Hy-Vee part-time workers are now eligible for health insurance

Hy-Vee Inc. is now offering health insurance and other benefits to 58,000 part-time workers in an effort to attract and retain employees.

“Benefits are an important component to the health and satisfaction of our employees. This program is unique in our industry and differentiates us other retailers, while improving the lives of our employees,” Sheila Laing, Hy-Vee’s chief administrative officer and executive vice president, said in a press release.

The company began offering benefits to workers 19 and older who work 20 or more hours a week in January.

Eligible employees who work for Hy-Vee or its subsidiary Midwest Heritage bank can choose from among 11 options including: health, dental; short-term disability; vision; group life; accident; critical illness; hospital indemnity; individual life and disability; auto, homeowners and renters; and pet insurance.

The program also covers spouses and dependents.

The insurance could start as low as $200 a month, depending on which options a worker selects, the company said. Hy-Vee is not paying any portion of the health care, company spokeswoman Tina Potthoff said.

Hy-Vee said it decided to offer the benefits after survey showed that 80 percent of part-time workers said benefits were a factor in choosing a job.

There is a growing segment of the workforce that is comprised of part-time workers and employers are hoping to retain those people by offering health insurance and other benefits, said Katie Stull, president of the Society for Human Resource Management.

"With the unemployment rate so low (employers) have to do everything they can to attract workers," Stull said.

And while not all companies subsidize the cost of worker health care, employees generally benefit from being part of a group plan, Stull said. "And that can be a very significant discount."

Other major retailers like Costco, Whole Foods, Lowe's, Starbucks and others offer part-time workers benefits.

Hy-Vee operates 245 stores in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The company employs about 80,000 people.