MetLife: The Value of Voluntary
The benefits of bundling:
How voluntary benefits help solve your small business clients' challenges
Four generations in the workforce make providing benefits that meet diverse employee needs a challenge. Factor in the battle to attract and retain top talent and it’s easy to understand the complex pressures faced by small businesses.
According to the MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index, 67 percent of small businesses reported difficulty in finding candidates with the skills they need.1 That means retaining key employees is imperative.
At the same time, 69 percent of employees say they would be more likely to accept a job if they have the ability to customize benefits choices to meet their needs, and 45 percent say that customized benefits would make them more loyal to their current employer.2
The solution to how small and mid-size businesses can compete with their larger counterparts for top talent is often found in expanding the company’s benefit offering. At first, it may sound counterintuitive when company budgets are not expandable. But, as employees increasingly look to their employers for help in achieving financial security, adding voluntary benefit bundles offer an appealing and cost-effective solution.
As you consult with small business clients, talk about benefits in traditional, complementary bundles, like dental paired with voluntary vision insurance options. Or employer-paid life insurance bundled with supplemental employee-paid life options that can help employees access the coverage they need at competitive group rates.
Employer- and employee-paid disability insurance combinations can be effectively packaged with accident and critical illness insurance solutions that help employees meet copays or deductibles, pay for extra childcare expenses, or keep up mortgage payments in the event they become disabled.
Look for opportunities to broaden the bundle discussion to add in solutions like legal services plans that can be a big win with employees without adding to the employer’s budget. For example, MetLaw® from MetLife3 offers participating employees unlimited use of covered services at costs that are typically less than $200 a year on average – significantly less than the cost of seeing an attorney just once for most legal matters.4
Offering the right bundle of traditional and voluntary benefits gives employees the convenient choices they’re looking for without straining an employer’s budget. For employers, strengthening their benefits offering can be the powerful differentiator they need to win the competition for talent.
Download and share the value of voluntary benefits with your clients.
For questions or help with a MetLife quote, please contact a member of your B&P Sales Team - 888.722.3373.
1 MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index, www.SBIndex.us, Q4 2018
2 MetLifes 16th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study, 2018
3 Group legal plans are provided by Hyatt Legal Plans, Inc., a MetLife company, Cleveland, OH. In certain states, group legal plans are provided through insurance coverage underwritten by Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Warwick, RI.
4 Based on the average monthly cost of the legal plan ($18/month) compared to the average hourly rate for an attorney of $338.00/hour based on years of legal experience, National Law Journal and ALM Legal Intelligence, Survey of Law Firm Economics (2016).