Real benefits for the team members you can't afford to lose.
A restaurant or hospitality operation loses roughly three in four hourly workers a year, and the hourly team is exactly the group traditional benefits leave out. Optiv Advantage funds real benefits for that workforce, coverage they rarely get, and a measurable increase in take-home pay. The operation funds all of it by recovering payroll tax it was already overpaying on every payroll run, so none of it lands as a new expense.
75%
annual hospitality turnover
$2,300+
cost to replace one hourly worker
Up to $957
employer recovery per enrolled employee per year
The cost walking out the door every year
Hospitality turnover runs near 75% a year, with a ten-year industry average close to 79.6%, and quick-service operations can exceed 130%. For a 100-employee operation, that pace means replacing dozens of workers a year. At about $2,300 or more to replace each hourly worker, many operations lose roughly $150,000 a year to turnover alone, spread across recruiting, screening, onboarding, training, lost productivity, and coverage gaps.
75%
annual turnover — roughly three in four workers leave within a year; the ten-year average sits near 79.6%.
$2,300+
cost to replace one hourly worker — recruiting, screening, onboarding, training, and lost productivity.
$150K+
estimated annual turnover cost — many operations lose about $150,000 a year to turnover alone.
Why team members leave, and what would make them stay
The team members a traditional benefit plan leaves out are the ones who leave. Fewer than half of limited-service hospitality workers are offered employer-sponsored medical coverage, and pay and financial pressure rank as the leading reason they cite for leaving. Burnout drives many of the rest. Give this workforce real care they can use and a measurable increase in take-home pay, and more of them stay. There is a fuller retention playbook in the resources below.
Fewer than half of limited-service hospitality workers are offered employer-sponsored coverage. The plan closes that gap.
Pay and financial pressure rank as the leading reason hospitality workers leave. A measurable take-home increase speaks to it.
Burnout is a documented driver of front-line departures. See the retention playbook at /resources/retention.
How Optiv Advantage works for an operation
Optiv Advantage uses a Section 125 structure, which means qualifying benefit premiums come out of pay before payroll tax is calculated. That lowers the wage base the operation and the team member are both taxed on. Here is where the saving becomes concrete, and how it reaches your bank account. Each pay period, whoever runs payroll drops your payroll report into a calculation engine we provide. The engine returns an updated payroll with the benefits already calculated, and it flags new hires and terminations so people are added to or removed from the plan and enrollment outreach starts on its own. Because each team member's qualifying premium is now taken out before tax, the wage base is lower, so the FICA you deposit with that payroll is smaller. You keep the difference. It is not a rebate you wait for and not a check that arrives later. It is simply a smaller FICA deposit on the very next run, which means the cash stays in your account instead of leaving it. That drop-in step is what calculates your reduced FICA each cycle. It adds about five minutes and five clicks, and everything after the drop is handled for you. That is what we mean when we say we do the work. Coverage is provided by an A-rated, state-licensed insurance carrier. Implementation and the full mechanics are covered on the How It Works page.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Take one team member who elects pre-tax premium under the plan. The operation calculates its FICA deposit on that team member's wages after the premium is taken out, not before. The result is a smaller FICA deposit for that team member on the very next payroll, and up to $957 less over the year. Across a full roster of enrolled team members, that recovery adds up to real money the operation keeps each year. The figure is illustrative. The exact amount is modeled to each census and depends on participation and election levels.
What the math looks like across your workforce
Modeled on a 100-employee operation at the industry turnover rate, with a conservative reduction in line with what meaningful financial benefit programs are associated with in retention research. The turnover figures are industry data and are cited below. The Optiv savings are shown as a range. The exact figure is modeled to your census in a gated proposal.
Without Optiv Advantage
turnover at the industry rate — replacement cost of about $2,300 or more per hourly worker across recruiting, onboarding, training, and lost productivity — no payroll tax recovered.
With Optiv Advantage
fewer replacements as retention improves — plus recovered payroll tax on every participating dollar.
Net annual value for a 100-employee operation
a range combining recovered payroll tax and reduced turnover cost — exact figure modeled to your census.
Turnover figures are industry data, cited below. Optiv savings reflect program averages and are modeled to each census. Individual results vary. A 5 to 20% turnover reduction is consistent with documented outcomes when employers add meaningful financial benefit programs.
What the team member actually receives
The plan is built to be felt in the first paycheck and the first time a team member needs care. It pairs a measurable take-home increase with coverage this workforce rarely gets. Virtual Urgent Care connects the team member and family to a board-certified physician around the clock, usually in under 15 minutes, and Virtual Primary Care gives them a dedicated PCP, both with no copay and no deductible. Their Health Maintenance Benefit is included. Optiv Access pairs with the Advantage plan to bring entry-level virtual care to part-time and contingent team members, and its cost nets against the payroll-tax recovery rather than adding an expense.
A measurable increase in take-home pay, modeled to the team member's situation.
Virtual Urgent Care and Virtual Primary Care with no copay and no deductible, for the team member and their family.
Mental-health support through the EAP, which addresses the burnout that drives front-line departures.
Supplemental accident, critical illness, and cancer coverage for a workforce that rarely receives it.
Work Shield workplace-misconduct resolution as a bundled bonus, resolving issues about 80% faster than the national average.
Indemnity payments are potentially taxable on the excess.
The value compounds with every team member you keep
The payroll-tax recovery scales with the number of enrolled team members, and the turnover savings scale with how many stay. Across a 50, 100, or 250-employee operation, both move in the same direction and compound every year the plan is in place. Larger operations see larger recovery. The per-employee logic does not change.
50 employees
recovered payroll tax plus reduced turnover cost, modeled to census.
100 employees
a combined annual range, modeled to census.
250 employees
the same logic at greater scale, modeled to census.
SOURCES
- National Restaurant Association, 2025 State of the Industry Report. Operators continue to report turnover near 75 to 80% annually.
- Toast and BLS ten-year analysis. Average annual restaurant turnover of 79.6% over the past decade.
- Industry replacement-cost estimates (Homebase; National Restaurant Association and Cornell Hospitality Research). Replacing a single hourly employee commonly runs $2,300 or more.
- Industry turnover-cost reporting. The average restaurant loses roughly $150,000 per year to turnover.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, Table 20 (released March 2026). Accommodation and food services recorded the highest separations rate of any sector in 2025.
- PHI and sector workforce research on benefit access among limited-service hospitality workers.
- Optiv Advantage program data. Employer FICA recovery of up to $957 per enrolled employee per year; employee take-home increase varies from as little as $5 a week to over $100 a month.
Know your numbers, before you make the call
The plan is engineered. The math is yours. Calculated, not recommended.
The Optiv Group helps employers evaluate tax-advantaged benefits strategies, payroll-linked savings opportunities, and modern coverage paths with compliance-aware plan design.
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Educational content only. Savings estimates are not guarantees and require plan-specific review.