Life at Lynch · September 2026 · Benefits
Healthcare costs keep climbing, and for a family on a company plan that shows up in every paycheck. In June 2026 we changed our share of employee health insurance premiums from 50% to 60%. Employees now pay 40% instead of half.
That is one piece of a wider set of changes over the past year: more paid time off, paternity leave for eligible employees, and continued retirement support through our Safe Harbor 401(k) plan.
The Lynch & Associates team – Burlington and New Berlin, Wisconsin.
Why we moved the premium split
As premiums rose, we looked at what health insurance was actually costing people – not the company's line item, the employee's. Moving from a 50/50 split to 60/40 in June 2026 puts real money back into a paycheck, and the difference is largest for the people carrying family coverage.
We access plans through the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), which gives a firm our size buying power it would not have on its own.
Paternity leave
As the firm has grown, so has the range of what people need from it. We added a paternity leave benefit for eligible employees – dedicated time for new fathers to be home with a newborn, rather than spending down PTO to do it.
Supporting people through the big moments is not separate from the work. It is what makes staying here for a career realistic.
More time off
Paid time off went up in 2026 as well. Starting PTO for new employees moved from 60 hours to 80 hours a year. After one year, it moves from 100 hours to 120.
Retirement
Eligible employees join our Safe Harbor 401(k) at their one-year anniversary. The plan includes up to a 4% company match, vested 100% immediately – the match is yours the day it lands, not after a schedule runs out.
The small-firm side of it
Larger firms have larger benefits departments. What a twenty-person firm can do instead is change something when it stops working. These decisions came from looking at what people were actually paying, and they can be looked at again next year.
That is the trade we think is worth making: the personal environment of a small business, without the small-business benefits package that usually comes with it. Employees are known personally, the work is visible, and the people who set policy are down the hall.
Small business does not have to mean small benefits.
What Changed in 2026
Company share increased from 50% to 60% in June 2026. Employees pay 40%.
Up from 60 hours annually for new employees.
Up from 100 hours annually.
Dedicated leave for eligible employees welcoming a newborn.
Safe Harbor plan at the one-year anniversary, vested 100% immediately.