Choose your benefit package wisely
The search for a benefits package with long term disability insurance coverage is fundamental to any career oriented job applicant. Without this type of coverage, a worker is putting his or her financial status in crisis.
Long term disability insurance is a system of coverage in which benefits are paid to workers who miss work for long periods of time (usually over 6 months or a year) because of an illness or injury that occurred off the job.
Workers’ compensation is put in place by law, in order to insure employees who suffer from on-the-job injuries. This is part of the disability benefits package that an employer typically provides. Sometimes, benefits end there (unless others are required by law). Other times, however, an employer bent on creating a highly desirable work environment (in an effort to reign in the best talent possible) will offer long term disability insurance.
While often overlooked as an impossibility, being struck down with an unexpected disability is a stark reality for those unfortunate enough to experience some grave and unexpected calamity, be it an internal illness or a physically impairing accident.
Indeed, it can happen to anyone, and employees would be wise to factor this in much more as a criterion for accepting or declining a job offer. Also known as income insurance, long term disability coverage provides injured or ill employees with a percentage of their salary during the extended period of time in which they are forced by their condition to miss work.
Often long term disability plans come as group insurance arrangements. If you’re wondering the exact benefits received through this type of program, it is safe to say that most commonly the insurance will cover half the monthly salary. However, it should be mentioned that higher income earners will likely experience a salary benefit cap while undergoing recuperation from their long term disability and collecting benefits.
This cap could, for example, be leveled at four or five thousand dollars a month, although it depends on the specific plan that the employer carries. Upon receiving a job offer, applicants are encouraged to thoroughly review the benefits allotted through the prospective employers’ long term disability insurance plan. It is important to understand:
• what percentage of the income will be paid during the period of disability
• what the maximum monthly payment is
• how long the coverage will last
Even if a plan is less than desirable, an applicant may still chose to accept the job for other reasons. In this case, it still pays off to review the plan, so that in the even of a long term disabling condition, the worker can fully understand what financial contingencies exist that he or she should account for. |
