The bill of rights grants everyone the right to free speech, privacy and due process. Within the relationship between you and your employer, these rights are firmly entrenched and legally guaranteed without exception.

But what about a larger set of rights? What do you deserve, and what can you do to make sure you get it? The objective of a good employee benefits program is to help protect both you and your family from the possibility of economic hardships caused by illness, disability, loss of life, or unemployment.  A good program will also help create retirement income for you and your family, as well as provide extras such as time off work for vacations, family matters and emergencies. So then, within this framework, do you actually have the right to a good employee benefits program? Well, surprisingly the answer is no, no you don`t.

Your rights

What you do have is the right to free speech, privacy and due process. And, you have the right to some basic benefits, required by law such as Social Security, Unemployment Insurance and Workers Compensation. Anything above and beyond these is defined by the terms negotiated when you accept an offer of employment and the ongoing maintenance of these terms throughout your employment.

These optional benefits typically include health care, disability and life insurance as well as retirement savings or pension plans, flexible compensation and paid leave. And, most employers have long recognized the value a competitive benefits program brings to their business and consider benefits to be an integral part of the total employee compensation package. Employers offer benefits for one or more of the following reasons:

• Attracting and retaining talented employees.
• Competing in the marketplace.
• Promoting higher levels of morale and therefore productivity among employees.
• Providing opportunities for promotion or advancement as workers resign, retire, or move to other positions within the organization.

Times have changed

Every employer faces a growing challenge when it comes to providing the optional benefits that make up a good program. In particular, maintaining the richness of past programs is getting harder due to several major trends. Insurance costs (premiums) are rising year to year at an average range between 8 and 12%, massive legislative and regulatory changes are making managing a program more costly and burdensome, and as the workforce ages, and employee health declines, the number and severity of claims increases, leading full circle back to increased premiums and administrative overload.

Your rights are your responsibilities

In this environment, the creation and management of a sustainable benefit program is no longer the sole responsibility of the employer. You, as an employee, must now play an equally important role. To get the benefits you deserve, it is your responsibility to:

1. Understand what is available, how to access it and what it is worth.
2. Recognize the cost of a claim and its impact on the sustainability of your plan.
3. Take responsibility for your lifestyle and health decisions.  A healthier life is much more rewarding for you and helps avoid unnecessary medical claims.
4. Ask for the information you need and engage in a conversation with your employer about what really matters to you. Don`t assume they know what's best for you.
5. Be flexible, open-minded and patient when changes are made. Quite often, the most effective way to control costs and retain high quality benefits is to adopt long-term funding strategies and wellness programs.

Outlook 

In our work with hundreds of employers and thousands of employees, we have seen an exceptional amount of cooperation between employers and employees as they join forces to overcome the challenges threatening good employee benefit programs. This cooperation spills over into all aspects of the employee/employer relationship with positive outcomes for both parties. While employees gain a greater say in determining the benefits they receive, and employers know they can count on employees to use benefits wisely, perhaps the greatest benefit of all is that the organization`s overall ability to be successful and share that success with its employees is accelerated.

In the end, it comes down to common sense: To get the health care you deserve, you must be part of the conversation and take responsibility for your role in protecting and improving your benefits program.

At Beneflex, our employee-focused services include many ways for you to learn more about and make a positive contribution to the success of your benefits program. For example, if you have any concerns, questions or need help in any way whatsoever when it comes to understanding and receiving the benefits you deserve, call the BenAssist line and a real person, an expert in your program will act as your advocate.