• About Us |
  • Follow Us: 
theinsurance411.com logo

The Insurance 411

What you need to know about insurance

  • Essential Property and Liability Insurance
    • All Property & Liability Topics
    • Business Income Insurance
    • General and Auto Liability
  • Specialized Insurance Policies
    • All Specialized Prop & Liability Topics
    • Credit Risk
    • Cyber Insurance
    • Directors & Officers
    • Employment Practices Liability
    • Environmental Liability
    • Professional Liability
    • Surety
    • The Basics
  • Workers’ Compensation Insurance
    • All Workers’ Comp Topics
    • Claims Management
    • Controlling Costs
    • Loss Prevention
    • Regulations
    • The WC Basics
  • Employee Benefits
    • All Employee Benefit Topics
    • Affordable Care Act – “ObamaCare”
    • Benefits Management & Compliance
    • COBRA
    • Dental Insurance
    • Group Disability Insurance
    • Retirement Plans
    • Vision Plans
    • Voluntary Benefits
  • Essential Property and Liability Insurance
    • All Property & Liability Topics
    • Business Income Insurance
    • General and Auto Liability
  • Specialized Insurance Policies
    • All Specialized Prop & Liability Topics
    • Credit Risk
    • Cyber Insurance
    • Directors & Officers
    • Employment Practices Liability
    • Environmental Liability
    • Professional Liability
    • Surety
    • The Basics
  • Workers’ Compensation Insurance
    • All Workers’ Comp Topics
    • Claims Management
    • Controlling Costs
    • Loss Prevention
    • Regulations
    • The WC Basics
  • Employee Benefits
    • All Employee Benefit Topics
    • Affordable Care Act – “ObamaCare”
    • Benefits Management & Compliance
    • COBRA
    • Dental Insurance
    • Group Disability Insurance
    • Retirement Plans
    • Vision Plans
    • Voluntary Benefits
Top Business 411 Stories
  • | How to Get Sued By Your Employees in 10 Easy Steps
  • | How Do Your Healthcare Providers Rate?
  • | Employee Dental Insurance for Every Budget
  • | Marijuana and Workers Compensation

3 Tips to Expand Voluntary Benefits and Save Money

January 27, 2017 by The Insurance 411Leave a Comment

At a time when employers are trying to solve talent gaps while juggling tight budgets, the popularity of voluntary benefits continues to gain traction—with voluntary benefits’ sales increasing for the fifth straight year, according to LIMRA.

Voluntary life insurance sales grew 8 percent and supplemental health insurance sales grew 4 percent in 2015, according to LIMRA’s U.S. Worksite Sales survey.

Voluntary Benefits

“Consistently, our surveys have shown recruiting and retaining the best employees is a top priority for employers,”said Michael Ericson, a LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute analyst.

This is the largest increase in voluntary life insurance sales since 2010. The fastest-growing voluntary health lines were critical illness and accident insurance, both of which have experienced double-digit growth for five consecutive years. Two-thirds of the companies that participated in the survey reported overall increases in voluntary sales, with half up 12 percent or more.

Experts attributed these increases to rising employment growth, a belief among employers that voluntary benefits improve worker morale and satisfaction, the fact that most employees prefer to buy health and life insurance benefits at work, a preference among employees to want to purchase benefits via payroll deduction and a long-term trend of employers shifting more benefits costs to employees.

“The employees are recognizing that and are purchasing products like accident and critical illness insurance to close that gap and protect against potential out-of-pocket exposure,” Randy Stram, the senior vice president of the group benefits business for MetLife, told Employee Benefits Adviser.

73 Percent of Workers like Custom Benefits

Meanwhile, another new LIMRA study found 73 percent of U.S. employees across all age groups would like the ability to customize their workplace benefits to suit their individual needs.

“Consistently, our surveys have shown recruiting and retaining the best employees is a top priority for employers,” Michael Ericson, a LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute analyst, said in a statement. “With four generations in the workplace, designing an attractive benefits package for all employees is challenging. As a result, employers are considering offering their employees the ability to control how they allocate their allotted money across their benefits.”

The growing popularity of voluntary benefits comes as many companies are discovering that voluntary products are a great way for businesses to drive employee satisfaction without increasing costs. These products can help expand employee benefit offerings while moving the costs away from the employer. And with cost-sharing becoming the standard, so is the expectation of more choices among employees at enrollment time.

3 Tips for Offering Voluntary Benefits

MetLife’s recent U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study found the right number and mix of benefits can increase worker appreciation, especially when paired with effective communication and education.

Here are three tips on how to inspire employees to perceive the value of a voluntary benefit offering by making the connection between their needs and the solution provided by the benefit:

1      Offer a broad array of products to enable individuals to identify “benefits that work for me.” Millennials are paying off student debt and beginning their careers, while baby boomers are nearing retirement. Generation X is under pressure to support school-aged children and care for older parents while saving money for their future.

2      Show how well you know your employees. Giving workers the option to pick and choose benefits that match their needs and lifestyles can make them feel valued.

3      Select voluntary benefits based on value, not price. It’s important not to just focus on the product cost, but also value-adds in the service experience. It is important for employers to work with a provider that can offer multiple enrollment channels, flexible communications, and outstanding customer service to improve the ongoing benefit experience.

Filed Under: Employee Benefits   •  Voluntary Benefits

[wp_ad_camp_3]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Read more ⤵

  • Business Insurance
  • Personal Insurance
  • Newest Business Articles
  • All Business Topics
  • Recommended Articles
    • Ways to Make Childcare Costs a Little More Affordable
    • Self Funding 101 For Employers
    • Weight Discrimination on the Rise
    • Understanding Consumer-Driven Health Plans

The Daily Blog

Directory Ad for 411sidebar

Register for Weekly Business Insurance Article Updates

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Most Popular

  • Ways to Make Childcare Costs a Little More Affordable
  • Title VII Non-discrimination Protections Apply to LBGTQ Individuals
  • Drones in the Workplace
  • Why Stress Is a Work Safety Problem

Attention Insurance Agents

If you are looking for quality insurance content for your own customized newsletter, please visit Smarts Publishing:
https://smartspublishing.com

Business Insurance 411

  • Essential Property and Liability
  • Specialized Policies
  • Workers’ Compensation
  • Employee Benefits

Personal Insurance 411

  • Homeowners Insurance
  • Auto Insurance
  • Life & Health Insurance
  • Personal Insurance Basics

Read More

  • Business 411 Articles
  • Personal 411 Articles
  • Top Stories Business
  • Top Stories Personal

The Daily Blog

  • Newest Business Articles
  • Newest Personal Articles
  • Most Popular Business
  • Most Popular Personal

Copyright ©2019 TheInsurance411.com

  • Home
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us