Even though business owners believe health insurance is the benefit that most encourages employees to stay, it’s the top benefit they would prefer not to pay and only 39% offer it, according to a new survey released by Skynova.

The survey showed, however, that 74% of employers felt that their employees either often or always appreciated their work benefits and said that offering them was worth it, regardless of the expense.

This was because offering benefits to employees increases the likelihood of them staying long term, boosts morale, and increased the chances of greater productivity due to the positive atmosphere generated, according to the survey.

Other results from the poll include:

• The most offered benefit was training (49%), with an average annual cost of $932 per employee.
• Health insurance was the second-most offered benefit (39%), but was much more expensive, as employers needed to pay an average of $4,142 yearly per employee.
• Only 22% of employers offered retirement savings plans, and it was the second-most expensive benefit, costing an average of $3,912 annually.
• Paid time off was the third costliest benefit, with only 15% of small-business owners offering it.
• Fifty-three percent of small-business owners had encountered an unexpected cost at some point, and 42% couldn't hire new employees because of them.
• The most likely item to present an unexpected cost to business owners, at 26%, was  health insurance, with Medicare, at 19% the second most likely to become an unexpected cost.
• Forty percent of thosee surveyed said that whatever unexpected costs they encountered did serious damage to their business.
• Due to the unexpected costs, 55% of employers had to convert some full-time positions into part-time ones, 38% were forced to lay off staff or rely on contractors to get work done and 35% had to work understaffed.
• 43% of business owners have made a mistake when handling employee expenses, most commonly with health insurance, costing $9,967 on average.

The survey included 266 business owners. Among them, 67% were men, and 33% were women. Respondent's age ranged from 24 to 53 years old with an average age of 40.

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