Employees Value a Range of Benefits

Of the supplemental benefits evaluated, employees ranked their dental insurance, 401(k)/retirement plans, vision insurance and group life insurance as most valuable, Sun Life said in a press release. Employees were asked to assume they had all the medical insurance their family needed and to distribute 100 points across other benefits based on how much they would value them.

Only 33% of respondents assigned a value greater than 0 to cash-and only 5% of the total assigned a value greater than 30 to cash. Cash was the least utilized category, according to the announcement.

By contrast, over 70% of those surveyed allocated a value greater than 0 to each of the other six benefits. And nearly half indicated they valued a broad combination of benefits by allocating at least some of their points to six or more benefits.

Sun Life said the full research report – “What’s Driving Enrollment in Voluntary Benefits Today” – will be available later this summer and will address:

• How do rising health insurance costs affect other benefits decisions?
• Does employer funding drive higher benefits election?
• Do life events trigger employees to increase or decrease their benefits?
• Are employees’ needs the primary driver of their benefits decision?
• Does how employees learn about their benefits affect their understanding?
• When employees understand their benefits better, do they value them more?

The report will be available at http://www.sunlifemomentum.com/09research .