formation, financial wellness (Summer, Kashable) | Compete for executives and retain tenured employees |
The mistake most founders make isn't offering too few perks — it's offering perks before the foundation is solid. Offering a $1,000/year LSA while covering only 50% of dependent health premiums is upside-down. Fix the foundation first.
How a Fractional Finance Team Helps You Choose the Right Benefits for Your Stage
Benefits decisions have real financial tradeoffs. An LSA at $980/employee/year across 50 employees is $49k. Life and disability at $20/employee/month is $12k. The decisions add up — and the wrong sequence can cost recruiting wins.
At Bridges, we work with B2B SaaS companies to build the secondary benefits stack in the right order for the stage. Talk to us before your next renewal.
