Estate Planning: Meaningful Addition To Benefits Package

It’s important to consider what today’s workers value

Today, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for many companies to recruit and retain good talent. Unemployment is low and finding and keeping qualified employees can require more effort than in previous decades. My company, KNOCK, Inc., has found there are many boxes we check to attract our wonderful employees and keep turnover low: an attractive industry or title; a good work environment; fun and vibrant company culture; opportunities for upward mobility; and, of course, benefits.

 

Whether you’re wooing a recent graduate or an experienced professional, everyone weighs the benefits package when considering a position. How is the medical insurance? Is there a 401(k) plan? How many vacation days will I get? The trick for HR folks is striking the right balance between being generous and not breaking the bank. In most cases, businesses turn to a standard combination of benefits, including medical, dental and life insurance, time off, and a 401(k) plan.  But what if our employees are looking for something different?

The modern idea of benefits dates to 1875, with American Express being the first company to offer its employees pensions. From there, planning for retirement and desirable pensions became the name of the game, with end-of-career planning taking off after the 1930s, the Great Depression, and the development of social security. Medical benefits became main stream in the 1960s. Pensions gave way to 401(k) plans in the 80’s, and in more recent years, changes to medical coverage have become prevalent – typically due to government regulations, rather than the needs of employees.
 
Today, the ideas and goals of what benefits should cover are mostly the same 40 years later. Primary benefits offered by most companies have largely stagnated, with slight changes over the years, including flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, and expanded coverage for dependents.
 
But while benefits may be the same, the landscape of workers has clearly changed. As Generation Z and Millennials flood the workforce, a new kind of worker with new motivations, expectations, and values emerges. It’s clearly time to consider what today’s workers value and develop benefits that are indeed beneficial. 

My mother, Maria, was everything to me — a strong woman advocate, a role model, a confidante, a friend. She was a truly hospitable soul who welcomed all into her home, sharing her gifts of food and time. When she passed away quite suddenly in 2016, it left me feeling alone, hopeless and without words. But what she inspired in me posthumously — being the angel that she is — is reaping its rewards in the form of a benefit to the company I founded. I wanted my story to shed light for others facing similar situations.
 
Perhaps the most burning question is, what matters most at the end of one’s life?
 
I’ve concluded that good estate planning is fundamentally essential — so we can live with peace of mind, both before and after our loved ones’ deaths. Conversely, lack of planning is anxiety producing. For me, the required paperwork and handling of her estate was mammoth and daunting, but legally necessary. Sadly, I joined countless numbers of grieving relatives who do the same for their deceased loved ones every day. What’s even more critically important is that if the deceased’s wishes are known and agreed upon, but not clearly spelled out in legalese — say a will, a healthcare directive, or a power-of-attorney — they aren’t technically real.

This painful process made me think about my extended family — our company’s 80+ employees. How could they benefit from a better, more streamlined estate planning experience? As founder of KNOCK, Inc., I asked my law firm, Maslon LLP, how I could help them get prepared. Maslon’s answer was simple yet profound: they would provide a brief presentation on basic estate-planning actions and documents for our employees. I was shocked by how attentive our employees were during the presentation. Whether it was a recently-engaged 20-something or a near-retirement 50-something, they all furiously took notes. It was then I realized estate planning is something people need — just like they need insurance, vacations, and investments to save for retirement. 
 
Because of this, my business partner and I agreed to offer a brand-new benefit to provide basic estate planning services to KNOCK employees. We worked closely with our attorneys to quickly create a program to fit our specific needs. Named Maslon EP², the program would include:
 

1) Provide a one-hour introductory estate-planning seminar for our employees;
2) One-on-one meetings with each employee participant to discuss their specific needs;
3) Drafting the estate planning documents for each participant’s review; and
4) Finalizing each participant’s plan through a signing meeting—all at KNOCK during standard work hours.

 
The response has been overwhelming: about 85% of KNOCK employees enrolled immediately. But most importantly, the emotional response to the offering was remarkable. People were grateful and relieved, and considerably more excited about the peace of mind we provided. 

While not initially top-of-mind, the program indirectly benefits KNOCK’s business, too. In most states, employers are not legally bound to provide paid bereavement leave, but most do offer 3-5 days. However, the U.S. Family Medical Leave Act allows employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family-related matters, like a death in the family. However, when people use their allotted time to grieve — rather than to deal with difficult decision-making and tedious paperwork — less time is taken and employees are more productive when they return to work.
 
The program we use is extremely cost effective. The fee per employee with Maslon’s EP² estate planning program — which includes the development of a will, a healthcare directive, and a power of attorney — is only $2,000. That’s $1,000 - $2,000 less than the average cost of an individual plan. In addition, this benefit is deductible for the employer, making it a win-win for both the employee and employer. 

Overall, our experience underscored the fact that the American workforce has a new kind of worker with a new set of priorities. Providing the benefit of estate-planning enables employers to help prepare their employees for the most emotionally tasking part of life, and in turn empowers a loyal, more productive worker. Further, the challenges of recruitment and retention are minimized.
 
While a limited number of companies offer legal-services benefits, most require employees to determine what they need on their own — using outside work-time hours. By offering estate planning services on-site, during work hours, we are showing a genuine concern for our employees’ families, time, monetary stress and well-being. 

The time is now for companies to look at employee benefits and ask important questions: Are our benefits really helping our employees? Is that value better served in something else? Estate-planning? Student-loan forgiveness? Something else? When we look at what our workers actually want and need — and what we as employers want and need from our employees – it seems that the conversation about benefits should shift and gain some heart.
 
In a roundabout way, my mother inspired a new point of view about what matters most in life. With meaningful estate planning well in play, I’m certain she’s looking down on all of us with a smile and an affirming nod in our newly inspired offering for KNOCK.