Employees want benefits. That’s not a surprising statement, but what might be surprising is that the degree of importance employees place on benefits programs has increased. That’s the finding from a recent study by Unum, a benefits provider for the U.S. and U.K. According to the study of 1,700 working adults, the perceived importance of many employee benefits notably increased from 2008 to 2010 across all age groups.
“This economic environment has caused employees to take a hard look at how to protect their income and savings from not only another recession, but from personal hardship, as well,” says Bill Dalicandro, vice-president at Unum. “Employees are recognizing the important role financial protection benefits in particular can play in protecting their financial stability.”
When employees were asked to rate benefits in terms of their importance, regardless of whether or not they were available through their employer, financial protection benefits saw some of the highest gains. On a scale from 1 (not at all important) to 10 (extremely important), 53% of employees rated long-term disability insurance an 8 or higher, a seven-point increase from 2008, and 50% of employees rated short-term disability insurance an 8 or higher, up from 45% in 2008. Half of employees surveyed gave an 8 or higher rating to accidental injury coverage, a 10-point increase from 2008.
The study also found that employees 45 years of age and older consider long-term disability more important than life insurance as a benefit.
However, despite employees giving higher ratings to the importance of benefits, participation in benefits plans has remained relatively constant since 2008.
According to the study, employees have had less access to printed benefits education materials and in-person benefits education since 2008, and some employees are not provided enough time to make informed choices.
“Employees clearly value these benefits, particularly in a struggling economy,” Dalicandro says. “Ensuring that they understand their options and feel comfortable making benefits decisions helps them choose the coverage they need and want.”