An important consideration for employers when selecting the maximum period of payment is a federal law that was passed in 1967 called The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). ADEA prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of age in hiring, job retention, compensation and/or benefits for workers over the age of 40. Under ADEA, employers cannot terminate an employee's coverage based on age. But they can reduce the duration of benefits based on the person's age, providing the reduction is cost-justified. For ADEA, cost-justified means that the benefit produces costs for an older employee that are at least as large as costs for any younger employee.

Although ADEA is an employer regulation, Unum has structured several different maximum period of payments schedules to assist employers in complying with ADEA and to provide meaningful benefits for individuals who become disabled at older ages.

Through Unum, GuideStone makes available plans with two maximum benefit period options, ADEA I and ADEA II.

For more information on disability, you can view the Group Plans Disability page here and the Personal Plans Disability page here, or browse other questions under the Disability Plan category.