Top 3 Employee-Friendly Insurance Coverage All Small Business Employers Must Provide For Their Staff
Due to the Affordable Care Act signed by former US President Barack Obama in 2010, employers who hired 50 or more full-time employees are required to provide them with health insurance benefits. Those who employed less than 50 full-time staff are exempted from this law. But if they still want to offer this benefit for their employees, they are eligible to buy health insurance through state or federal insurance sources. Providing health insurance for all employees can also give back a lot of perks for the business. This includes boosting the staff’s motivation. However, there are other types of employee-friendly insurance that all small business owners need to have for smooth-sailing operation.
Workers Compensation Insurance
Most states require all business owners in their area to get workers’ compensation insurance as soon as they give work to their first employee. However, only 17 percent of all small businesses have this for their company. Experts from Cerity shared that availing this type of business insurance is a smart way to protect small businesses. It works by providing all the important coverage to assist the employees financially when an employee gets sick or injured in the workplace. It covers all the employees’ medical bills if the person gets the injury at work. It also partially pays for the employees’ salaries while they are in recovery. In addition, this insurance can also pay for any legal protection every time one of its policyholders needs it.
Disability Insurance
Employees who cannot report to work because of an illness or injury can receive a percentage of their payments if they have disability insurance. But unlike the workers’ compensation insurance, the injury or illness of the employee does not have to be acquired from work. Even pregnant employees can claim disability benefits after childbirth. At the moment, only California, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Rhode Island requires business owners to hand out short-term disability insurance to their staff. But those whose businesses operate outside those states can still avail of this type of insurance coverage to give their employees the peace of mind.
Unemployment Insurance
This is another type of insurance that the government requires for employers to give to their staff. It protects the employees in case they have to be terminated. However, it is not like the workers’ compensation insurance or disability insurance that can be bought from an insurance company. This time, employers must pay federal unemployment taxes (FUTA) as well as state unemployment taxes (SUTA) alongside all the other payroll taxes. The amount that business owners need to pay for their taxes will vary depending on the number of employees they have onboard. The staff can claim unemployment benefits as soon as they are out of work.
Employers must always consider getting all these types of insurance for their small business to protect all their assets. It will allow them to have the satisfaction of not having to spend a lot of money from their own pockets for legal claims and other costs from their employees. These insurance types must be availed before any unexpected events take over the business to prevent a financial collapse and its eventual closure.