PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2020 - 48

PLAN PROFILE
A Defining Moment
" B
ack in 2018, people thought
we were crazy, " says J. Brian
Coleman, vice president of total
rewards for Dawn Food Products Inc.
The reason for that judgment? The company
had built " a complete 'well-being
advocacy and well-being model' that
looks at three pillars: resilience, financial
well-being and physical health, " he says.
Dawn Foods is a century-old
family bakery ingredient and solutions
company, with clients here and abroad
and four manufacturing plants plus
16 distribution centers in the U.S. As a
bakery supplier, it was deemed essential
by federal guidelines and has not stopped
production since the pandemic began.
" Our plants and distribution centers are
running, and most of our back-office
staff are working out of their homes, "
Coleman says. By offering diagnosis
This plan sponsor's voluntary benefits are healing in the pandemic
Dawn protects team members'
future financial health with a
401(k)-matching program-matching
100% of the first 3% and 50% of the next
2%-providing additional retirement
funds. It also has numerous voluntary
benefits, several of which proved their
worth when it came to COVID-19.
The " crown jewels " of Dawn's
J. Brian Coleman
pay and 14-day sequester pay, he says, " we were ahead of the pack
to make sure we kept our talented team members helping their
customers wherever they could. "
Dawn Foods prides itself on rewarding employees by giving
them comprehensive health and " well-being coverage " -e.g.,
life and disability insurance and the company's Consumer Card,
which provides access to the benefits-and competitive compensation
packages. Its benefits have helped win it awards-in fact,
the company was our Plan Sponsor of the Year in the Corporate
401(k) $50 Million to Less Than $200 Million category in 2016.
SNAPSHOT
PLAN SPONSOR: Dawn Food Products Inc., Jackson, Michigan
KEY PLAYER: J. Brian Coleman, vice president of total rewards
PLAN: 401(k)
NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 2,675
PARTICIPATION RATE: 72.8%
TOTAL PLAN ASSETS: $214mm
AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 6.33%
RECORDKEEPER: Prudential
ADVISER: Bruce Lanser, senior retirement consultant, UBS Retirement
Plan Consulting Group
Consumerism Card are telemedicine
services from Teledoc Health Inc. and
Health Advocate Inc. The latter, a national
health and patient advocacy and assistance
company, answers employees' medical
questions and explains their medical
bills. " We were pounding our chest, going
into 2020, that we'd gotten to 12% of
employees using Teledoc, which provides
team members with access to medical
care 24/7, " he says. " By the middle of
March, we'd gotten to 27% utilization.
The average company ran 6% to 10% prior to COVID-19. "
Team members not in the Dawn medical plan can access
the Consumer Card for $6 a month. When an employee leaves
the company, he or she may keep the services, plus other, related
discounts. Coleman says this meets the company's financial
well-being goal: to have workers live smart and spend smart.
Also helpful in the pandemic has been Boston Mutual
critical illness insurance. A policyholder, when seriously ill,
receives money to pay medical bills and other related expenses
not covered by the person's high-deductible plan. Approximately
67% of Dawn Food's employees are in a high-deductible plan.
" From the financial well-being perspective, this is risk
adverse insurance, " Coleman says. " We also offer hospital
indemnity plans, so if you're admitted to the hospital there's a
schedule of benefits that will pay to offset your bills. All are available
to reduce our team members' risk-keeping more money in
their pockets, so they can save more for retirement. "
Additionally, at team members' request, the company
provides an Allstate term-to-age-100 life insurance plan.
" Helping team members before things go to crisis is better
than waiting until things are in crisis, " he says. " Deciding
which benefits to prioritize needs to be an overall strategy of an
organization. Every benefit has a symbiotic relationship with
another. " -Judy Faust Hartnett
48 PLANSPONSOR.COM June - July 2020
Art by Chris Buzelli
http://www.PLANSPONSOR.COM
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2020

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