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Talent Management Perspectives

Published September 2009

Mitigate Employees' Legal Woes - At No Cost

 

  Deanna Hartley

Between the economy and increased responsibilities and expectations as a result of layoffs, employees have enough to worry about on the job. But there is a strategic move employers can make to ease the burden that costs little to nothing to implement: introduce group legal plans.

"Even in the midst of the recession, or perhaps as a result of it, interest is at an all-time high in legal plans because employers are finding it to be a valuable resource to offer employees," said Marcia L. Bowers, sales director at Hyatt Legal Plans, a MetLife company.

In the United States, labor organizations pioneered the use of group legal plans as part of an employment benefits package, Bowers explained.

"Group legal plans today are offered primarily as a voluntary benefit," she said. "It's 100 percent employee funded in an employer's flexible benefits program. The monthly premium will range from about $15 to $20, and most will cover a whole host of legal services that employees may receive through local plan attorneys."

Today, approximately 30 percent of employers in the United States offer legal plans in order to provide affordable access to prequalified attorneys to their employees.

"Studies show that most people dealing with a legal issue do not know where to turn," she said. "About 70 percent of any survey population - 7 out of 10 households or 70 percent of respondents - will tell you that they've dealt with at least one legal issue in the past 12 months that went unresolved for lack of access to an attorney."

Most employers render all employees eligible for these legal plans. "Depending on the way their payroll is set up or their information systems program is set up, [some] may only offer it to full-time or salaried employees," Bowers said.

Legal plans could cover a comprehensive array of some of the most commonly used legal services, such as:

• Preparation of estate planning documents, wills, living wills, living trusts, deeds and powers of attorney.
• Family law, adoption, name change, guardianships and prenuptial agreements.
• Financial matters, including debt collection defense, bankruptcies, identity theft defense, tax audit representation and consumer matters.
• Real estate matters, including the purchase and sale of a home, refinancing, tenant negotiations and eviction defense, home equity loans and zoning applications, and property tax assessments.
• Traffic offenses, including helping to get a license back in the event someone has too many tickets.

While the advantages employees can glean from legal plans are obvious, they can present tangible business benefits to employers as well.

"The legal plans - in addition to being just a terrific benefit to offer employees - enhance [employers'] efforts to recruit and retain talent," Bowers said. "Employees are increasingly relying on employers to provide a financial safety net, and a legal plan would be part of that package. Retirement plans, 401ks and the like are very important; legal plans can round out that package and really help employers deliver the tools that employees need so they can retain that talent pool and offer a competitive benefits program."