How Does It Work?

Supplemental benefits, also commonly referred to as workplace benefits, are a suite of benefits that are intended to help employees with financial and life planning. They are called supplemental benefits because they are intended to fill in gaps that more traditional benefits may not cover.

Supplemental work benefits can be a good addition for any employee, but they are particularly important for certain people. Single parents, the main wage earner in a home, and people with jobs where work-related illnesses and injuries are a risk should take advantage of supplemental benefits programs.

Most supplemental benefits are linked to a certain event, such as illness, injury, or disability, and kick in when there is a verified claim related to that event. Many policies payout in a lump sum up to the benefit limit, but some may provide an ongoing weekly or monthly stipend until the benefit amount is exhausted.

There are many different types of supplemental benefits that an employer may offer. Some of the most common are universal life insurance, disability insurance accident insurance, critical illness insurance, disability insurance, and long-term care insurance.

The main reason to have supplemental benefits is the additional income they can provide when an injury or illness leaves you out of a job, as well as income they may provide to beneficiaries in the event of your death. An additional advantage of getting supplemental benefits through your employer is that you are part of a group plan, which means you likely will get lower premium rates than if you buy an individual plan on your own.