what are voluntary benefits?
Voluntary Benefits, also known as supplemental benefits, range from life insurance to health-related products that help provide financial security for employees.
Employers can offer these benefits as part of a comprehensive benefits program to help attract and retain employee talent. If your company currently doesn’t offer voluntary benefits, it is time to assess your options.
Why are voluntary benefits a Win-Win for employers and employees?
- Increases the value of your benefits program to give you an edge in attracting and retaining employees.
- It can be offered to employees at minimal to no cost to an organization.
- Provides employees options that expand coverage for situations that traditional benefits don’t cover.
- Offers employees group rates that they are unlikely to find from other sources.
A 2021 survey conducted by Corestream found that voluntary benefits increasingly affect employees’ decision to join or stay with an employer. Today, three in four employees (76%) said voluntary benefits would impact their employer’s ability to retain them compared to 68% in 2020.
Your turnkey solution for voluntary benefits. We do the work.
At Murphy Insurance, our team of professionals works with you to find the right fit for your company's voluntary benefits and enrollment services. Let us show you how you can expand your company's benefits offering without added administrative burden, which allows you to spend time focused on other objectives. We take care of the program setup, communication, education and enrollment.
When advising your employees, we provide a consultative, unbiased review of their benefit choices and answer questions to help them make the most informed selection. We can work with you and your employees in-person, remote (video & telephonic) or both. The result of personal guidance is happier employees who stay longer, reducing turnover & increasing productivity. Benefits are usually the second highest employer cost after payroll, so getting the very best ROI is imperative in today's hyper-competitive employment market.
What types of voluntary benefits are available?
We typically work with companies with 10+ employees for which there is a broader availability of voluntary benefit options. However, we have options for smaller groups of 5-9 employees. 'There aren't voluntary group products for smaller businesses with 1-4 employees, but there are a few individual life, accident, and cancer policies that we can explore. The Voluntary Products we offer include:
Accident insurance — This insurance can help with unexpected medical expenses related to an accidental injury.- Critical illness insurance — This provides a lump-sum benefit for an employee diagnosed with a covered critical illness, which can be a valuable benefit to complement typical medical coverage.
- Whole Life & Term Life — Valuable way to provide financial protection for loved ones at a cost that is generally lower and doesn’t require medical exams.
- Hospital indemnity insurance — This coverage provides a lump-sum benefit to cover out-of-pocket costs related to a hospital stay. This can be used to help cover traditional health plan deductibles.
- Short-Term Disability Buy-up — STD insurance is designed to pay a weekly benefit to you in the event you cannot work because of a covered illness or injury. The Buy-Up allows you to buy increased coverage.
- Long-Term Disability — Helps you replace part of your income in the event of illness or disability. LTD goes into effect after you’ve been away from work for 180 days. It can help you replace your income up until you are 65 years old, or even later, depending on your age or disability.
- Vision — Covers vision exams, which can identify not only the eyes but other health issues
- Dental — Covers routine visits for dental care, which can also allow for early detection of other long-term health issues
If desired there are additional options including identity theft, pre-paid legal and pet insurance.
Get started by learning more now
If adding a no-cost benefit offering to your employees interests you, we can typically get a program up and running within 30 days. Why delay? To get started contact us, or better yet give us a call at 508-787-5125 today...We’d love to hear from you!
voluntary benefits FAQs
Are voluntary benefits cost-effective?
Voluntary benefits are cost effective for both employers and employees. Because employees typically pay the premiums themselves, employers can offer voluntary benefits at no direct cost to the company. Employees can benefit because they receive insurance protection at group rates through their employer that are not available if they try to buy directly from a carrier.
What size companies can offer voluntary benefits?
Company size isn't a barrier to offering voluntary benefits to employees. Organizations ranging from small businesses to large corporations can create a program. Typically, we work with companies with 10+ employees for which there is a broader availability of voluntary benefit options.; however, we do have options for smaller organizations.
- 1-4 employees — We don’t offer group products in this space, but there are individual Life Insurance solutions and direct Accident & Cancer only policies. Critical Illness and Hospital are group policies for most carriers and require 3+ ENROLLED to issue, per state filings.
- 5-9 employees — Our preferred partner requires 5 employees for Guaranteed issue/no health questions (Accident, Whole Life & Critical Illness) and is flexible if minimum enrollment is not met.
- 10-49 employees — Allows for a broader range of offerings. Guaranteed issue/no health questions for Accident, Critical Illness & Whole life through our preferred partner. Options are also available for Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Group Term Life, Long-Term Disability and Short-Term Disability Buy-up and more.
- 50-99 employees — multiple carrier options with Guaranteed issue/no health questions for Supp Health plus buy-up on STD, LTD & Group Term Life
- 100+ employees — multiple carrier options with Guaranteed issue/no health questions
Who is eligible to receive voluntary benefits?
Most employees are eligible to sign up for voluntary benefits through their employer. However, employers can set their own qualifying criteria in addition to any federal, state, and/or local laws regarding eligibility.