A honeycomb is a natural wonder, and so is a company that isstructured to serve not only its customers, but also itsemployees.

Executives and unit managers need the wisdom and energy of beesas they design corporate structures. A honeycomb is a matrix, andwithout that intricate configuration there would be no honey. Thelittle insects work feverishly to build the weave of cells, butit’s inside these tiny wax chambers that they secrete and storehoney—along with baby bees and the pollen that is part of a bee’sdiet.

No infrastructure, no honeycomb; no honeycomb, no honey. It’sthat simple—and complex.

Infrastructure is strength, and companies without aninterlinking matrix design are empty shells. Effectiveorganizational planners recognize this, especially when it comes tocustomers and financial management. The best also understand theimportance of infrastructure when it comes to employee needs andservices.

Stinging issue

In this series of articles we’ve been exploring the stingingissue (pun intended) of how personal legal issues can affectemployees and their job performance. We’ve seen that when aworker is yanked into court on a case that seems to have nothing todo with his or her employer that it actually has a lot todo with the employee’s company. Increased conflict, absenteeism,presenteeism (the employee is physically present on the job, butmentally and emotionally still in the lawyer’s office orcourtroom), and even stress-induced physical illness all can impactthe worker and stifle productivity.

Legal benefit plans can ease stress on employees snared in legaldisputes, but those plans must have a comprehensive infrastructure.Good legal plans contain a matrix of services for workers involvedin the court system. Legal plans without infrastructure are emptyshells.

An effective legal plan assigns a counselor to follow up withthe employee-member on a regular basis and at critical points inthe legal process. These regular check-ins can help ascertain thedynamic between the attorney and the client and determine whetherthe goal of the legal plan—to reduce employee stress and increaseproductivity—is actually being met.

Legal plans with this type of rich infrastructure can uncoverpotential problems between the employee-member and his or herattorney. Address and remedy the situation with more resources ifneeded, provide additional information, and, in limitedcircumstances, arrange for either a new or additional lawyer.

The counselor provided by a well-structured legal plan can walkwith the employee through every stressful step, explaining pitfallsand legal system roadblocks. The counselor also can help theemployee work better and more efficiently with the attorney andkeep wasted work time to a minimum. Employee-members under thistype of legal plan have two advocates: their attorney and theircounselor. A legal plan with such comprehensive infrastructurehelps the employee to navigate the treacherous waters oflitigation, at no extra cost.

Jack and Jill get sued

A slight twist on the “Jack and Jill” nursery rhyme providesclarity. The story tells us that Jack and Jill went up the hill tofetch a pail of water. Jack, of course, fell down, broke his crownand Jill came tumbling after.

Quite possibly, Jack’s negligence caused Jill to trip. But let’scomplicate it. What if Jack and Jill have trespassed on privateproperty to get the water? When they tumble down the hill, theyroll right under the owner’s prize cow, whose womb is ripe with acalf ready to be born. Jack and Jill knock down the cow, causingthe loss of the calf. The farmer sues.

Jack works for a company with a poorly structured benefit plan.Jill’s employer has sought the best for its workers, including alegal benefits plan with a well-designed infrastructure. Jill’slegal plan provider constantly monitors her case. When complexitiesarise, as they inevitably do, she has a support team within thelegal plan’s infrastructure, ready to help. Jack’s plan offers thebarest of services, and he often feels he must hack out his ownpath through the jungle of litigation before him. Even just findinga lawyer seems an overwhelming task.

Jack’s supervisor notes he is becoming increasingly moody. Onsome days he withdraws into a shell and seems incapable ofinteracting with others or performing his job. On other days Jackis angry, and it erupts in every situation. The supervisor tries toget Jack to talk about what’s troubling him, but he doesn’t havethe skills to get Jack to open up. Inside his own mind, Jack isgrappling with the latest report from his lawyer or a new set ofdemands from the court. Even though he has a legal benefit planthat has provided minimal support, Jack is still enmeshed in thecomplexities of litigation, and he doesn’t know where to go to gethelp with the subtleties.

Jill’s HR and benefits managers recognize that the devil—and thedangers—are in the details. They realized that a legal benefitsplan with rich infrastructure would anticipate the stress-inducingsubtleties connected with litigation and would provide services tohelp the employee deal with them. Jill’s attorney, like Jack’s, ishard to reach. If a troubling issue arises, however, she has a plancounselor who can get her information and assistance quickly. Jillis able to relax at work, knowing there is a many-facetedinfrastructure of benefit services available to her.

