When Do You Stop Paying a Disabled Employee?

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Most successful small business owners have some key, valued employees in what they consider their "business family" -- people they'd have a hard time replacing. Here's my question: What if one of these key people gets sick and misses work for months or even a year? How long will you go on paying them? At what point will you stop paying them? No one likes to think about this, but there has to be a point, doesn't there?

Personally, I don't want to have to make that choice. I feel it is critical to have disability insurance for these people (both for their sake and for mine). Everyone who is salaried at my company has a disability policy. After 30 days, it kicks in automatically. They know it. I know it. There are no decisions to be made. The premium for 20 people runs all of about $5,000 per year. It's a good benefit for them, of course, but it's also good for me. It's less exposure for grief. It means I'm much less likely to have to make a very painful decision. And yet, through the years, I've been surprised to learn that most business owners don't carry this kind of coverage. Do you have disability insurance for your key employees?

Jay Goltz is the author of The Street Smart Entrepreneur. You can buy his book here.