28th March, 2014

Attract the best workers with income protection benefits

Financial security is one of the main benefits of having a job – but what if you suffer an injury or become ill making you unable to work for a certain period of time?

This is a scary thought for most employees, but could be especially problematic for tradies given some aspects of the profession can be dangerous.

Tradesman income protection insurance means you still receive a salary when taking time off work due to injury or illness. Furthermore, the protection is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so you are covered for incidents that occur outside of the workplace.

And it appears employees are increasingly aware of the benefits of this type of insurance, with the results of a recent survey suggesting that staff would prefer income protection to a pay rise.

UK-based trade organisation Group Risk Development (GRiD) found 41 per cent of employees would be willing to pass up a salary increase in favour of employer-sponsored income protection as part of a benefits package.

According to the results, 56 per cent of those polled listed income protection as the perk they value the most, followed by life insurance at 47 per cent. Private medical insurance and dental cover were considered the main benefits for 35 per cent and 9 per cent of people respectively. 

Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD, said employers that provide illness and injury cover will attract and retain better workers, as well as reduce absenteeism.

"Offering a package of employer-sponsored life, income protection and critical illness cover typically costs just 1-2 per cent of the payroll," she said.

"Employers who make this provision for their workforce are under no obligation to do so, but those that do are well placed to make a real difference to them and their families in a time of financial and personal distress."

Author: Murray Bruce