In yesterday’s Advisor, consultant Mike Miles presented the case for offering voluntary benefits to employees. Today, more on benefits, plus an introduction to a timely webcast on conducting legal background checks.
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Employees may think that they can’t afford a big policy, but it’s often a good idea to join the plan at the lowest level and cost, even if the policy is not large, says consultant Mike Miles. That gets your foot in the door and often ensures that the person can “buy up” in the future on a guaranteed issue basis should something happen that would make the person uninsurable.
Miles is vice president and senior employee benefits consultant at Gregory and Appel Insurance. During his presentation at a recent boot camp sponsored by BLR®, he was joined by colleague Janet McClure, vice president and worksite marketing team leader.
The Challenge of Well-Off Decision Makers
One interesting problem that McClure has encountered is that the decision makers are generally among the more highly compensated employees, who tend to have enough discretionary income to deal with most financial emergencies.
Unfortunately, that colors their decisions, says McClure, and may mean that a program that would be very helpful to those without significant discretionary income isn’t offered because the decision maker doesn‘t understand the needs of the workers farther down the totem pole.
Accident Plan—How It Fills Gaps
McClure offers this comparison that a client asked for. You can see that the carriers provide different reimbursements, but overall, both carriers will make payments that cover a good portion of the overall cost of treatment.
Claim Example—Accident with Fractured Ankle
| Benefit | Carrier A Pays | Carrier B Pays |
| ER visit | $50 | $150 |
| Initial Hospital Admission | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| 7 Days Inpatient | $1,750 | $1,400 |
| Major Diagnostic Exam | $150 | $100 |
| Surgery—Open Ankle Fracture | $1,200 | $600 |
| Appliance (Crutches) | $100 | $25 |
| MD Follow-Up Visit | $50 | $300 |
| Physical Therapy | $150 | $0 |
| Accident Policy Pays | $4,450.00 | $3,575.00 |
| Amount Owed for Medical Expenses (Estimated) | $5,073.42 | $5,073.42 |
| Employee Loss of Income Based on 8 Weeks and $42K Salary and Collecting STD (Estimated) | $1,885.03 | $1,885.03 |
| Total Employee Out‐of‐Pocket Expense (estimated) | $6,958.45 | $6,958.45 |
| Amount Not Offset (Actual Out-of–Pocket Expense) | $2,508.45 | $3383.45 |
Concerned about legality of your background checks? Join us for Conducting Legally Sound Background Checks: FCRA Requirements, EEOC Guidance, and Other Recent Developments, an interactive webcast on Tuesday, December 10, 2013. Learn More
Benefits Beyond Health Insurance
Although most voluntary insurance is health-related, many employers do offer other types, including:
- Homeowners/auto Insurance.
- Identity theft (rampant)/legal plans (litigious society).
- Discount purchasing programs, especially for big ticket items like appliances and computers). This may be particularly attractive to employees with low credit ratings or whose lines of credit are full, because those don’t matter when paying through payroll deduction.
- Pet insurance.
Set It and Forget It
When it comes to insurance, people tend to “set it and forget it,” says Miles. People spend a lot more time researching their new car than they do considering their insurance and financial situations. It’s important to do a complete and thorough personal lines review, says Miles. Often a voluntary lines provider can help with the counseling.
Deciding on benefits—just one more headache. But here’s a headache we can eliminate—the I’m-not-too-confident-about-my background checks headache.
Government agencies are cracking down on employers who overstep legal bounds when conducting criminal background checks. Two recent settlements make it clear that if just how costly a violation can be:
Pepsi Beverages, Inc. agreed to pay $3.13 million and provide job offers and training to revolve a racial discrimination claim. The EEOC claimed Pepsi’s screening policy violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In another case, Integrity Staffing Solutions reached a settlement when it unlawfully denied a black job applicant employment based on a 30-year-old criminal conviction for involuntary manslaughter.
So does that mean you shouldn’t conduct background checks? No. Done legally, background checks can be an effective screening tool to find relevant information about job candidates.
Fortunately, there’s a timely webcast on December 10—Conducting Legally Sound Background Checks: FCRA Requirements, EEOC Guidance, and Other Recent Developments.
Join us on December 10 and in just 90 minutes, you’ll understand the legal dos and don’ts for conducting background checks on employees and job applicants. Register nowfor this informative event for HR professionals.
How far should your back ground checks go? It’s a new ballgame with social media in the mix. Join us for Conducting Legally Sound Background Checks: FCRA Requirements, EEOC Guidance, and Other Recent Developments, an interactive webcast on Tuesday, December 10, 2013. HRCI Recertification Credit. Register Now or Learn More
Participate in this interactive webinar, and you’ll learn:
- Dos and don’ts for vetting applicants, including ways to use social media to legally sniff out information.
- Best practices for evaluating arrest and criminal conviction records in light of recently issued EEOC enforcement guidance.
- What to make of the recent federal district court decision that provides a scathing interpretation of the EEOC’s current guidance on background screening policies and practices.
- Questions to ask third-party employment screening providers before retaining them.
- Four steps you MUST take before checking credit so you’re in compliance with FCRA.
- What the states additionally require employers to do.
- Tips on how to develop a legally defensible background check screening process.
Register now for this event risk-free.
Monday, December 10, 2013
1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Eastern)
12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Central)
11:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. (Mountain)
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Pacific)
Approved for Recertification Credit
This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hours through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI).
Join us on December 10—you’ll get the in-depth Conducting Legally Sound Background Checks: FCRA Requirements, EEOC Guidance, and Other Recent Developments webcast AND you’ll get all of your particular questions answered by our experts.
Train Your Entire Staff
As with all BLR/HRhero webcasts:
- Train all the staff you can fit around a conference phone.
- You can get your (and their) specific phoned-in or emailed questions answered in Q&A sessions that follow each segment of the presentation.