> paying out the cash value of them so you can decide what to do with it.

Doesn't this have tax implications? At least in my country, some types of benefits are income tax exempt.

thats a fair point. no idea if its possible perhaps they could classify it as a lump sum tax exempt benefit rather than a categorical reimbursement based one that mostly goes unused.

still even with a 40% tax hit - i'd take a "cash benefit" over the piles of benefits i know i'm not using.

That wouldn't work for US employees. Any benefits other than very specific allowed categories are taxable income. The wellness benefit, CSA share, etc are already taxable.

They've paid out the benefits for "this year". They could have, but did not, raise base compensation by the value of those benefits.

I wonder what the cash value is, since a large group can usually negotiate a better deal than an individual. Will employees get the amount the company spends per employee, or the amount it would take for them to get the benefit for themselves?