Unlike picking who your family is, you can actually have a say in what voluntary benefits you get. Therefore, one of the largest advantages of voluntary employee benefits is the amount of customization they afford for both employers and their employees.

This customization allows your staff to choose a benefits plan that fits their needs, which contributes to a greater level of satisfaction with their benefits program. And, consequently, increases overall job satisfaction.

A 2013 survey of CFOs, found that 74 percent agreed or strongly agreed that offering voluntary employee benefits is a cost-effective way to increase employee satisfaction with overall benefits.

Still, these benefits can be worth so much more to both your business and your employees. Keep reading to find out what voluntary employee benefits options your company could use and how they could help both of these parties.

1. Hospital Indemnity Insurance

Hospital indemnity plans are a type of insurance that pays a set amount of money (per day, week, month, or hospital visit) if you’re restricted to a hospital.

These hospital indemnity plans work to relieve the financial pressure and stress that families and individuals face from an extended stay in a hospital. Employees can use a hospital indemnity plan to subsidize their existing health insurance.

This coverage is especially relevant for those who have a high-deductible medical plan. If you have a high deductible and know that a lengthy hospital stay would be financially devastating, a hospital indemnity plan can protect you.

Hospital indemnity insurance serves as a financial shield for your staff. Like many of the other employee benefits below, hospital indemnity plans reduce the weight of the financial stress accompanying a sickness, injury, or surgery that would require you to be hospitalized.

2. Accident Insurance

Accident insurance is an insurance plan that helps you pay for the medical and out-of-pocket costs that you may incur due to an accidental injury. Because accidental injuries can result in outsized medical bills, even if you have health insurance.

Expenses standard for these injuries, such as ambulance and emergency room fees, are examples of qualified costs. Similar to hospital indemnity, accident insurance acts as a financial safety net for your employees.

3. Disability Insurance

There are two main types of disability insurance, but they both accomplish the same goal. This insurance covers any individual who is diagnosed with a disability.

Short and long-term disability both replace a portion of your salary up to a specific monthly dollar cap. Short-term disability usually pays out for six months or less. The waiting period for short-term coverage can be up to two weeks after you become disabled.

Conversely, long-term disability pays out until your disability ends. If your disability remains, your benefits could end after a specified number of years or until you reach retirement age.

Long-term disability also has a waiting period. Because benefits under long-term disability last longer and so does the waiting period. The length of this waiting period differs but is typically around 90 days.

Read more about disability insurance.

4. Life Insurance

Life insurance is a type of insurance that provides your family with a benefit after you die. The big difference between life and other forms of insurance such as medical or disability is that your benefit is paid only once, upon your death.

There are two main types of life insurance: term and permanent. Within permanent life, there are three main subcategories: whole, universal, and variable life insurance. Each of these types has distinct pros and cons based on your individual situation.

Life insurance is another source of coverage that can reduce your workers’ financial stress, and stress overall.

Learn more about each type of life insurance, and how they differ. 

5. Dental and Vision Insurance

Dental and vision insurance are both supplementary lines of insurance that offer coverage for treatment and procedures related to your oral or visual health. Typically, only routine procedures are fully covered by these plans, with more complicated procedures falling under a cost-sharing schedule.

Still, both of these plans are vital to fielding a competitive employee benefits package. And not only do they help your employees, but they benefit your company as well. Employers gain as much as $7 for every dollar spent on vision coverage.

Similarly, workers lose an average of 164 million work hours each year because of dental disease. Both of these insurance types can help your employees stay healthier and more productive overall.

6. Pet Insurance

Pet insurance is pretty self-explanatory; it’s medical insurance for your pet. While this may seem like a frivolous benefit, it can hold real value for your employees.

According to the APPA, Americans spend $15.42 billion on veterinary care last year alone. And, every six seconds a pet owner faces a vet bill of $3,000 or more.

The advantages of pet insurance are numerous. Similar to the previous benefit, pet insurance is great at protecting your employees’ financial wellness. Over 73 percent of pet owners, in one study, admitted they’d take on debt to pay for their pet’s medical care.

With pet insurance, your employees, ideally, wouldn’t have to take on debt to pay for their pet’s treatment. Halting an employee from taking on debt helps your staff avoid further financial stress.

Find out more about pet insurance.

