Employee Benefits Blog

New this year, per the U.S. Department of Labor, is the ability for employers nationwide to auto-enroll employees in disability insurance coverages for ERISA-covered plans.

The implications of this decision are far reaching and merit serious consideration by employers offering disability benefits, which are designed to prevent income disruption in the event of a qualifying disability. (As with other auto-enrollment options such as 401(k) contributions, employees retain the opportunity to opt-out if they choose not to take the coverage.)

For those employers who don’t yet offer disability coverage, we strongly encourage you to read our blog post from earlier this year on why disability insurance is one of the most valuable benefits you can offer.

The Gap Between Interest and Action

At present, one in four 20-year-olds in the workforce can expect to be out of work for at least a year before they reach retirement, due to a disabling condition - that’s according to probability tables developed by the Social Security Administration.

While dental and vision care are typically the second and third most popular employee benefits after health insurance, employers should look long and hard at short term disability and long term disability insurance as "must haves" in their benefits portfolio.

Why? Well, when someone in the organization misses a considerable amount of work due to an injury or illness, there isn't a business owner we've met who doesn't then struggle with the incredibly difficult decision of how best to resolve the issue. 

Not only is the impacted employee struggling with a loss of income, but the employer is also struggling with compensation decisions regarding this individual during their absence, not to mention compensation investments that might have to be made to fill the position left open in this person's absence. 

Everyone is spared these difficult decisions if disability insurance is in place. That's because disability insurance protects your employees from a disruption in income in the event of an injury or accident. (This should not be confused with Workman's Compensation. While they are similar, the main difference is that Workman's Compensation only covers employees for illnesses or injuries which are work-related.)

So let's examine the trends in long term and short term disability insurance and discuss tactics to improve employee participation.