Cracker Barrel Employee Benefits: a Comprehensive Guide

Cracker Barrel is a chain of restaurants founded in 1969. The company is headquartered in Lebanon, Tennessee, and has hundreds of locations. The restaurant is known for its country-themed decor and menu items.
The Cracker Barrel benefits offered to employees keep in line with its mission to "please people." These benefits include health insurance, 401(k) retirement savings, and profit-sharing.
If you plan to work at one of the company's restaurants, you should know about the Cracker Barrel employee benefits. Here's an overview of the health, insurance, and retirement benefits offered by Cracker Barrel.
Which benefits does Cracker Barrel provide?
Cracker Barrel offers a host of benefits for its customers, including training and assistance programs, insurance plans, and severance pay. These include:
Health insurance
According to PNC Insights, insurance is the fourth most desirable benefit for employees. It's understandable why employees feel this way. Insurance protects their finances in the event of an unexpected medical emergency, disability, or death.
Health insurance provides coverage for medical expenses incurred by the policyholder. For example, it can help pay for hospitalization, prescription drugs, and other types of medical care.
The Affordable Care Act requires health insurance plans to cover 10 essential health benefits, including hospitalization, prescription drugs, emergency services, lab services, etc. Employees at Cracker Barrel get extensive health insurance programs to meet their needs.
Life insurance
Cracker Barrel also offers life insurance for its employees. Life insurance covers the policyholder in the event of their death and can help provide financial security for their loved ones.
The major benefit of having life insurance is that it gives peace of mind in knowing that you and your loved ones are taken care of financially if something happens to you.
Telehealth
One of the most notable Cracker Barrel health benefits is the company's telehealth policy. It gives employees access to professional opinions and medical exams over the phone, saving them time and stress.
Depending on their needs, the company recommends institutions and doctors to its employees. Plus, Cracker Barrel covers up to 50% of the telehealth cost.
Severance pay
Severance pay means that if an employee is laid off, they will receive a specific payment for each year of service. It can help tide them over until they find another job.
Severance pay is one of the much-lauded Cracker Barrel employee benefits. It's always helpful to have a little extra money when you're looking for a new job, and Cracker Barrel's severance pay is generous.
Healthcare spending accounts
A healthcare spending account is an account that allows employees to set aside pretax dollars to use for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses.
It includes costs like office visit co-pays, dental and vision care, contact lenses, and more. Cracker Barrel offers its employees a health spending account to better manage their healthcare costs.
Long-term disability insurance
A long-term disability is an impairment that prevents an individual from performing the essential duties of their occupation for an extended period.
Some causes of long-term disability include:
Disability insurance provides coverage if the policyholder cannot work due to an injury or illness. It can help replace the lost income and cover medical expenses.
There are two types of long-term disability insurance: private and public.
Private long-term disability insurance is typically offered through an employer-sponsored group plan or purchased by an individual. Public long-term disability insurance is administered by the Social Security Administration and is only available to those who are unable to work due to a severe disability.
Cracker Barrel offers employer-sponsored long-term disability insurance to its workforce, protecting their finances in case of a disability or injury that makes it impossible for company employees to work.
Dental insurance
Dental health is an essential part of overall health, and dental insurance can help cover the cost of dental care. It can cover costs like routine check-ups, teeth cleanings, and fillings.
Besides the employees, Cracker Barrel also offers a dental plan for their family members, covering all preventative dental care procedures. The plan also covers orthodontia services and reconstructive surgeries.
401(k) plan
The 401(k) plan is a retirement savings plan that allows employees to save for retirement with pretax dollars. The money in the account grows tax-deferred, and employees can often get matching contributions from their employer.
Cracker Barrel encourages its employees to invest up to 5% in their 401(k) plan since the company has a Matching program, matching 75% of its workforce's contributions. Whatever the company contributes becomes 100% vested after two years.
The employees can keep the contribution after that even if they leave the company. Since every employee has different retirement goals and plans, Cracker Barrel periodically updates its workforce about 401(k) options.
Adoption Assistance Reimbursement
Many employers have realized the importance of offering adoption benefits to their employees and have been increasingly offering reimbursement plans to help with the costs. Employers typically reimburse a percentage of the total adoption costs up to a set dollar amount.
Cracker Barrel has an Adoption Assistance Reimbursement program for employees who want to adopt. The company reimburses specific fees for the adoption process.
Defined contribution pension plan
The defined contribution pension plan is a retirement savings plan in which employees contribute a fixed amount each year. Bureau of Labor Statistics data found defined contribution pension plans to be the most common type of retirement plan for private industry workers. Cracker Barrel is one of many private companies offering defined contribution pension plans to its employees.
The main benefit of a defined contribution pension plan is that your retirement income is not based on how well investments perform. Instead, you and your employer make regular contributions to your pension account, and the money in the account grows over time.
Profit-sharing
Profit-sharing means that employees receive a portion of the company's profits. It is a way to share the company's success with its employees.
The company calculates its annual profits and then sets aside a percentage of those profits to share among its employees. Each employee's amount is based on a formula that considers salary, job title, and length of time with the company.
Employees usually have to wait until the end of the year to receive their profit-sharing check. But some companies give employees the option to receive the money sooner.
For example, Company X has 100 employees and made $5 million in profits last year. The company decides to give 2% of those profits to employees through a profit-sharing plan. Each employee would then receive $1000 from the profit-sharing pool.
Cracker Barrel employees can opt for profit-sharing incentives. However, the option may not be available for beginner-level positions, and like previously stated, the amount depends on position, length of employment, and more.
Cracker Barrel employee support programs
Many companies offer support and assistance programs to improve employee retention. For instance, a company may provide mentorship opportunities, educational resources, or bonuses to keep employees engaged.
Cracker Barrel also has many employee support programs. These help support the well-being of the employees and their families.
Personal Achievement Responsibility (PAR)
Personal Achievement Responsibility (PAR) is a Cracker Barrel program that helps hourly staff learn new skills. It helps employees:
Develop new skills
Apply for higher-paying jobs
Advance in their careers
Many employees can develop transferable skills to take their careers to the next level.
According to Hay's report, the most in-demand skills are communication, the ability to adapt to change, problem-solving, flexibility, and people management. By allowing hourly workers to learn these skills, Cracker Barrel helps them hone their resumes. Therefore, they can use these skills to land higher-paying jobs at Cracker Barrel or another company.
Cracker Barrel Cares
Cracker Barrel Cares is an employee assistance program that has been operational for a decade. It allows employees at the company to help their peers by donating money. The money is then used to help other employees facing financial hardship.
Thus, it allows employees to help their colleagues during times of need and distress. This improves company culture by making it more caring and supportive and reinforces the idea that employees are family, which is one of the company's core values.
Employee scholarship program
Besides Cracker Barrel's health benefits, employees also enjoy mentorship and educational assistance programs, such as the scholarship program. The annual scholarship program rewards the accomplishments of employees and their kids who do well in their studies and serve the community.
A scholarship program can be very beneficial to employees and their children. It helps with education costs and provides motivation and encouragement to do well in school. The Cracker Barrel scholarship program is one example of a company investing in its employees and their families.
Start your career at Cracker Barrel today
Cracker Barrel benefits include vision insurance, life insurance, profit-sharing, and 401(k) savings plans. In addition, the company has a liberal paid time off policy for vacation and sick days. The company also offers health benefits, including medical, prescription drugs, dental, and vision health coverage.
Are you looking for a job at Cracker Barrel, or do you want to learn more about the company's employee programs? Check out the Cracker Barrel hashtag at Jobcase to learn from the company's current and former employees.