With over 722 million members worldwide, LinkedIn has become an invaluable tool for networking, job searching, recruiting, and staying up to date on industry news. As more professionals join LinkedIn and more employers use it to source talent, questions around who should pay for LinkedIn accounts often arise. Specifically, do employers have to pay for their employees’ LinkedIn accounts?
The short answer is no. There is no legal requirement for employers to pay for their employees’ LinkedIn accounts. LinkedIn offers free basic accounts, so employees can create and maintain profiles at no cost. Premium accounts with additional features are available for individual subscribers, but these are optional.
However, there are some instances where an employer may choose to pay for LinkedIn access to support their talent acquisition and management strategies. While not mandatory, some companies see value in investing in premium LinkedIn subscriptions for recruiters, hiring managers, executives, and selected employees.
We’ll take a closer look at whether paying for LinkedIn makes strategic sense for certain employers and employees.
LinkedIn’s Premium Subscription Options
LinkedIn offers three tiers of premium subscriptions for individual users:
Subscription | Price Per Month | Key Features |
---|---|---|
Premium Career | $29.99 | See who viewed your profile, get salary insights, take advanced LinkedIn Learning courses, get interview prep support |
Premium Business | $44.99 | Send InMail messages to anyone, see refined company and contact search, get support from LinkedIn’s PointDrive presentation tool |
Premium Hiring | $99.95 | Post jobs, use recruiter search filters, send messages to hiring plan prospects, get added insights on candidates |
In addition to individual subscriptions, LinkedIn offers team packages and customized solutions for larger employers. These corporate offerings include options like recruiting, talent acquisition, talent management, learning management, and sales solutions. Pricing is customized based on each company’s needs.
Is There Value for Employers in Paying?
While individual employees can use LinkedIn’s free features or pay for premium access themselves, some employers also opt to fund LinkedIn subscriptions.
Here are some of the potential benefits for companies:
– **Recruiting capabilities** – Premium subscriptions like Hiring and Recruiter Lite provide powerful tools for identifying, connecting with, and screening potential candidates. The ability to post jobs, search the full database beyond 1st connections, and send InMail messages can significantly bolster recruiting efforts.
– **Employee brand building** – Having a well-rounded LinkedIn presence allows employees to organically amplify a company’s employer brand. When employees showcase their work and demonstrate thought leadership, it attracts more qualified candidates.
– **Lead generation** – Premium Sales Navigator features help sales teams identify the right prospects, get notified of company updates, conduct advanced searches, and more easily connect via InMail. More effective lead generation impacts revenue.
– **Company research** – Key Company Page features provide insights that help recruiters, salespeople, marketing teams, and executives better understand customers, prospects, competitors, partners, and more to inform strategies.
– **Thought leadership and visibility** – Premium tools help employees publish long-form posts, view article analytics, and amplify content distribution to build visibility and trust for their expertise.
– **Learning and development** – LinkedIn Learning’s extensive expert-led course library enables employees to gain new skills relevant to their roles and careers.
Depending on a company’s priorities and budget, funding LinkedIn access for some or all employees in recruiting, sales, marketing, HR, communications, leadership roles may provide a positive ROI compared to the subscription cost.
Which Employees Should Have LinkedIn Access Paid For?
While employers aren’t obligated to pay for anyone’s LinkedIn access, they may want to cover subscriptions for certain employee segments. Some roles where premium LinkedIn features help drive results include:
– **Recruiters** – Sourcing, connecting with, and contacting candidates
– **Hiring managers** – Reviewing candidates identified by recruiters
– **Salespeople** – Identifying prospects, generating leads
– **Marketers** – Researching audiences, distributing content
– **PR professionals** – Promoting company news, executives as thought leaders
– **HR staff** – Researching HR best practices and trends
– **Executives** – Building thought leadership, industry influencer status
– **Customer support** – Researching customer needs and challenges
– **R&D/Product teams** – Understanding customer pain points, competitor offerings
– **Account managers** – Maintaining customer relationships, upselling
For individual contributors, having a Premium Career subscription can also help expand their network and opportunities.
As part of talent management and professional development processes, employers may choose to fund a certain number of Premium Career subscriptions each year for top performers. This enables increased exposure, networking, and access to courses for rising stars.
However, most employees can still maximize LinkedIn’s value using the free tools. So premium access doesn’t need to be extended to all staff.
