As the cost of health care has continued to dramatically outpace annual salary increases, employees are increasingly feeling the pinch with out-of-pocket expenses and employers are left to question how to balance health care costs among other employee benefits programs.

Luckily, some disability carriers are responding to these challenges and adapting their plans to support employees' financial wellness concerns. As a result, employers can get more out of their benefits programs to help employees address both their physical and financial wellness.

Financial and physical wellness play key roles in employee productivity

Addressing the financial wellness component of health care should be an important part of an employer's strategy for many reasons. Employees have significant health-care-related financial concerns and are becoming increasingly stressed by finances — especially bills associated with disabling health conditions.

Often, they're worried about the cost of seeking medical care or meeting minimum payments for treatments they've undergone. This stress can add up for an employee, and not addressing it can cause delays in their recovery process. As mentioned above, this stress can manifest itself in a number of ways, many of which could cause an employee's recovery to slow or stall.

Workplace resources can help employees return to work sooner and be more productive

Some disability carriers are responding to these challenges and doing more to support employees' financial wellness concerns. These disability carriers can work directly with an employer's HR team to develop a tailored stay-at-work or return-to-work plan for an employee, and they can act as the bridge that can connect employees with important resources to address financial concerns, such as employee assistance programs (EAPs), financial wellness counselors and wellness programs.

In a recent survey conducted by The Standard, 77 percent of employees surveyed were helped by their employer's disability insurance carrier and were connected to these types of workplace resources. Employees with chronic conditions that were connected to workplace resources reduced their disability duration by 16 fewer days. In addition, this support helped employees feel more valuable, as 78 percent of employees who were connected with an EAP and other programs felt more productive after they received assistance, according to the survey.

Often, focusing on returning to work or staying at work can help alleviate financial concerns. In part, because while on disability leave, employees usually only receive 50 to 60 percent of their salary. Having a reduced income, on top of unexpected medical bills can be stressful. The sooner employees can transition back to work, the faster they can start to lessen their financial burden and start to resume a daily routine.

Returning to work faster is a critical part of disability management

Even with a highly effective disability management program in place, many health conditions will still require employees to take a disability leave. In those instances, the importance of using proven return-to-work strategies is clear. Offering workplace accommodations that may help employees return to work more quickly and increase their productivity should be a key component of an employer's disability management strategy and is something that disability carriers are uniquely suited to help create.

Not all accommodations are costly and can be invaluable in helping an employee return to work faster. Some common accommodations may include schedule flexibility to attend appointments, workstation modifications, transitional or temporary job duties, ergonomic or adaptive equipment, or job retraining. Those with chronic conditions can benefit from modified schedules and the flexibility to attend medical appointments. A disability carrier can help employers find creative solutions for nearly any employee need, from the simple to the complex.

Employers can make the disability management experience better for employees by identifying factors that may negatively affect an employee's condition or timeline of returning to work and addressing financial wellness concerns. In the current fight for top talent, addressing these concerns can go far to reduce absenteeism rates and boost recruitment and retention efforts. Collaborating with an experienced disability carrier can help employers find solutions to these challenges, help employees return to work faster and may lead to a generally happier, healthier and more productive workforce.

Read more about improving employees' financial wellness:

• 10 findings on employee financial wellness
• How to design financial wellness benefits that are relevant to employees
• Why financial wellness needs to be an ongoing effort

Jung Ryu is the national accounts practice leader for The Standard and is responsible for developing comprehensive disability management solutions that address the whole person to meet the needs of the most complex clients. He provides recommendations in all aspects of benefits, and is focused on providing strategic direction and advising stakeholders on the latest benefits trends,