Infrastructure and stress reduction

Certain legal plans offer more benefits and services that canhelp reduce employee stress. If an HR or benefits manager analyzes variouslegal plans, he or she will find significant differences inservices available to employee-members. While most cover routinelegal problems in some manner, certain legal plans will expandbenefits—either at no cost or at an upsell packaged cost—toperipheral litigation issues not requiring an attorney.

Take the case of an imaginary employee we’ll call “Sam.” LastChristmas Sam wanted to give everyone in his family special gifts.But there was a big list of gift recipients and Sam maxed out allthree of his credit cards. Then came grim January and February.Bills started piling up like snow on a Colorado peak. Sam struggledto make minimum payments.

March set Sam’s phone ringing. Collection agencies called Sam athome and work, demanding payment. Sam was harried and worried. Hefinally got enough courage to talk to his boss, who referred Sam tothe company’s benefits office. There Sam discovered he was coveredby a legal plan with expanded benefits that actually assisted Samin managing and reducing debt, and even helped him establish andbuild up a savings account, despite his financial woes.

Not only was Sam’s debt reduced, but so was his stress at homeand at work. Sam’s job performance reflected his newfound peace ofmind.

Sam’s company benefitted from the more extensive legal plan aswell. Costs to the employer go down as wage garnishments andattendant HR costs decrease. Employers save money in productivityhours when employees no longer have to take creditor calls at workand spend valuable time arguing with a lender on the phone. Infact, all the productivity issues discussed above can be addressedby legal plans that include this ancillary benefit.

Vital questions

How do HR and benefits managers sort through all the plans tomake sure their employees have a legal benefits plan withsufficient infrastructure to serve the worker adequately andprotect the workplace? Several vital questions provide the neededclarity:

Are there legal plans that help employees overcome the personalfinancial and legal problems that may arise suddenly, as well asthose that fester over time?

If so, will the amount of stress brought into the workplace bereduced?

Will this reduce the costs to the employer of handling stress inthe workplace?

In addition to helping an employee find an attorney, can legalplans address the “ill-prepared for court system challenges” wediscussed in earlier articles in this series?

Plans lacking the flexibility to address sudden litigation areinadequate. Legal benefits that don’t contribute to reduction ofstress on the job fall short of the mark. And those that fail to dothe early work to get an employee ready for his or her journeythrough the court system aren’t sufficient.

Management must evaluate legal plans by the same criteria theyuse for a health plan. No one would want a benefit that allows asurgeon to open the body for an operation, but not close theincision. Nor would a health care benefit that actually adds toemployee stress be acceptable. The best health plans are those withan extensive support network that can help guide an employeethrough complex health decisions and their costs, and that can givethe worker a heads-up on the possible needs and challengesahead.

Legal benefits plans and health packages may seem like applesand oranges. However, a legal plan that doesn’t see the issue allthe way to the completion of the litigation is like that coveragefor only part of a surgical procedure. Just as a health benefitsprovider fails its clients when it does not provide them expertadvice, a legal benefits plan without an advisory infrastructurelets down its participants. Good health care plans make sureemployees aren’t slammed with surprise costs, and a good legalbenefits plan should have that same depth of preparatoryinformation.

‘Perfect storm’

In the previous segments in this series, we talked about howill-prepared most employees are when legal problems strike. It isnot their fault but often is caused by a “perfect storm”: a lack offamiliarity with the way courts and lawyers work, coupled with thedelays, costs and overall system structures built aroundcompromising—not winning—legal cases.

While not all legal plans are created equal, the right legalplan has many components built into the infrastructure that addressemployee concerns and that overcome some of the difficultiesworkers face when they must engage with the legal system.

Whether your company is a small or mid-size business or a largemulti-national corporation, you have many Jacks, Jills and Samsamong your employees. Their problems may be hidden away in theirown fretting psyches, but stress is mounting. They’ve tried all thesimple solutions, and nothing has worked. Desperation simmers and avolcanic blast builds that could harm the employee, his or herworkmates, and the products and processes for which they areresponsible.

No one has found a way yet to halt the eruption of a literalvolcano, but wise HR and benefits managers can prevent many of theexplosions that affect employees and the workplace when workersface legal problems.

To construct a proper honeycomb, a bee has to consume more thaneight pounds of honey to produce just one pound of the wax fromwhich the intricate infrastructure is built. The result, however,is the generation of more honey. Companies can learn from the bee:If you want honey, build a honeycomb, not an empty shell. Provide alegal plan with the matrix of support to help court-embattledemployees channel their energies into productivity rather than intostress.

Bob Heston is president and chief executive officer of LegalAccess Plans. He can be reached at [email protected].

This is part four in a series. Read the first threeparts:

When employees are under pressure

Legal problems take its toll on the workplace

Balance client expectations