Group Income Protection is put in place in order to pay an employee’s income should they be unable to work due to illness or injury. Additional support, such as physiotherapy and visits with a mental health professional, may be covered as well. It can also include National Insurance obligations, pension contributions, and the expenditures of recruiting and hiring temporary or replacement workers.

Group Income Protection serves to enhance employee morale and motivation by offering greater financial stability, as well as reducing time away from work due to illness or injury. In addition, joining an employer’s GIP scheme often costs less than it might if an individual employee takes out their own similar policy.

GIP can be set up in different ways by an employer. For example, they may start so that payments start once Statutory Sick Pay or Occupational Sick Pay ends. Typically, GIP pays benefits after 6 months off work, though the employer can choose when they want the policy to kick in.

As long as the employee meets the terms and conditions of the policy, the payments continue until either the employee goes back to work or reaches the retirement age given in the policy.