Erie Insurance CEO Tim NeCastro called an all-employee meeting on Wednesday to deliver some good news. Many companies, Erie Insurance included, have benefited from the recent tax reform placed by the Trump administration signed into law back in December.

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NeCastro announced the company will share the wealth acquired from the tax break with the rest of the company and share their benefits with their employees. In a company-wide email sent out by NeCastro, he detailed the benefits for employees that were also announced at last Wednesday’s open door all-employee meeting.

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The company has pledged to give a $1,000 cash bonus to permanent full and part-time employees.  In addition to the cash bonus, a contribution of $1,000 to the account of any employee who has a 401(k) retirement savings plan.  

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Although the employees will benefit greatly from the $10.8 million break, neither NeCastro nor the company’s other top executive will benefit. The company said that executives and senior leaders will not receive any bonuses.

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Although not all employees are eligible for the company’s 401(k) program, spokeswoman Sara Erhartic said 92 percent of employees who are eligible are already participating in the plan. Faced with the possibility of leaving $1,000 on the table, employees who don’t participate are being given the opportunity to enroll and to receive the $1,000 payment, she said.  Employees who are eligible but have not yet joined the Employee Savings Plan can enroll by contacting ERIE’s Fidelity Investments line or by registering to access their account through Fidelity Investments NetBenefits.

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When the tax reform passed in 2017, many hoped that some of the savings that corporations would benefit from would trickle down to the employees and ease some of their burdens. In the case of Erie Insurance, this has clearly happened in the form of pay raises and bonuses.

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According to a statement from Erie Insurance, the decision about paying bonuses was made after a process of deliberation.

“Over the last few months, Erie Insurance’s executive leadership and Board of Directors has been thoughtfully and carefully considering the impact of the tax reform bill passed by Congress at the close of 2017,” the company said.

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“One of the many things that makes Erie a great place to work is that we never lose sight of the fact that our success is built on a strong foundation of superior service,” NeCastro said. “And that it is our employees who deliver that superior service to our customers, agents and each other every day.

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Erie Insurance has taken full advantage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but other companies are not so sure on how they plan to share their corporate tax savings with employees- or whether they will do so at all.