For me, 2015 was a blur of news stories about PTO, parental leave, wellness and other vital components of the office culture, like free snacks. (Sure, there were a couple of other little events, like the Supreme Court subsidies case and carrier mergers and all that, but I'm talking about the real juicy stuff).

It all seems to point to one thing: Workplace benefits are steadily becoming more employee-driven and unconventional. Dare I say that matching 401(k)s and robust benefits packages, with medical, life insurance and disability, are so 2014.

I think 2016 will be the year of nontraditional benefits—or maybe more appropriately, the year of nontraditional workplace perks.

Here are four of my predictions around nontraditional perks:

Flexible time will be bigger than ever. This may not be a benefit in the coming year as much as an employer strategy. More than ever, employees are clamoring for flexible work hours—and it's about time employers listen up. Survey findings by tech staffing firm Modis underline the importance of flexible work hours: More than half of employees say they are among the most important workplace perks. “People are happier when they are able to take care of things when they come up,” Jack Cullen, president of Modis, told CNBC. “I think employers are recognizing this is real, and (flexible hours) is a way to really attract and keep people.”

More negotiation in benefits will become the norm. OK, this one isn't mine alone; a survey just confirmed it too. According to Robert Half, 43 percent of CFOs say they are willing to negotiate perks and benefits with new employees. And 40 percent say they are more open to negotiating than in the past, compared to only 6 percent who are less open than previously. Expect it to be more common for new employees to negotiate perks such as more PTO days in the coming year.

Parental leave will remain in the public eye. Tech giants including Netflix, Adobe and Facebook garnered a lot of attention and praise in 2015 when they expanded their parental leave policies. Sure, not every company will follow suit, but where Silicon Valley leads, others will follow. Presidential candidates are weighing in on parental leave as well, ensuring that it becomes an election issue.

Unconventional wellness. We can't talk about benefits trends without talking about wellness. Every HR conference I attended this year put wellness in the spotlight, not PPACA. There was a significant jump in wellness offerings from 2014 to 2015, and they will only jump more in the coming year. While employers are continuing standard wellness practices such as smoking cessation programs and premium discounts for getting an annual risk assessment, I'd put my money on a rise in out-of-the-box wellness offerings too—including company-provided fitness trackers; corporate challenges, yoga and other fitness classes at the office and maybe even (yikes) “Biggest Loser”-type competitions.

Instant Insights /

The year of nontraditional benefits

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