Why Identity Theft Protection is an Important Employee Benefit
IdentityIQ
Employers that keep their workers secure, engaged, and productive can naturally gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. One way to promote employee well-being is to offer benefits that extend beyond standard employment packages. Identity theft protection is one valuable employee benefit that protects employees and provides advantages for the employer.
Here’s why identity theft protection is an important employee benefit.
What Is Employee Identity Theft Protection?
Employee identity theft protection is an employer benefit offered to workers, through a third-party provider, to help keep them safe from fraud and identity theft.
Identity theft protection providers can offer tools including credit report monitoring, fraud alerts, antivirus software and virtual private networks (VPNs), dark web monitoring, identity theft insurance, and identity restoration services.
How Identity Theft Protection Benefits Employers
Disengaged employees cost companies more than $500 billion a year, according to a Gallup report. Identity theft protection can help prevent employees from becoming disengaged while dealing with the struggles of identity theft. They can focus on their work without worrying about fraud and quickly recover if they ever do become victims.
Offering additional benefits boosts a company’s reputation, which is vital for its future success. Other benefits to employers include:
- Better security: providing employees with tools that help them recognize and practice good data habits can help them support workplace security.
- Talent retention: offering technology and benefits that improve employees’ lives helps employers attract and retain talent.
Benefits Employees Want
Millennials expect generous employee benefits and are more likely to leave an employer than previous generations. By 2025, millennials will make up approximately 75% of the workforce. According to Consumer Affairs, there was a 311% increase in identity theft victims between 2019 and 2020, which demonstrates the value of identity theft protection for employees.
How Does Identity Theft Protection Work?
Identity theft protection monitors many aspects of a consumer’s identity. It uses technology to scan various sources, including credit reports, public records, and online databases, for signs of identity theft. Members receive real-time alerts so they’re always aware of any changes that occur.
Identity theft protection companies often offer many additional security tools and benefits to ensure that members are informed about their credit and have resources to help them if their identity is stolen.
What are the Benefits of Identity Theft Protection?
Identity theft protection provides security tools that keep consumers safe from identity theft and digital threats. It provides peace of mind that someone is watching out for the user’s identity and can help them recover from fraud. Here are some of the major benefits of identity theft protection with IdentityIQ:
- Identity theft monitoring: IdentityIQ identity theft protection services can monitor the use of the employee’s Social Security Number (SSN), activity on their credit report, bank account and credit card activity, and national databases to look for signs of fraud.
- Credit monitoring: daily credit monitoring provides oversight of the member’s credit reports and alerts them whenever something changes. They can also receive regular copies of their credit reports and credit scores.
- Identity theft insurance: these policies cover out-of-pocket expenses and losses that occur as the result of identity theft (IdentityIQ covers up to $1 million in losses).
- Identity restoration: identity restoration experts can help victims create a recovery plan and save time and money by navigating the process of resolving identity theft issues.
- Digital protection tools: many identity protection providers offer technology, including antivirus software and VPNs, to keep members safe and secure from digital threats and cybercriminals.
- Dark web monitoring: IdentityIQ continuously scans the dark web for a user’s personally identifiable information (PII). Whenever PII is found, the user is alerted so they can take steps to protect themselves.
- Family protection: IdentityIQ offers a family plan that extends identity protection benefits to the entire family, along with parental controls like screen-time monitoring and online activity trackers. Plus, children of the primary member are covered for up to $25,000 in identity theft losses.
Why Employees Need Identity Theft Protection
Identity theft can severely damage the victim’s credit, which can affect them in the following ways:
- Limits their ability to qualify for the financial products they want, including home loans, car loans, and credit cards. Some landlords and employers run credit checks on their prospective tenants and employees, as well.
- Causes them to pay higher interest rates. Borrowers with lower credit scores may pay thousands of dollars more over time due to higher interest.
- Causes them to pay more for insurance in states that allow insurers to consider credit history when setting premiums.
Identity theft can also cost the employee time, money, and their emotional well-being as they deal with restoring their identity. Certain types of identity theft may even create legal problems or poor health outcomes for the victim.
Identity theft protection can help prevent or mitigate the negative consequences of fraud. It can give employees visibility into the state of their credit for better financial decision-making. And it helps them identify signs of identity theft so they can react quickly.
How Can Employers Provide Identity Theft Protection?
Employers can partner with IdentityIQ to bring identity theft protection to their workers. IdentityIQ can help match the employer with the identity protection plan that best meets their employees’ needs. Employers receive support on plan administration and guidance on how to roll out the benefits to their employees.
IdentityIQ industry-leading identity theft protection and credit monitoring is a valuable benefit that can promote financial security and economic stability for every person on your payroll.
The post Why Identity Theft Protection is an Important Employee Benefit appeared first on IdentityIQ written by Brian Acton
