Auto-enroll helps provides employees the financial protection they need

Eighty-five percent of employees who had experience with being out on long term disability say they support the idea of employers automatically enrolling employees in disability insurance with the option for employees to opt out if they are not interested.¹ And according to recent research done by Unum, nearly three-quarters of employees surveyed are also supportive of or neutral about the concept.²

Unum is seeing strong signs of success with automatic enrollment, and it may be the solution you need to help employers increase participation rates in these vital benefits. Unum’s experience with auto-enroll has shown plan participation rates of 60 to 80 percent. In fact, one customer saw participation in their group voluntary long term disability plan rise from 25 percent to 70 percent over five years using this enrollment option.

“Employees trust their employer to help them make this important financial protection decision,” said Richard Shaffer, a vice president in Unum’s National Client Group. “And employers understand that auto-enrollment makes it possible to ensure their employees are not missing the opportunity to have this important financial benefit.”

Education is key

With automatic enrollment, employees are enrolled in disability coverage and given the choice to opt out. This is why auto-enroll success depends on employee understanding.

Unum’s communication program helps employer clients educate their employees on what disability insurance is, why it’s valuable, and how the automatic enrollment process works.

This customizable program can include:

Easy-to-read information delivered before the enrollment period
Distinct emails and landing pages for managers and employees
Links to employee education materials, including videos
Easy-to-use opt-out portal for employees who choose not to have the coverage

On Capitol Hill

Unum is leading an effort in Washington for legislation that will draw attention to the benefits of automatic enrollment for disability coverage.

In 2006, similar legislation was passed concerning automatic enrollment for retirement benefits — resulting in an increase in participation in those plans.

While automatic enrollment for disability coverage is already allowed in all 50 states as the result of regulatory action by the Department of Labor, we are confident that passage of this proposed legislation will help strengthen the message about the importance of disability coverage.

To learn more about auto-enrollment, please contact your Unum representative

¹ Consumer Federation of America and Unum, Employee-Sponsored Disability Insurance: The Beneficiary’s Perspective (2013).
² Unum, 2013 Benefits Environment: The Employee Perspective (2014).

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