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Dear Unum Sales Partner,
We hope you, your clients and their employees are well. These past few months have been challenging, but they have also provided opportunities for all of us to demonstrate what we can accomplish when we work together.
At work and home, your clients have adapted, found solutions and done their best to care for their employees under unprecedented conditions. As you and your clients continue to plan for the future, it’s helpful to see how employers — and governments — are handling this incredible event.
Protecting employees through tough times
Half of employers with furloughed employees report they are covering their employees’ portion of the premiums for medical and life insurance benefits, according to our recent employer survey. This is positive news, considering nearly a third of the survey’s respondents said they’d had to furlough or lay off at least some of their workers to cut employment costs. Read the full survey report to learn more about how employers are balancing the realities of economic downturn with the desire to do right by their employees.
Reopening requires readjusting
As employers start planning to reopen workplaces, it’s critical that they observe new laws and regulations enacted in response to COVID-19. What makes this more complicated is the differing ways states and municipalities have chosen to handle the pandemic.
On this week’s episode of the HR Trends podcast, Unum legal experts Ellen McCann and Daris Freeman discuss the many ways state and local legislation is affecting employer return-to-work strategies across the country, as well as resources employers can use to stay informed and compliant.
Finally, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) remains a tricky subject in the context of returning to work. Yesterday, our ADA experts Tamika Newson and Danette Washum reviewed evolving guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and answered questions on applying the ADA when bringing employees back to the worksite.
Please reach out to your closest Unum representative if you have any questions we can answer or assistance we can provide. You can also continue to check our COVID-19 legislative updates and FAQs for the latest updates.
As always, thank you for allowing us to partner with you to protect your clients, their employees and their families.
Chris Pyne
Executive Vice President, Group Benefits, Unum
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