Did you know that May was Disability Insurance Awareness Month?
Think about your most important asset. Many people might say their car or their home. These are material things. But think about how you acquire those materials. You achieve this by earning an income. Your most important asset is actually your ability to earn an income, because without an income, you cannot fund the acquisition of those materials.
Did you know that 3 out of 5 people will become sick or injured at some point in their lives and will not be able to work for a period of time? Just like your other insurance, why not transfer the risk to someone else?
Offering a disability plan through your employee benefits package is just as significant, if not more than, as offering life insurance. We have home and auto insurance, why not “paycheck” insurance? Some people say they can rely on Social Security. Yet, Social Security only covers a TOTAL disability, thus no benefits are payable for a partial disability. Additionally, if you have a disability and are able to adjust to another career, you will not qualify for Social Security benefits. Another common excuse is the saying, “I can use my emergency fund.” The use of an emergency fund can keep you afloat for a few months (3-6); however, prolonged disabilities can deplete your savings very quickly.
Many employers have assessed adding an employer paid disability plan to their benefits portfolio and realized the importance of this benefit to their employees. Disability plans are exceptionally customizable to fit within any company budget.
What if there is no room in the budget for an employer to add a disability plan? There is still an alternative! Similar to voluntary life insurance, voluntary disability plans are available and since it is voluntary, there is no financial impact to you as the employer! Employees can have disability premiums automatically deducted from their paychecks.
Establishing a comprehensive benefits program is not easy and worksite benefits seem to always get overlooked in the mix. After your annual benefits review, crunching numbers for your medical, dental, vision plans… there simply isn’t any more time nor energy for you to think about disability plans and any other voluntary offerings.!
In lieu of introducing everything at the same time, there is an advantage and strategy in splitting the presentation of your benefit programs. For example, think about reviewing and offering your voluntary benefits during the middle of your benefits plan year. That way, your employees’ attention will be on these great benefits instead of the increases they are receiving on their core benefits.
From an Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey, done by Unum in January 2012, employees who receive quality benefits education report greater satisfaction as well. In this survey, employees have found that their employer values their work, the employer cares about the employees’ wellbeing and employees start to say that it would take a lot for them to look for another employer.
Call or e-mail us to learn more about how a comprehensive worksite benefit strategy can complement your employee benefits offerings!
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