Everything a small business owner needs to know about DBL and enriched DBL benefits.
NYS DBL Coverage, or Disability Benefits Law, ensures that employees
who are injured, ill, or give birth to a child can take time off without losing all their income. Although disability benefits only pays 50 percent of an employee’s paycheck—and only up to a maximum of $170 each week—it can supplement an employee’s own savings in the event of an illness, injury, or childbirth.
If you’re a business owner in New York State, you a
re required to carry mandatory minimum DBL coverage. You can write your policy through the state, or through a private insurance broker. But there may be a lot you don’t know about disability benefits, and especially about enriched DBL coverage.
1. You can enhance disability coverage beyond the state maximum of $170/week (and even add an AD&D rider).
Did you know that New Jersey state temporary disability benefits (TDB) offer a state maximum of $615/week—more than three times that of New York’s maximum benefit?
If you’re a New York-based business trying to expand your talent pool to stay competitive, it may be difficult to entice New Jersey talent over the bridge to your Manhattan company. Enhancing your NYS DBL benefits package is one way to help level the playing field. For just a very small premium increase, you can enhance your NYS DBL coverage to offer a competitive benefits package.
Adding five times DBL in New York State pays 50 percent of an employee’s salary up to a maximum benefit of $850/week. If you add in-hospital coverage, there is no waiting period for your employees to collect benefits. They will receive basic DBL benefits from the first day of admission. In addition, in-hospital coverage could increase the maximum benefit up to $1020/week.
Adding an Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) rider provides 24/7 coverage for accidents or illnesses, whether they occur off the job or on. Benefit levels range from $50,000 to $100,000. Learn more about Enriched DBL in NY here.
2. Employees cannot collect a paycheck and NYS DBL benefits at the same time.
If you allow employees to cash in their sick time or vacation days to cover an illness, injury or maternity leave, they cannot collect NYS DBL on top of that paycheck. There is a one-week waiting period after their last paycheck before they can collect DBL for up to 26 weeks.
Employees living paycheck-to-paycheck, which includes many families in the New York Tri-state area, have to do some careful budgeting to sustain their standard of living if they are ill, injured, or have a baby. Enhanced DBL coverage can give employees peace-of-mind that if anything happens to them, they can find a way to make ends meet if they’re collecting more than the maximum state benefits.
3. You can write your policies through InsuranceWholesaler.net for white-glove service and savings on other employee benefits, too.
The DBL Center Ltd. makes it easy to bind rates for businesses with less than 50 lives using our Quick Quote Rate Chart. Connect online with one of our top insurance carriers, get quotes in minutes, and bind coverage when you find the plan that fits your needs. A representative will call you to complete the process, and ensure that you’re satisfied with your coverage, pricing, and policy. From enhancing your DBL coverage to making a claim, we are always just a phone call away. You could buy coverage from the state, but you’ll miss out on the white-glove service The DBL Center has been providing our customers for 40 years.
We can also save you money by bundling other ancillary benefits, including vision, dental, and Group Life/AD&D coverage, as part of an enriched DBL benefits package.
We think we’ve covered some of the finer points you didn’t know about NYS DBL Coverage. If you have any questions, reach out to one of our benefits experts. Our enhanced DBL Coverage and white-glove service is just the beginning…