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The voluntary benefits marketplace has evolved significantly over the years, and the rate of change promises to increase as employers continue to try to attract and retain employees at a reasonable cost. New product and service offerings, along with a growing distribution system of brokers and consultants, will ensure a dynamic and expanding universe of value-added options.
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Home / Product Information / Overview Options / Non-Insurance Products Overview
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Voluntary benefit offerings have traditionally consisted of several types of insurance products which augment the core benefits provided by employers and are designed to address the personal needs of employees. Today, a fast growing (yet often overlooked) area of voluntary benefits is non-insurance products. These are products and services that are made available to the employee base, generally with little or no cost to the corporation, which meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Supplement or enhance the voluntary insurance products (value added services)
- Provide employees with unique savings (discounts) or value that go beyond typical retail offers
- Help simplify employee’s personal needs by saving time and providing easy access to needed resources
Employees of medium-size and larger companies have embraced, and come to expect, these type of discount offerings from their employers because they can offer great economic value, and provide easy access to these savings in a “trusted” environment - (as smaller companies continue to try to compete for valuable employees, they, too, are increasingly exploring these non-traditional benefits). Through these programs, employees enjoy large savings on major life event needs, as well as discounts on daily needs like shopping and movie tickets. While these day-to-day items may not be traditional “benefits”, a significant percent of employees are taking advantage of these every day savings. For example, when offered, up to 75% of employees have purchased discount movie tickets through an employee portal.
The employee’s general perception is that their company: a) has performed due diligence to select the most appropriate provider(s), b) has leveraged its buying power to get the employee a competitive discount or value, c) will support the employee’s expectations to receive quality customer service. Employees like the easy access to these programs, and companies use convenient means, such as their corporate intranet sites, to make it especially easy for employees to take advantage of these products.
Employers like these programs because: a) there is a strong emotional appeal to employees, b) they usually have no fees or costs, c) they compliment the goals of most corporate work/life programs, d) they are easy to implement (most do not have the legal and regulatory issues associated with many insurance benefits), and e) they require little post- implementation administration or support.
There are typically three aspects of employer administration, which, if handled properly, can significantly increase employee participation in the program(s):
- Payroll Deduction – similar to insurance programs, some of these benefits can be offered through payroll deduction. The products/services requiring this are typically the ones that have an ongoing cost/subscription fee which can be deducted on a recurring payroll basis. Examples include fees for legal services, vision discount plan, or ongoing monthly automobile payments through a car buying or car financing benefit. Employees like the simplicity and cash management of payroll deduction, and most of these recurring payment benefits can be readily set up for deductions through a payroll vendor.
- Program Communication – While non-insurance benefits/discounts can be introduced or communicated during benefit open enrollment, most can be accessed at any time throughout the year (there is usually not a limited time enrollment period). Therefore, most discount offers are communicated outside of open enrollment in a year-round manner. Employee awareness of these programs is the key to high utilization, so it is important that the employer have a specific plan and procedure for communicating the benefits. When a company offers several year-round-available voluntary benefits, it can be challenging to manage the various product communication plans. Many employers have found it helpful to consolidate the communication and administration of their various non-insurance offerings.
- Voluntary Benefits Administration – As the number of available voluntary benefits increases, proportionally more time and resources are required to communicate, administer and manage the program. Even turn key products, like discounted movie tickets, can be administratively challenging when there are numerous such benefits. To easy this burden, many organizations are outsourcing their voluntary benefit and/or discount programs to third party administrators, and/or automated platforms or service providers. These service providers typically charge a per-employee fee for managing the corporate discount program(s). While most corporation try to avoid paying third party management charges, these fees may be more affordable than the cost of internally managing the program, plus they often yield a more robust program in terms of access, product variety, and control.
There are literally hundreds of non-insurance product options. To make it easier to understand this benefit group and identify the best choices for your organization, Voluntary.com has organized the non-insurance offers into ten categories, including a summary of the most popular products in each category. These categories are:
Aggregated Plans
Many organizations are embracing service providers that can provide a turnkey voluntary benefit package, including an administration and/or communication portal, in order to provide access to many of these non-insurance products in one place. The most common types include employee discount portals and online ‘savings’ malls.
Automobile Services
Access to, and discounts on, automobile buying, leasing and the services needed to own and operate a vehicle, such as: auto buying and leasing services, auto financing and refinancing, and road side assistance.
Entertainment
Entertainment discounts on local and national events and activities, such as: dining, movies, theme parks, concerts and shows, and sporting events/activities.
Home
Services and savings to help buy, sell, finance and move to a new home, such as: real estate services, mortgages, refinancing, home equity loans, moving, storage, and home improvement services.
Legal Services
Legal services are one of the more popular voluntary benefits. Over the past several years they have grown tremendously in popularity. Most employees will need legal help at some point in their lives, and research has shown that personal legal issues can have a significant effect on worker productivity.
Personal Finance
Products and services to help employees manage their banking, savings, and investment needs. Also included are products and services to help with their life event and retirement planning needs, such as: financial planning, banking at work, online bill pay, retirement planning and savings programs, investment products and services, college planning and financing, identity theft protection, legal services, and tax preparation.
Personal Health and Wellness
Discounts on non-insurance health products and services, and health, wellness, and fitness educational resources. This category offers services such as prescription drug and vitamin discounts, hearing and vision access plans, health club memberships, and educational web tools and counseling.
Shopping Discounts
This is a broad category that included discounts on a wide variety of products and services to meet personal needs, such as: retailers, fashion, electronics, house ware, and personal services.
Travel
Travel discounts on personal travel services and vacation packages. This category includes benefits such as: air travel, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and vacation destinations.
Work-Life
Access to services, resources, counseling, and tools to balance the tasks and stresses of work and life, such as: employee assistance plans, childcare, and eldercare referral services.
Any use of this information without written permission from Voluntary.com, LLC is prohibited.
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