New research is revealing that this is one of the latest and most popular added perks offered to employees.
Along with the strengthening of the American economy comes a boost to the benefits packages that employers are offering their workers, and among the most rapidly growing trends at the moment is the inclusion of pet insurance in the mix.
This is a leading voluntary benefit in terms of growth and the trend doesn’t appear to be slowing.
Among Fortune 500 companies, one in every three is currently offering pet insurance from VPI, the oldest and largest veterinary health plan provider in the country. Over 3,400 organizations and businesses have added VPI to their voluntary benefits portfolios. These include Delta Airlines, Deloitte LLP, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Zynga, and T-Mobile.
Companies are using pet insurance to make themselves more appealing to the best employees.
According to the VPI director of group accounts, Deana Single, “With the job market improving, it makes sense for companies to strengthen their voluntary benefits portfolio to attract top talent.” She went on to say that “Adding pet insurance will incentivize prospective pet lovers and retain current pet-owning employees.”
As pet insurance becomes increasingly popular among animal owners, companies are starting to offer these policies with a subsidy of a portion of the cost to the employee. In fact, some businesses are going so far as to pay the full premium on behalf of their employees in order to remain competitive in their marketplace for appealing to the top talent.
The options offered for pet insurance through employers vary widely. With VPI, for example, the benefits packages start at around $14 per month, but typically average in the range of $25 to $35 per month. The deductibles can be anywhere from $100 to $1,000, depending on the policy selected. Along with the increasing trend in offering this benefit in the first place is the chance for employees to be able to pay for their portion of the premiums by way of automatic deduction from their payrolls, without any additional administrative responsibility required for the employer. As the economy continues to heal, it is quite likely that employers will continue to find creative ways such as this one, for appealing to workers.