When you’re looking for a job sometimes you’ll take whatever is available. When you have options though you can look at things like salary, location, responsibilities and benefits. In a recent survey, benefits were the second most important factor when choosing a job, trailing only behind salary. This is surely due to the rising costs of healthcare. Now more than ever, companies are starting to reduce or eliminate company benefits. But is it the employees responsibility to provide assistance or not? Are employee benefits a right or a privilege? As more and more companies continue to lower their benefits package, it’s becoming more of a privilege. The only thing that will change that is competition between companies in order to lure the best employees. Unfortunately when unemployment rates rise, the only competition is between employees trying to land a job.