Voluntary Benefits: A Complete Guide

Voluntary benefits are often offered as an option by employers to their employees. This health coverage option exists at no cost to employers and is therefore often a no-brainer option to offer employees. We’re sharing everything you need to know about voluntary benefits in our guide below.

What are voluntary benefits?

Voluntary benefits are often referred to as employee-paid benefits. There are benefits offered by employers to their employees at no additional cost to the employer. Rather, the employees pay the full cost of the plan but it’s made available to them through their employer. This offer employees access to purchase additional benefits if they choose to do so in addition to the basic benefits their employers may provide.

What are the different types of voluntary benefits?

There is a vast diversity of benefits that are offered under the scope of voluntary benefits. This may include anything from healthcare to security coverage and everything in between. We’re sharing an overview of what voluntary benefits may be available to businesses below:

Health

Health insurance isn’t just limited to annual physicals, ER visits, and monthly prescriptions. It also encompasses vision, dental, accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity insurance. All-around health consists of more than most people realize. While seeing a doctor regularly might seem like an expense people may not want to pay, it’s important to recognize the importance of early preventative care to help decrease the likelihood of severe health concerns that may come up down the line.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle insurance may include coverage such as disability, legal support, and financial counseling. While these coverage types may not necessarily be relevant to all employees the way health coverage is, they may be beneficial options to offer your team support. They may also play a role in supporting the mental health of team members.

Security

Security refers to benefits such as life and travel accident insurance and identity theft protection. As previously mentioned, while these benefit options may not seem necessary for employees to have, their implementation has the capability to support the ongoing mental health and security of team members.

Personal

Lastly are personal benefits. Personal benefits include “softer” benefits that may help support employee lifestyles. They include offerings such as discounts on merchandise, discounted home, auto or pet insurance, concierge services, or umbrella insurance.

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How do businesses benefit from offering voluntary benefits?

Voluntary benefits cost employers little to nothing in direct costs. This type of benefits offering is charged directly to the employees rather than being subsidized by the employer.

Another prime factor of this offering is their role in attracting and retaining top talent. As candidates search for jobs, they assess a number of things including their interest in the position, pay, and benefits available to them. For many employees, offering competitive benefits may be a make or break the decision of whether or not they choose to join or stay with your company.

In fact, 77% of workers say the benefits package is an important factor in their decision to accept or reject a job.

Another benefit that offering this type of service, it provides employers with is that as health care costs continue to rise, many companies are finding it difficult to provide high-level full coverage benefits to their employees. This allow businesses to provide their employees with healthcare coverage that doesn’t break the bank for themselves or their employees.

What are the benefits of voluntary benefits for employees?

Voluntary benefits offer employees flexibility in being able to choose the right plan for them. Regardless of age, need, existing health conditions, etc., voluntary benefits offer a flexible option for a variety of users.

They can also help bridge the gap between core medical plans offered by employers and additional medical needs. This option often aims to complement existing plans. They can also provide a safety net for employees with medical expenses that aren’t covered by their core plan.

Lastly, voluntary benefits provide an affordable option for employees as most benefits provided are deducted directly from employees’ paychecks. As a result, the dollars spent on health coverage are deducted pre-tax. Paying for health benefits pre-tax saves employees a significant amount of money paying for the benefits they need to afford their ongoing health coverage.

Overall, offering voluntary benefits packages to your employees is a great way to benefit both employees and employers. For questions or how to offer your employees voluntary benefits, reach out to one of our trusted brokers or to us directly.