The Center for Plain Language presented Sun Life with a 2011 ClearMark Award in recognition of the plain language communication in Sun Life's Personalized Group Enrollment Kit. The kit is used to educate employees of employers that offer Sun Life's group voluntary benefits, including group life, disability and dental insurance.

Sun Life's kit goes to more than 110,000 employees earning from $25,000 to $200,000 at nearly 500 employee groups. The purpose of the kit is to boost enrollment and help employees choose benefits that match their personal needs, risk tolerance and financial circumstances. The kit evolved from Sun Life's plain language initiative, part of its "Get to Know Sun Life" brand campaign.

Sun Life Financial's Employee Benefits Group division offers group life, disability, dental and medical stop loss insurance through 170 group sales representatives.

The judges of the ClearMark Award cited the "great, clear action steps, useful worksheets and consistent structure" in Sun Life's kit.

Benefits are employers' top cost concern

In a national survey conducted late last year by Grant Thornton, LLP, the chief financial officers of U.S. companies cited employee benefits (including health care and retirement products) as their leading cost concern. Employee benefits, cited by 84% of the CFOs, dwarfed all other cost pressures-the next closest being raw materials (named by 27%) and energy (21%).

The survey shows that since enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, financial officers' concern about health care costs has accelerated. In March of 2010, 68% of the CFOs cited employee benefits as their leading cost concern.

In last fall's survey, 30% said they were targeting health care cutbacks for their workforce.

Guardian introduces multi-coverage voluntary plan

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America introduced a voluntary plan that can include a combination of several coverages. The employer can choose different benefit levels and coverages for one rate. Among the coverage options are long-term disability, short-term disability, life, accidental death and dismemberment, and critical illness.

Employers with three or more employees are eligible for the multi-coverage plan.

"Voluntary multi-coverage plans are gaining in popularity because they give employers a comprehensive employee benefit package option to help attract and retain employees while being budget friendly," said Barry Petruzzi, second vice president, life and disability for Guardian. "These bundled plans make it easier to select, enroll and administer, and are especially helpful to businesses that are offering benefits coverage to their employees for the first time.

"With one rate, these plans take the stress off the employer and limit the administrative burden that comes with offering different options at different coverage levels and price points."