7. ID Theft Protection

Identity theft protection defends your employees from financial fraud and stolen identity. Helping to halt a potential financial catastrophe is an excellent way to engender employees to your business.

The world is shrinking every day. And now that more of every person’s life is immortalized through the internet, identity theft will only become a more serious problem.

If your company offers ID theft protection, it demonstrates to your staff that you care about their overall well-being. Plus, looking out for your employees’ finances benefits you too. The less financial stress your employees are under, the more productive they can be.

9. Elder Care

According to BenefitsPro, employees pay almost $17,000 in annual medical care costs after they reach age 65. This statistic illustrates why elder care is so important for some employees.

Eldercare is both expensive and time-consuming. Because of these factors, eldercare is a significant pain point for many Americans, today. Eldercare involves older employees (obviously), but it also involves younger employees caring for older parents or grandparents.

Employees caring for older relatives will be just as interested in elder care services as those in need of the services themselves. As baby boomers age, the desire for elder care will only grow.

10. Critical Illness Coverage

Critical illness, like accident and disability before, augments an employee’s health insurance policy. This coverage provides a security blanket in the event a worker develops a serious or chronic illness.

Again, critical illness can be invaluable towards protecting your employees’ finances. Without this coverage, your employees could face both a financial and health crisis if they ever develop a grave sickness.

11. Legal Insurance

Legal insurance protects your employees from the time, stress, and financial pressure that can occur due to unexpected legal issues. And without legal insurance, it’s likely your staff doesn’t have a plan to address an unexpected legal issue. According to a study by ARAG, 76 percent of consumers had no plan for how they’d pay for legal expenses.

Yet, per ARAG, three out of four Americans experienced at least one legal issue in the last year. And, if you’re employees are unprepared to face a legal issue, it can affect both their personal life and work life.

A different study by ARAG found 68 percent of employees spend time at work dealing with their legal issues. Furthermore, the study found these employees spent an average of 18 hours per issue.

Legal insurance provides your staff with easy access to attorneys for a slew of legal services. This coverage protects your employees’ time and money in the event they face a legal problem for a low price typically between $15 and $30 a month.

12. Telemedicine

Telemedicine, or telehealth, is another voluntary benefit that can seriously assist your employees, through the remote delivery of healthcare services and clinical information. Telehealth services can help reduce the cost of care while simultaneously improving quality.

Through more convenient and quality care, telemedicine can help improve the health outcomes of your employees. One study found telehealth services can lower patient scores for depression, anxiety, stress, and have 38 percent fewer hospital admissions.

Also, more quality care, and healthier employees can lead to cost savings for both employees and your company as a whole. Telemedicine visits for the most common health conditions save employers an average of $472 per episode of care. Similarly, the American Hospital Association reported savings of 11 percent in costs for companies who implemented a telehealth program.

Learn more about how telehealth can help your business.

13. Long-Term Care Insurance

Long-term care insurance refers to a product that covers a host of services not included in regular health insurance. This insurance covers the cost of care when you have a chronic medical condition, a disability, or a long-term disorder.

Additionally, long-term care coverage pays the costs of a nursing home, assisted living, in-home care, physical or occupational therapy, or help with day-to-day activities. These expenses are costs not covered by Medicare, so even those enrolled in Medicare will need help with them.

And, even if you’re healthy today, there’s a significant chance you’ll need long-term care before the end of your life. According to U.S. News, 70 percent of those turning 65 today, will need some kind of long-term care. Similarly, while one-third of employees may never need long-term care, 20 percent will need it for five years or longer.

Without long-term care coverage, your employees could be at serious financial risk if they need long-term care. The median cost of just a semi-private nursing home room was $89,297 a year, last year. And, if you pay out-of-pocket, you’ll spend an average of $140,000 on long-term care.

Group, long-term care insurance can give your employees affordable access to a benefit that could protect and save them significant amounts of money and stress.

The Wrap

Voluntary employee benefits fill the gaps in coverage your employer-sponsored benefits may leave. They are perfect for giving your employees autonomy to choose what level of coverage they desire, without costing your business.

So, use these 15 voluntary employee benefits to improve the lives of your employees, their dependents, and your business altogether.

Watch the video below to learn more about voluntary benefits. To read more about what Colonial Life through DGS Benefits, Inc. has to offer, view the PDF files below. To sign up for any of the benefits above, please call my office for a free consultation.

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