Both short-term disability income insurance (STD) and long-term disability insurance (LTD) benefits are included in many employee benefit packages. LTD policies union vs. non-union comparisons reveal that there is usually no significant difference in the overall structure of employer-sponsored group LTD plans. However, union member disability benefits can sometimes be higher than those offered in non-union workplaces, in part thanks to collective bargaining techniques. Union negotiations can therefore lead to some long-term disability differences for workers in the duration of benefits, the amount of income replaced, and the portion of premiums paid by employers. In evaluating their workplace long-term disability policies, union and non-union workers alike may have the option to purchase “riders” or supplementary policies to further expand their coverage.
Is Union Insurance Better?
Often employees who belong to a workers’ union are able to secure more advantageous employee benefits overall than their non-union peers. While many people may think first of health insurance and retirement plans, the collective bargaining techniques used by American labor unions can also lead to significant long-term disability differences for workers, depending on how their company is organized.
Can a Company Be Both Union and Non-Union?
Many organizations have unionized hourly workers and non-union salaried staff, often in management roles. This can sometimes mean that LTD policies union vs. non-union comparisons within a single company can yield stark differences, with non-union employees in roles that otherwise seem to offer greater compensation not quite keeping pace with union member disability benefits.
Do Non-Union Members Get the Same Benefits as Union Members?
That said, often non-union employees do have some options for closing these gaps through long-term disability policy riders and supplemental coverage. Although they may not be as convenient as enrolling in an employer-sponsored group plan, a major advantage of personal disability insurance policies is that they are typically available to anyone who is employed and willing to assume the cost of premiums, whether the individual belongs to a union or not.
In some instances, it may be possible to purchase supplemental policies designed expressly to enhance an existing employer-sponsored plan. Selecting a supplementary LTD policy can be a cost-effective strategy for evening out the differences that sometimes appear in LTD policies union vs. non-union comparisons.
What Are the Disadvantages of Union Membership?
The primary function of unions is to enable employees to engage in what is known as collective bargaining. The principle behind collective bargaining is that when employees negotiate with company leadership as a group, they may have more leverage than each employee would be likely to wield if he or she approached management individually. In popular media and news reports, unions can sometimes be associated with strikes, but while strikes are sometimes a part of union activities, most union negotiations are less sensational and end in agreement with no interruption of work.
Although the benefits of union membership can be substantial, there are also some potential downsides. Unions typically require members to pay membership dues, intended to offset the expenses involved with running any organization and in some cases also used to fund union activities and provide support of various kinds to union members. Like any other expense, membership dues can prove difficult to accommodate in an individual’s budget. Beyond the cost of dues, some employees who are strong negotiators in their own right may feel that the terms imposed on both sides of a collective bargaining agreement limit their potential to self-advocate.
Do Unions Have Disability Benefits?
Many unions will include disability insurance benefits in their negotiations with company leadership. Although the exact numbers vary by union, industry, and year, union members tend to have greater access to employee benefits than non-union employees. Even health insurance, one of the benefits most commonly offered by employers, is available to a significantly greater percentage of union members than to non-members.
Owing to the advantages sometimes found in collective bargaining as a negotiating strategy, unions are considerably more likely to have both short-term disability income insurance (STD) and LTD than their peers working without the benefit of unionization. Despite the cost of membership dues for unionized employees, and despite the skepticism with which many employers regard the unionization of their workplaces, often unions have disability insurance and other protections that exceed those available in non-union organizations.
Do Unions Offer Disability Insurance?
Some large unions actually offer members the option to purchase disability insurance through the union itself, even if access to LTD is not one of the benefits the local chapter has negotiated with the management at a specific workplace. If your employer does not offer disability insurance, and you are a member of a labor union, you may consider connecting with your local union leadership to see whether a union group plan may be an option before you decide to select an individual LTD policy.
How Does Long-Term Disability Work With Your Job?
Many employers include disability insurance in the benefit packages they offer to employees. Short-term disability insurance is offered somewhat more often than LTD, but in many cases employers will include both options, sometimes alongside life insurance policies.
These comprehensive benefits packages may be more common in work contexts where the employers place a high value on maintaining talent over an extended period of time. Like higher wages and increased time off, competitive disability income insurance policies, with more extensive coverage and a higher percentage of pre-disability income guaranteed by benefits, may also be more common in unionized workplaces, even though the essential elements and format of employer-sponsored group LTD plan tend to be similar whether the company’s workforce is union or non-union.
LTD Policies: Union vs. Non-Union Comparison
Most of the time, an employer-sponsored group LTD plan will have a similar structure and operate according to similar protocols, regardless of whether the company is unionized. In LTD policies union vs. non-union comparisons, the main advantage of union member disability benefits through the workplace is usually in the scope of coverage and the duration of benefits. Long-term disability differences for workers can also emerge in workplaces where disability insurance is not part of the employee benefits package, as some unions offer their own group LTD plans. When researching long-term disability policies, union and non-union workers will generally have similar goals: to ensure that LTD benefits will be sufficient to cover their household’s needs if they are unable to work. Whether union member disability benefits are an option for you or not, evaluating the terms of any policy carefully and investigating your choices for supplementary coverage can put you in a position to make wise decisions.
