Hy-Vee Offers Benefits Program to Part-Time Employees

Hy-Vee is showing its part-time employees some love with a new benefits program that includes a web-based platform for health insurance.

In what company officials called a "first of its kind" program in the retail industry, part-time employees of Hy-Vee and its subsidiary, Midwest Heritage, will have their pick of 11 elective benefit options. The program will be available to any part-time employee that is 19 years or older, and will also cover spouses and dependents.

Elective benefit options include: health, dental; short-term disability; vision; group life; accident; critical illness; hospital indemnity; individual life and disability; auto, homeowners and renters; and pet insurance.

Sheila Laing, Hy-Vee EVP and chief administrative officer, said the company developed the program with the goal of "giving Hy-Vee a competitive advantage in the recruiting and retention efforts of our part-time employees."

“Benefits are an important component to the health and satisfaction of our employees," she said. "This program is unique in our industry and differentiates us from other retailers, while improving the lives of our employees.”

Employees will have the opportunity to shop for medical insurance and affordable group benefits through Hy-Vee's new portal, dubbed the Hy-Vee Part-Time Smart Choices Marketplace, an intuitive platform developed by Connecture that uses smart features to help workers choose the best elective benefits for their individual needs.

The move was made after Hy-Vee and Midwest Heritage conducted a companywide survey, which indicated that 80% of part-time employees considered benefits a key component when choosing a part-time position.

“We have a large population of employees who benefit from these elective offerings,” said Midwest Heritage SVP Michael O’Donnell. “We quickly recognized that communicating benefit options to 58,000 people would take an intuitive, user-friendly platform. This is why we partnered with Connecture to offer the Smart Choices Marketplace, to ensure we could communicate with and meet the diverse insurance needs of our part-time employees and their families.”

The new benefits program offers affordable medical insurance options for as little as $200 a month, depending on electives and coverage type. Midwest Heritage plans to partner with Connecture to provide similar offerings to employers interested in expanding benefits for their part-time staff.