Key takeaways:

• What is legal insurance? Employees pay a premium for legal insurance and use the coverage for any legal issue that may arise in the future, like family law issues, real estate transactions, estate planning and more
• Why offer legal insurance? Here are some of the main benefits:

1. Access to legal help
2. Affordability
3. Help with real estate transactions
4. Help with family law issues
5. Help with estate planning
6. Help with dispute management
7. Stay competitive as an employer

You already know how important primary benefits are to your employees – health insurance, retirement accounts, paid time off and wellness programs. It may be time to start expanding your thinking to come up with additional perks, however, that will help you attract, satisfy and retain employees.

Legal insurance is a good place to start. Research from Benefits Pro shows that over 75% of Fortune 100 companies and 55% of Fortune 500 companies provide some kind of legal insurance plan to their employees in 2021.

Legal insurance provides much-needed support to workers who will have to face legal issues down the road. This guide will walk through how it works and the top seven benefits.

Say an employee has to deal with a personal legal issue outside of work, like a civil lawsuit or a divorce. If they have legal insurance coverage, they can use it for attorney costs. It is similar to health insurance in that employees will pay a premium each month, and existing issues usually aren’t covered. Legal insurance is meant to be purchased before any legal problem occurs. Usually, there aren’t any copays or deductibles like there are with health or auto insurance.

Legal insurance could help employees with a range of legal challenges they may face in their personal lives, including family law issues like divorce or child custody, real estate matters, civil actions, identify theft, estate planning, traffic violation issues and much more. Insurance typically covers basic legal services like reviewing documents, representation in court and general counsel.

Providing this voluntary benefit to employees gives them the option to prepare for their future, whatever it may bring, with some extra security. Let’s look at seven benefits.

In today’s job climate, where employees are looking for better salaries and benefits and more satisfying positions, adding another perk to your benefits package is never a bad thing. Legal insurance can make a big difference for workers, so it’s a great way to show employees how much you want to support them.

Here are a few benefits of legal insurance to consider:

1. Access to legal help

A big issue for Americans is being able to pay for the legal services they need. According to a report from the Legal Services Corporation, low-income Americans can’t get the legal help they need for 92% of their substantial civil legal problems. Offering legal coverage thus ensures that people can get the representation or assistance they need when they’re dealing with a stressful legal issue.

2. Affordability 

Legal insurance isn’t nearly as expensive as most health insurance plans. It varies from provider to provider, but premiums can be as low as $10 per month, up to about $25 per month. This creates an enticing and very affordable benefit offering for employees.

3. Help with real estate transactions

Buying a home is a common goal for many people. Around 26 million Americans, or one in ten, say they’re planning to buy a home in the next year, according to a NerdWallet survey. A big part of that process can be working with an attorney to guide them through and ensure their best interests are being represented, which is an important step, especially for first-time home buyers. This need is also applicable to property sellers.

4. Help with family law issues

Legal issues concerning family law impact millions of people every year. These issues are related to marriage and families, and include divorce, child custody battles, alimony, division of property, domestic violence, adoption and others. Anytime an employee is dealing with these emotionally distressing issues, offering insurance helps them resolve the matter with the help of the legal professional of their choice.

5. Help with estate planning

There are lots of moving parts for proper estate planning. Employees may want to work with an attorney to create wills, trusts, a power of attorney, advanced health care directives and retirement accounts. These steps are critical for workers to protect their families’ assets and set up a plan for later in life.

6. Help when employees are trying to manage a dispute

Legal conflicts can take a toll on employees, especially when they don’t have the help they need to resolve them. They can become expensive fast, as attorneys may charge hundreds of dollars per hour to work on a complex case, not to mention the stress and loss of time spent on these issues. Providing legal insurance helps people get legal help so they don’t have to face litigation or lawsuits on their own.

7. Stay competitive as an employer

In a tense job market, like we’re seeing now, it’s crucial to do what you can to stand out to top talent and retain the great employees you already have. Offering this additional voluntary benefit helps you get a leg up since not all employers offer legal insurance. This small step shows workers that you value them both inside and outside the workplace and want them to succeed. Provide this extra support and stay competitive in your industry.

Attracting talent and retaining employees starts with reassessing your benefits and HR solutions. The right perks, technologies and processes will help you keep people engaged while standing out from your biggest competitors in the industry.

At StaffLink, our team is committed to helping you come up with better HR solutions to serve your workforce. We help with payroll, benefits, compliance and HR management so you can focus on running the business and supporting your employees and clients. We are an experienced national Professional Employer Organization (PEO), so we work right alongside your team to create the right approach.

To learn more about what we can do for your organization, request a proposal or contact us at (954) 423-8262 for more information.