I provide full health coverage, dental, retirement, etc., to all my employees.
They don’t even think about it anymore, although the costs average more than $8000 per employee.
Just, for one year, I wish they all had to pay their own taxes, insurance, etc. We just give them a check for their full level of salary and benefits.
My guess is, many of them would drop their health insurance and 401K contributions!
Another of our employees was just out of school and had fully absorbed all the politically correct views of her college campus. She was mad because her premiums were so much more than those of a man the same age. I gave her the obvious explanation, which is that young women her age tend to have babies. She said that was discriminatory, because men make babies, too. My response: 1) men don't incur any medical bills for their part of baby making process; 2) I don't make the rules; and 3) quit griping and be glad I didn't hire a man to do your job because he's cheaper to insure.
50 years ago I worked for a funeral home in Alabama where the owner paid in cash each week, the full amount with no deductions. Then he made you stand there and pay him back, out of your stash of cash, the various things he had to withhold and deduct. If you made $100 he would give you the $100 plus his part of the benefits and the matching SS funds, etc. Then he would point out to you that it cost him, say, $110 of his money to have your working for him, but then he would take back the deducts and when he was through, and you had only $70 or whatever the amount, he made sure you understood that although you only got $70 your payday cost him $110. It was very effective!