The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1920-09-09

as the Union Pacific system. the Stan.
I dard Oil company. the DUPONT com.
panies' the American Sugar Refneries
the skinner & Eddy Shipbuilding cor
poration. the American Wooden COM
pany' Montgomery Ward & Co, the
, General Electric Co., and the Thomp-
SON Starrett Co.
The plan has been adopted by prac-
tically every character of business en-
terprise, from banks to foundries, and
only recently the city of Albuquerque.
n. NJ, has arranged for the insurance
of all municipal employees, including
the members of the fire and police de-
partments and the teachers in the pub
lie schools.
The great mail order house of Mont
gomery Ward & Co.. was one of the
first institutions in the country to cover
its employees with this form of insur-
ance. 1t has been in successful opera
ton in that organization for nine years.
Another organization which was pio-
neer in group insurance is the Panta-
sote Leather Co.. where the plan has
been in force for nine years.
Now for the practical side of the
question:; First what is its cost, and,
second, what is the basis of the plan
upon which such program can be
introduced? l will consider the last of
these propositions first, for the reason
that the matter of cost, in a sense, de-
Ponds upon the kind of plan adopted
Broadly speaking three general
plans have been introduced and have
been found effective First a flat sum
for all employees. such as $1,000 or
$500, to be paid to the beneficiary Of !
deceased workers. Second, a sum pre- /
Dictated on the annual salary. Third. |
an amount graded according to length |
of service.
In all three programs a probationary
or waiting period is usually provided
before an employee becomes entitled to
protection. This is for the purpose of i
making certain that the employee is
really earnest in his desire to remain
IN employment. This waiting period
varies from three months to one year,
depending on the character of employ
nent in the industry adopting the n
program. In both the plan based up 5
N salary and the plan based upon
service, a minimum is provided, as 2
we'll as a maximum. The minimum I
las in many cases been set at $500, l
nut, because af the increasing cost of
living, the tendency is to make this 4
minimum more nearly approach $1,000 z
Jnder the service plan. the usual pro- I
ram is to add to the minimum es- !
ablished, 500 for each year of com 1
leted service, until the maximum |
caches the amount which has been r
ct which may be as high as $4,000 {
higher level of insurance is pro- L
ided, if insurance be in the second /
Orm noted, for executives and de- =
heads. A safe rule is to L
tipulate a level two and one-half +
mes the level of the average of the +
eneral group Here too, there is 1
maximum of $4,000, but this higher L
laximum will be possible only in l
rge groups, In fact, the maximum 7
! all instances is regulated mainly by L
lie total number of lives covered in L
lie group. Il
ost to IA Per Cent of the Annual n
Payroll. N
The cost of group insurance can be n
stermined accurately only upon the N,
atistics within the industry, the N
lmber of employees to be covered, the N
ses of these employees, and the "
mount of insurance at risk in each NJ
dividual case. If the program is NJ
Used upon length of service, this fur N
Ter fact must be taken into consider n.
ion, as it may involve increased n
MOUNTS of insurance to those longer p
service, who, in most instances, are X
so the older lives. 1t may be fairly y
ated, however that the cost of a pro- r
am of group insurance ranges from r.
to 4 per cent of the annual pay ~
Il. If the service program is adopt r.,
the amount of insurance at risk is R,
ten less than the amount of the pay g
II, and in these instances, of course, @
e cost is predicated on a like per- 81
ntage of the amount of insurance at ST
TX. The cost will be somewhat re- ~
ced if the insurance is taken in w
issuing participating forms, w
this program guarantees to each w
lployer the benefit of any superior
'rtality which may be experienced in m;
) industry as an outgrOwth of i'm ste
Dved working conditions so
The law provides that those to be % .
vered under a program of group in pa
rance must all be employees of one on
ployer, and the number of employees int
be covered in any one group may 50
t be fewer than fifty. It is possible, -
viewer, to insure all of the employees
any one or more of. the departments
a business, if these employees num- OF
r at least fifty. 1t is also provided
It in determining the amount of in
'ance. or the individuals to be en- me
ed to it, the basis of selection must the
rest upon the individual selection Soas
the employees themselves or the qui
ployer. In other words, all employ led
in a given class must be covered, 0I
hOut regard to the individuals 70