The voluntary market is constantly changing, but the degree of change the last five years has occurred faster than ever before. It's not your father's market when it comes to benefits. Employers are offering a wider variety of benefits and benefit types that were not typically offered in the past. This article explores this trend and gives insights into the types of new, non-traditional benefits that you may want to have in your bag of benefits.

Over the last five to eight years, employer attitudes towards voluntary benefits have changed. Gone are the days when employers had limited payroll deduction slots and only offered those benefits in which most employees were interested. Today's employers are open to offering benefits that some employees need and want, even if it's not the majority. With this comes several ancillary changes taking place. First, more voluntary products are being offered. Today, about one-third of employers offer six or more voluntary products. Half offer between three and five.

Secondly, we are seeing sales of different types of products. Disability and life are still top sellers, but other products like accident, hospital indemnity, and critical illnesses are growing faster than the leading products. In addition, more non-traditional products are being offered. In a recent survey of brokers, 40 percent or more indicated offering:

• Wellness programs

• Discount health programs

• Legal plans

• ID theft insurance