When most workers think about employee group benefits, they typically think about group health insurance. While most employee group benefits plan do include health group insurance policies, there are other kinds of benefits plans that can be offered to workers.
- Employers can offer life insurance to their workers. If you have a family and people rely on your income to live, if something were to happen you, you probably would want a way to take care of them. The group life insurance plans offer help to the loved ones of a policy holder if that person should be killed. This can be paid out in a lump sum or over time. The amount varies on the kind of policy that is offered and who is administering it.
- As a separate kind of benefits plan, companies can give insurance for the accidental death or dismemberment of a worker. These policies pay more than just the standard amount that is dispersed from a life insurance policy. These plans are specifically designed to help people after an accident. If some accident occurs and the policy holder is not killed but maimed in some way, they and their families can receive compensation.
- As a corollary benefit to what covers death and dismemberment, disability insurance is a common addition to benefits plans. This kicks in when a worker has been hurt or has suffered some medical problem that prevents them from working any more. It can be set up for both long term and short term issues. This can be very helpful when policy members suffer from something that causes a disability.
- Workers can get expanded health care coverage options. There are times when workers have the need for expanded health insurance coverage. This can be for care in a hospital, medical equipment and services, prescription medications and care for hearing and vision problems. Employers can offer these expanded benefit plans to give their workers an added peace of mind. When people travel, these expanded benefits plans can help if they have left the country.
- Dental insurance can be added to any employer offered benefits plans. This can cover preventative dental care, diagnostic dental services and different treatments as needed. Dental health can have a big impact on a person’s overall physical well being so this is an important benefit that can can help a lot of workers lead healthier and better lives.
- Another option that employers can offer is a flexible, health savings account. These are becoming more and more popular with companies. In these, rather than giving all workers one plan or in addition to giving everyone a plan, employers will give employees credits that they can use to pick the options and the parts of different benefits plans that they can use for their specific situation and needs. Many let their workers pay more if they need additional benefits.
There are some things people need to know about their employer sponsored benefits plans. If a worker quits their job, for instance, there is a window within which they can contract with the insurance company to convert their group insurance plan to an individual health insurance plan. They can also move their dental, vision and other coverage from a group plan to an individual policy. The human resources department at your employer should be consulted about this as they can give you a comprehensive explanation of your benefits and what your options are.
There are a number of reasons that employer benefit from giving these benefits plans to their workers. Many companies around the world have real problems keeping employees. As a consequence, turnover costs businesses billions of dollars every year. One of the best ways to make your workplace one where people want to work is to offer comprehensive health insurance benefits. Study after study shows that people will forgo raises and bonuses to get better health coverage from their employer. Not only are workers happier and more productive at work when they have these benefits, they are healthier. Healthier workers do a better job.
It can be easy to overlook helping people enjoy a better work-life balance but when companies are able to show their workers that this is a priority for them, they are better able to retain good workers.