Group employee insurance. Business growth driver.
Introduction
Group employee insurance. Business growth driver.
In a previous article we talked about the effective and essential risk management of modern businesses. One of the risks they are called to manage
- Small and medium enterprises
- Big companies
- Business groups
- Public organizations
- Volunteer organizations
- Unions and
- Associations
with an employed staff of 5 or more, it is also the safety of the staff.
Something that, through the group insurance of employees, brings significant advantages and benefits. Both for the business and for the employed staff.
By doing a search on the Internet and social media, such as LinkedIn, we will find many advertisements of companies looking for executives. What we can easily see is that in the effort to attract competent workers, the offer of “Group Insurance” is mentioned, among other things.
In order to attract the most capable executives on the market, there are many companies that additionally offer group retirement insurance.
In this way, companies respond dynamically to the 2 biggest insecurities of employees, Health and Pension. Two critical sectors of the majority of states worldwide.
Although in recent years we have seen a decline in economic activity of more than 25%, in the same period we have seen an 11% increase in the number of workers covered through a group health plan. So it seems clear that entrepreneurs are now very well aware that:
- Business development is primarily based on the human/employee factor and
- Group Insurance offers the business a first class opportunity for employee development.
Happy and secure employees mean growth and production. In the past, workers might have been content with being admitted to a hospital, in case of illness or accident. Now they have greater demands. They ask, e.g. hospitalization of a certain level and quality and why not, if deemed necessary, going abroad.
However, this cannot be offered by the social security of the state body.
Group Employees Insurance. Why?
Employee safety in businesses is of primary importance and primary need of employees. In recent years we have seen government spending on health fall by more than 30%. This made it imperative for workers to access private health facilities for themselves and their family members.
Illness, disability and death still lurk in the workplace. This concerns a large number of workers throughout history, something that has intensified with the growth of international industry in recent years. Workplaces are often dense, disease traps and it is natural that efforts are made by national organizations to reduce work losses.
The work environment and safety are part of the job analysis. This, because it affects the productivity of the employee, the level of quality of the product/service, and the general attitude of the staff towards the management. Safety conditions in the workplace are a basic need both for the production system and for the worker himself.
The psychological and social environment are taken seriously in the way in which employees manifest in practice their interest in the subject of work. It is this that will give the employee the opportunity to develop initiative for proposing new or improving old work methods, the ability to communicate and cooperate with the management on labor and employment issues, the provision of a satisfactory basic salary, certain financial and non-financial benefits. incentives (profit sharing, benefits, purchase of securities on favorable terms, group life insurance, additional care).
Businesses and employers must therefore realize that the basic need of their staff is their safety.
In the past, what the employee was asking for was an increase in his earnings. In a survey carried out, this desire dropped to third place while the first 2 are occupied by ensuring access to the best health structures with pension security in second place and an increase in earnings in third place.
The History of Group Insurance
The first Group Life Insurance – “inscription” was found in the Temple of Athena in Dali, Cyprus, which refers to an insurance agreement between King Idalius and Doctor Onasilos, in Greek language and with Greek names. It has all the elements of modern insurance, i.e. insurer – policyholder – insured – risk – coverage and premium. It is rightfully considered the first insurance policy in the history of mankind.
Group Insurance (=O.A.) first appeared in its modern form in the year 1911 in the USA, where the Equitable Insurance Company insured the employees of a leather company. This Company from the following year, in 1912, created a Group Insurance service and began to work systematically in the area of O.A.
The first definition given by the Insurance Association of the USA. for O.A. are the following:
“Group life or pension insurance is life insurance or pension insurance, or it covers a number of persons not less than 50, after or without a medical examination.
The insurance contract is concluded after the company employing these persons, the insurance premiums are not paid despite this, or the participation of the insured. The insurance cover concerns all the personnel of the company or certain categories thereof, which cannot be less than 75% of the total number of personnel. In the case of non-insurance, they must exclude the possibility of choosing the insured as well as the participation in the employers’ insurance”.
Through the multinational companies, group insurance was quickly transferred to other countries, especially the industrialized ones. Group Insurances today constitute 1/3 of the Life insurances in force, following the pace of the economic development of each country.
In the 1960s-1970s, the group contract also appeared in Greece. While at the beginning of 1970 there were few insurance companies in Greece that had the possibility to carry out this type of insurance due to the complexity and uniqueness of this sector, today almost all Life Companies are developing the Group Insurance Sector.
