Absorbing everyone else's problems
HR managers deal with disciplinaries, redundancies, grievances, tribunals and long-term sickness cases. You often support colleagues through bereavement or illness while staying neutral and following policy. That emotional load builds up quietly over years.
Mental health is a common reason for long-term absence in HR, as in many office roles, with back and neck pain from desk work close behind. Restructures are hard on the person delivering the news as well as the people receiving it. Income protection can pay you a monthly benefit if you need time to recover.
Group benefits you run, and their limits
You may manage your employer's group income protection, death in service and sick pay. You know the small print: group income protection often pays for a fixed number of years, may be offset by state benefits and stops when someone leaves the company.
Personal cover sits on top. It belongs to you and follows you between jobs. You can set the deferred period to start after your employer's benefits run out, or insure a portion of income the group scheme leaves out, such as a bonus.
- Check how long your group scheme pays a claim
- See whether it covers bonus or only basic salary
- Consider personal cover if you plan to move jobs
Moving into consultancy or interim work
Plenty of experienced HR professionals go freelance, take interim roles or set up a consultancy. At that point, sick pay and group cover disappear overnight. Your income depends on clients and day rates.
If that is on your horizon, buying personal cover while you are employed and healthy can make sense. A personal policy usually carries on when you become self-employed, though you should tell the insurer about the change in your work.
Risk rating for people professionals
Insurers group occupations by risk. HR roles usually sit in lower-risk groups, which keeps premiums down. Own occupation cover is widely available, so a claim is based on whether you can do your HR job.
The group also decides which definitions an insurer will offer, so it is worth comparing more than price. A policy with a weaker definition may look cheaper but pay out in fewer situations.
Life cover and our help for HR managers
Death in service is useful while you stay in the job, but it may not match your mortgage or your family's needs. A personal life policy written in trust can fill that gap and stays with you.
We help HR professionals look at personal cover in the light of the group benefits they already have. We compare the insurers on our panel and help you avoid paying twice for the same protection.