MetLife Releases Reports on Disability Claims

November 18, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - With disability leave costs eating up the bottom line, MetLife has announced the release of five industry-specific reports it hopes will shed light on trends, statistics, and solutions for workplace disability leave.

With MetLife claiming that an employer can expect an average of 10% of its employee population to be out on disability leave in any single year, the company is now offering free reports on trends and solutions that it hopes will lower the amount lost due to absent workers. Based on a database of over four million employees, the reports – The MetLife Series on Championing Productivity – hope to shed some light on the most common disability claims that the company receives and the demographic groups that are most affected.

The five industries, as well as the basic demographic group most affected and the most common disabilities are:

  • The financial industry, which sees women aged 35-44 most often claiming disability, often due to pregnancy and complications due to pregnancy. Employees in the industry were above average in the number of depression disability claims.
  • The transportation industry has the same demographic (women age 35-44) as the largest claimers of disability, but back strain is most often cited as the disability. Short-term claims often center on upper respiratory problems and depression, both of which are above average.
  • The retail trade industry, which sees women aged 35-44 most often claiming disability regarding pregnancy and complications, also sees higher-than-average claims for fractures.
  • The manufacturing industry most often sees men aged 45-54 claiming disability. The most common claims revolve around fractures and back strains.
  • The services industry most often sees women between the ages of 35 and 44 claiming disability. The largest percentage of disability claims filed in the services industry was for pregnancy and complications of pregnancy. Long-term disability claims for cancer were filed in a higher proportion than average for employees in this industry.

MetLife, a provider of – among other things – disability insurance, is offering the reports for free at www.metlifeiseasier.com/disabilitypr.

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