Although Group Insurance started in the industrialized countries, covering mainly the technical and clerical staff of the various industrial and commercial enterprises, it quickly expanded to other groups of people, such as clubs, unions, etc. (2002. Tsountas Konstantinos, Gavella Panagiota)
Group insurance. Advantages and disadvantages
For business
- It helps attract the best talent
- Increases employee retention
- It offers support to employees
- Tax-deductible insurance premiums
- It improves the health and productivity of workers
- Easy to manage
For the worker
- Financial stability
- Ease and tranquility
- Protection for older workers
- Protection for families
- Direct deposit for refunds
- More favorable tax treatment of the employee’s income
NOTE. The employee has little to no control over their individual coverage. Coverage does not continue or follow the employee if he or she terminates employment with the employer.
How to prepare for a group insurance plan
Group employee insurance. Business growth driver.
For the best and most beneficial plan for your business/organization, it is advisable to consider the following before deciding on a group employee insurance plan.
These include:
- Know what you want/need
- The fine print is important
- Discuss your insurance requirements
- Find out about the policy of the insurance companies
- Understand the legal implications
- Consider technology-based health/retirement insurance
Example: Getting group health insurance – the process
1. Contact us
First, to purchase group health insurance, contact us and submit a basic form with details such as your name, company details, employee strength, etc.
2. Let us know your insurance needs
The second most important thing that you need to do is to let us know the needs that you want the group health insurance policy to have.
Unlike any other individual and family health/retirement plan, your group insurance policy is highly customizable.
3. Receive a competitive offer
Once you’ve communicated your needs and wants to us, the next step is to receive our competitive quote. Having understood your needs, we will design a program that will perfectly suit your goals and aspirations.
4. Integration, Delivery and Activation Process
fter it has been agreed by the Insurer of Lindra Consulting and the representative of the insured business, the mode of operation of the group insurance contract, such as its terms and conditions, a meeting is set to read, accept and sign the group insurance contract.
With the signing of the group insurance contract, we also have the start of the insurance coverage.
During the policy delivery process, we explain and provide all the resources you need regarding group health/retirement insurance with Lindra Consulting.
5. Settlement of your payment
Group policy payments are also very flexible. The premium can be monthly,
- quarterly
- semi-annually or
- annual.
It is possible, if a company wants, before the conclusion of the final insurance contract (because it takes some time) to make a written acceptance of the group insurance, pay an advance that will be set by the Insurance Company and we have an immediate start of the group insurance coverage of the staff, the under business insurance.
6. Activation of E-Services
E-Services is a digital platform that the employee uses to access all the important information of his program which provides him with:
- Create a personal account for the group plan
- Access to account information (benefits and balance) and important documents to print (tax returns, claims history)
- Access 24/7, anywhere from PC, smartphone or tablet.
With the E-claims application, the insured pays the outpatient expenses electronically.
Claims can be submitted electronically from the employee’s personal computer
Expenses reimbursed:
- Diagnostic examinations
- Medical Visits
- Buying medicines
- Physiotherapy
- Reimbursement within 72 hours, directly to the employee’s bank account
Example: Taking group pension insurance – procedure
For the provision of group retirement the process is much the same as the process described above for obtaining group health insurance.
It needs to be clarified that in most cases we divide the staff into categories because we can, in addition to the regular assistance that the company will offer to its employees, pay part of its employees’ annual bonuses to the program, resulting in a more favorable tax treatment for their income employee.
Also, the employee who has direct access to his individual pension account through the e-services platform, evaluating his performance, can increase it regularly or exceptionally with any amount he wants.
This results in him achieving his retirement goal with great ease.
Resources for additional study
Closing
Keeping employees motivated and productive is easier when you give them the tools they need. Offer a compensation and benefits package that includes group insurance. It is a win-win provision for employers and employees. Everyone is a winner and happy.
Lindra Consulting offers several group insurance plans for business owners. Our programs are specially designed to simplify life
- Small and medium enterprises
- Big business
- Business groups
- Voluntary organizations
- Unions and
- Clubs
with the maximum possible benefit.
Next step
Contact us for more information about our group insurance plans. We will help you choose the best group insurance plan for your business and your employees.
