product spotlight | employee benefits Growing Your Employee-Benefits Sales

As workforces change, consider counseling clients about PFL benefits.

By Terri Rhodes, MBA, CPDM, CCMP and Breanna Scott

Credit: ©ISTOCK.COM/SSSTEP

With 2018 right around the corner, it’s time to start making your list of New Year’s resolutions. As you embark on a new year of sales and you set goals or resolutions, consider how you can be more consultative in your approach.

One way to do this is to become familiar with paid family leave (PFL) benefits, which have increased in popularity in 2017 and are building momentum for 2018. With New York State’s mandated program implementation date set for Jan. 1, 2018, it’s bound to be a top-of-mind offering for many clients at the start of the year.

To help prepare for your 2018 sales check-ins, here are a few key points you should understand about PFL and ways you can offer consultation to your clients.

What is PFL?

Most PFL programs offer job-protected time for employees to care for a sick or aging family member. Typically, these programs protect time for:

Bonding time with a newborn or newly adopted child

Caring for a family member (typically a parent, spouse, child) with a serious health condition

Relieving family pressures when a family member is called to active military service

An employee’s own serious illness

A common question you may receive from clients is: Are PFL and paid parental leave benefits the same? The answer is no. Paid parental leave is typically only for new mothers, fathers and adoptive parents to bond with a child. While this is the simple overview of PFL, the details and statutory regulations are more complex.

The PFL benefits conversation

The topic of PFL is trending at the national and state levels. The proposed Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act would create a nationally mandated PFL program requiring employers to provide eligible workers up to 12 weeks of partial income replacement for qualifying events. However, it will take time for this policy to go through various stages of the legislative process, and the final outcome is hard to predict. For now, it’s best to focus your attention on the individual states your clients operate in and their statutory mandates.

Currently, New Jersey, Rhode Island and California have implemented state-mandated programs, and New York, Washington state and the District of Columbia have passed legislation. It’s important to note some statutory PFL programs have varying definitions of who qualifies as a close relative; regulations for how the program can be funded; and stipulations for determining if disability benefits can work in conjunction with the program.

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Taking the lead on monitoring new regulations and recommending how to remain compliant could be a value-added benefit for your clients.

For the states that don’t mandate PFL programs, some employers are taking it upon themselves to proactively incorporate PFL policies into their employee- benefits programs. A recent survey conducted by Standard Insurance Company and the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) shows that 74 percent of employers hope to offer PFL coverage within the next five years.1 A potential reason for this uptick is that many clients are recognizing how PFL benefits can help better meet the changing needs of today’s diverse workforce.

The American family is evolving, and as there are fewer stay-at-home parents today than in previous generations, the need for paid time off to address family caregiving responsibilities is growing.2 As clients look to recruit new talent or adapt to stay competitive within their respective industries, PFL programs can catch the attention of individuals in the sandwich and baby boomer generations who are caring for ill parents, spouses or children. It also can be an appealing benefit for millennials who are starting families.

Offering consultative help

Now that you understand PFL and why clients are proactively working to offer this benefit, it’s time to learn how you can take a seat at the table. There are two key areas where you can help counsel clients.

Help clients think big-picture when considering providing PFL. If your clients are considering whether adding PFL benefits to their plan is right for their organization, walk them through these four questions:

Do their competitors offer PFL coverage or is it a novelty in their industry?

What are the demographics and needs of their workforce?

Would a program like this complement their company culture or offerings?

Do they have any employees based out of state where PFL is statutorily required?

Take charge of monitoring and providing statutory updates. If your clients already offer PFL in a state that is passing mandated legislation, help them review their program holistically to determine if their current plan meets statutory requirements. Proactively taking the lead on monitoring new regulations passed and offering recommendations on how to remain compliant could be a huge value-add for your clients.

As workforces continue to become more multigenerational and the battle for top talent continues, counseling clients on PFL benefits is something you’ll want to take advantage of in your 2018 sales. Although it’s hard to predict what 2018 has in store for you and your clients, the more you start preparing for sales conversations now, the better off you can be when the New Year arrives.

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Terri Rhodes, MBA, CPDM, CCMP, is the CEO of the Disability Management Employer Coalition, with extensive knowledge in all aspects of absence and disability program management. She has more than 25 years working for some of the most progressive companies designing and managing absence programs.

Breanna Scott, product and service management director with Standard Insurance Company, guides the strategic development of its product portfolio, including market analysis and product positioning. She leads the group insurance product team responsible for creating and refining its employee benefits and voluntary product and service offerings.