Creative coping
While most employers have focused on reducing the cost of core benefits, some have gotten creative in helping employees cope with a tough economy.
1. At Michigan-based accounting firm Plante & Moran, HR pairs expectant moms with those who have recently had babies so they can ask questions and get support - on company time.
2. Every few months, employees of Fun Bike Center MotorSports in Lakeland, Florida qualify for a grocery shopping spree and other perks by meeting sales goals and impressing mystery shoppers.
3. Umpqua Bank makes it easy for its 1,700 employees to comply with a strict professional dress code by lending them up to $1,000 a year to buy clothes.
4. At PCL Construction in Denver, employees decide through an annual survey which wellness programs the organization will offer.
5. The Portland, Oregon design firm David Evans & Associates pays its 953 employees up to $6 a day to commute by walking, biking, car pooling or riding the bus.
6. Employees of Shared Technologies who are serving in the military in Iraq or elsewhere and their families get a monthly care package to remind them they are still members of the team at the Texas firm.
7. Quest Diagnostics hired Bill Germanakos, winner of the 2007 "Biggest Loser" TV reality show, as the company's "wellness ambassador."
8. London-based ad agency Fox Kalomaski gives employees an extra day of paid leave each year for beauty treatments (facials, haircuts, spa time).
www.theHRSpecialist.com, September 2009
Employer focus
Benefits for the times: Creative responses to the recession
There's no question the past few years have been rough on employers and employees alike. Employers have had to cut expenses wherever possible, and employees, already hit hard by the economic downturn, often have had to pony up more of the cost of their health care. Overall, however, benefits packages have been remarkably resilient. The majority of organizations are committed to keeping their core insurance benefits and maintaining 2009 plan funding approaches. LIMRA International, the research arm of the life insurance industry, reports that employers truly understand the value of benefits and their advantages in attracting and retaining employees, as well as contributing to the health and productivity of the workforce.1
Even where cuts have been needed there is a clear mandate from many employers to try to adjust other benefits or offer additional perks to ease the burden on employees. In its Changes in Benefits survey, IOMA learned that while 29 percent of responding employers had increased the deductibles employees pay on health care, 34 percent had expanded their wellness programs. A quarter had increased the use of flexible work arrangements.2
Voluntary plans also have gained traction, not only to offset the negative effect of real or perceived benefit cutbacks, but also to help meet the needs of ever more diverse employee populations. Voluntary offerings that supplement an existing line-up of core benefits can boost morale by making more options and other discounts available.
Voluntary trend growing
Today, more than 60 percent of employers offer at least one voluntary benefits program, and 25-30 percent of employers offer three or more.3 The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IDEFP) puts penetration at an even higher 84 percent, citing term life insurance, vision insurance, long-term care insurance, long-term disability insurance, accident insurance and dental as the most commonly offered voluntary options.4
What's the attraction? For employers, voluntary benefits are relatively inexpensive, incurring only minimal administrative-related expense. They meet different and varying needs of workers, allowing them to take advantage of programs as they see fit. By implementing voluntary benefits, employers are able to provide their employees with more options - a positive message - which can increase satisfaction with benefits as a whole.
Employees, on the other hand, trust benefit plans offered through an employer, believing them to be well researched and provided by reputable companies. Supplemental benefits offered at group rates or discounted premiums give employees access to programs they otherwise might not be able to afford on their own. Discounts negotiated by the employer can help offset the additional expenses taken on by employees at work and at home.
What's in store?
What's on the horizon in 2010 for benefits is not yet clear. Some employers may be compelled to continue shifting more costs to employees. Others are hoping to undo some of the reductions made because of the economy. The big unknown, of course, is the outcome of the health reform debate and its impact on costs. Regardless of economic conditions, employers are committed to a strong benefits program - whether employer or employee funded. In a weak market, benefits help keep employees; when the economy rebounds they help attract additional staff.
Life insurance has become an increasingly popular voluntary benefit choice. In a survey of 4,500 benefits managers and HR professionals in August 2009, JHA and Employee Benefit News found that 90 percent of respondents offered life insurance as an employee-paid benefit, and this trend is expected to continue in 2010. Another 8 percent of the respondents not currently offering supplemental life insurance intend to add the program, making life insurance a popular new benefit for 2010.5
For more information about supplemental group life insurance programs to enhance employee benefits, contact your Minnesota Life regional sales manager or relationship advisor.
Sources
1LIMRA, "The best laid plans: Will employers change their philosophy around employee benefits?" December 2009.
2IOMA, "How company benefits changed as a result of the recession," November 2009.
3William Atkinson, "Filling in around the edges," HR Magazine, 2009.
4Stephen Miller and SHRM Online Staff, "Voluntary benefits' widening options," 2010 HR Trendbook.
5Lynn Gresham, "The right path," Employee Benefit News, December 2009.