Best Practices for Managing Company-Paid Accounts
If employers decide to sponsor LinkedIn Premium access for recruiters, executives, or any employees, some best practices will help maximize the investment:
– **formalize policies** – Document clear guidelines on who is eligible for company-paid access, what levels of membership are covered, and how employees can request access
– **set expectations** – Explain how employees with Premium accounts are expected to use enhanced features to align with company goals
– **train users** – Ensure employees know how to fully leverage Premium tools through training content or workshops
– **track ROI** – Have users measure analytics like recruiter outreach, candidate conversions, content engagement, lead generation, etc. to optimize strategies
– **adjust access** – Review Premium user needs and subscription levels annually to add or remove access as roles and goals evolve
– **utilize discounts** – Take advantage of LinkedIn discounts like annual plan rates, multi-seat packages, and bundled products
Following these steps will help ensure that any employer-funded Premium LinkedIn access delivers strong value.
What About Requiring Employees to Pay?
While some employers proactively pay for Premium access that supports business objectives, others take the opposite approach and mandate that employees pay for LinkedIn themselves.
In some highly competitive industries like finance, consulting, and media, maintaining a robust LinkedIn presence is considered essential for advancement.
Some leaders argue that professionals should fund their own career development tools. And requiring self-funded Premium subscriptions promotes accountability in fully leveraging the capabilities.
However, this approach should be carefully weighed against potential downsides:
– Perception that the employer won’t invest in employees’ growth
– Reduced morale and employer brand appeal
– Less optimization of LinkedIn tools when left to individuals
A blanket policy mandating Premium self-funding risks these pitfalls. Leaders should assess whether it could hinder attracting and retaining top talent versus competitors who subsidize access.
If requiring employees to pay for their own Premium LinkedIn use, be sure to:
– Communicate the rationale clearly
– Phase in the policy with ample notice
– Support employees in tracking Premium features ROI
– Remain open to targeted exceptions where ROI merits funding access
With thoughtfulness, mandating self-payment can work. But it demands care to avoid unintended consequences.
Key Considerations for Employers
As LinkedIn continues growing as a platform, more employers may look to fund access. When evaluating potential investment in Premium access, key considerations include:
- Current challenges – What recruiting, sales, marketing, or engagement problems might LinkedIn help solve?
- Role needs – Which jobs have responsibilities that Premium features directly support?
- User capabilities – Will employees have the time and knowledge to maximize Premium tools?
- Cost vs. ROI – Does the expected business impact outweigh the subscription cost?
- Broader strategy – How does funding Premium access align with company goals and culture?
Carefully assessing these elements will reveal where paid LinkedIn access can deliver results or if free tools already meet needs.
Some tactical alternatives to providing company-funded Premium access could include:
– Hosting LinkedIn training workshops to boost employees’ fluency using even free features
– Forming an internal user community to share best practices on optimizing LinkedIn
– Providing digital content like articles and videos to post on LinkedIn
– Recognizing top employee profiles in newsletters or meetings
Creative solutions can make the most of free LinkedIn capabilities. Premium paid accounts truly provide the highest value for specific roles focused on recruiting, sales, and stakeholder outreach.
The Legal Context
While LinkedIn Premium subscriptions are optional, not mandatory, could any legal risks emerge if employers do fund access for employees?
Generally, there is no specific law prohibiting companies from paying for employees’ LinkedIn use, as it provides legitimate business utility. However, prudent employers should consider a few factors:
Equal employment laws – Any criteria used to determine which employees receive funded Premium access should be non-discriminatory and equitable. Excluding groups based on age, gender, race, or other protected class status could trigger legal issues.
Labor laws – For non-exempt employees, time spent managing LinkedIn should not infringe on minimum wage, breaks, overtime, and other compensation regulations. Funded Premium access should align with proper timekeeping.
Tax obligations – Company-paid subscriptions may count as taxable income to employees. Follow tax authority guidance on if or how to include funded Premium in employee pay and benefits calculations.
As long as employers avoid biased preferential treatment and follow applicable employment laws, funding select employees’ Premium access carries minimal legal risk.
Proactively consulting HR and legal counsel when instituting a Premium subscription funding policy is prudent to confirm compliance. Ongoing audits of how the policy is implemented can also identify any areas of risk to address.
But overall, law does not prohibit companies from subsidizing LinkedIn access to further legitimate talent management and business goals.
Conclusion
While employers have no outright obligation to pay for employees’ LinkedIn accounts, doing so can provide strategic value. Investment in Premium subscriptions for recruiters, sales professionals, executives, and other roles may deliver a positive ROI.
However, funding should be carefully scoped based on specific business objectives. Employers need not cover the cost for all employees. A thoughtful approach to providing Premium LinkedIn access just where needed can boost results without overspending.
Giving employees world-class tools for networking, learning, and opportunity can demonstrate an employer’s commitment to their success. But with training and encouragement, professionals can also maximize free basic LinkedIn features.
As LinkedIn continues evolving as a platform, employers should periodically reassess if paid access should be part of their talent management and branding strategy. When deployed strategically, Premium subscriptions help employees excel in driving business results and reaching their career goals.