Life Insurance Most Common Benefit
July 31, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A new survey by a
New York-based HR consultant found that 98% of employers
offered some kind of voluntary benefit - most often life
insurance in 75% of the cases.
A news release from Cammack LaRhette Consulting
said disability programs were the next most common
programs, offered by 46%. Both life and disability
insurance rank as the most "mature" voluntary benefit,
offered for more than 10 years.
Vision care showed the greatest average employee
participation level at almost 59%, according to the
survey. Life and disability participation were lower at
36% and 38%, respectively.
"As employers continue to struggle with rising
health care costs and the decreasing availability of
talent, many have looked at voluntary employee-paid
benefits as a way to add items to their total rewards
package without increasing costs to the employer," said
Erin O'Connor, Practice Leader, Human Resources, Cammack
LaRhette Consulting, in the news release.
The survey showed a low percentage of organizations
offering critical illness insurance, cancer coverage,
legal plan, long term care, pet insurance and identity
theft insurance.
More than half of the respondents did not plan on
offering additional voluntary benefits, mostly due to the
complexity of administration and resources that
additional benefits would entail.
The announcement said the 138 survey respondents
ranged in size from smaller than 100 employees to more
than 5,000 employees. More information is at
www.clcinc.com
.
Fred Schneyer
editors@plansponsor.com