How communicators can help employees better utilize their vision benefits

This article was conducted as a paid partnership between Transitions Optical and Ragan Communications.

Jonathan Ormsby​ is senior manager, U.S. Managed Care, Transitions Optical

The most important tool many employees bring to the workplace isn’t an AI model. It isn’t a computer or a hammer.

It’s their eyes.

Without vision that is clear and comfortable, many workers would find it difficult or impossible to go about their daily tasks.

According to the 2025 Transitions Workplace Wellness Survey¹, 71% of employees report that eye fatigue and/or light sensitivity prevents them from performing their best on the job. That discomfort spills beyond the workday, too: an overwhelming 92% of survey respondents said they experience light sensitivity, tired or dry eyes, headaches, and/or blurred vision by the end of the day.

“Vision is becoming more and more of a challenging issue that adversely affects work productivity and engagement,” said Dr. Chris Lievens², director of research and professor at Southern College of Optometry. “Lighting conditions indoors and outdoors, computer screens, digital devices and virtual meetings are all customary in today’s workplace, but human eyes are not inherently built to withstand those modern challenges.”

Because vision changes gradually and symptoms often build over the course of the day, many employees may normalize discomfort rather than recognizing it as a problem that can be addressed. In fact, according to the survey, 70% of employees say that when they experience eye fatigue or light sensitivity, they tell themselves that it’s just part of the job. That can make vision problems easy to overlook — and vision benefits easy to undervalue.

Communicators have an important role to play in helping workers protect their vision health and their productivity by educating workers on the importance of enrolling in and taking full advantage of vision insurance.

Make benefits feel real

As director of benefits at Ochsner Health System, Jennifer Taffaro works with about 25,000 benefits-eligible employees. These employees span multiple states and include hourly and salaried workers, desk-bound and deskless, with varying levels of education.

As a medical provider, many of their employees are familiar with the importance of enrolling in medical benefits. But it can be more of a challenge to communicate lifestyle benefits, including vision, to this diverse array of workers.

Taffaro said one of the most important parts of educating on these non-medical benefits is helping employees understand all the different ways the benefit can be used.

“People tend to think about the most common use for the benefit and maybe not some of the other things,” Taffaro explained. “That’s where, when you start highlighting those nonmedical benefits, it really gives you a chance to deep dive into those and show people what they’re missing out on.”

For vision benefits, this could include:

• Making sure workers are thinking about how the benefit could help their family members.
• Asking if they get an annual eye exam.
• Informing them about coverage benefits for glasses and contact lenses— especially since 48% of employees say an annual overview of their vision benefits from their employer could help them maintain better eye health at work¹.
• Highlighting specific benefits, like coverage for Transitions® GEN S™ lenses—available on all major vision care plans.

According to the survey, nearly half of employees say vision-related discomfort makes it harder to focus, while more than four in 10 report workflow disruptions from needing to rest their eyes during the dayⁱ. Over time, that strain can contribute to lower engagement, more mistakes and lost productivity.

That’s why vision benefits shouldn’t be positioned as a secondary perk but as a core benefit. They help employees maintain focus, reduce fatigue and perform consistently throughout the workday.

“Many people don’t realize there are products that can help address the vision issues they have at work,” explained Dr. Lievens. He added: “Transitions® lenses automatically adapt to lighting while delivering superb vision, that traditional (and archaic) lenses of the past cannot manage. All employees should be given access to such lenses. Improved outcomes for the business would undoubtedly be the result.”

Vision insurance as cost savings

As more and more families feel the pinch of rising prices, they become even more cost-conscious when it comes to lifestyle benefits. Taffaro suggests framing opting in to these vision benefits as a money-saving effort. She shared the example of her mother-in-law, who visited the eye doctor and found that her glasses would cost her nearly $1,000 without insurance.

“Vision insurance is really inexpensive, but we don’t want you to have the sticker shock,” Taffaro said. “There is a way to get the glasses you need at a lower cost and guiding people on how to do that.”

Using real-world examples like her mother-in-law helps Taffaro explain the benefits in a way that feels authentic and useful rather than like a sales pitch.

“You get the glasses you need, but you may be able to get them for $500 instead of $1,000. And that’s a big deal,” Taffaro said. “Anytime we can put $500 back into somebody’s pocket, that is a huge win.”

Cost savings aren’t limited to glasses alone. Regular eye exams can also help catch vision changes and eye health issues early, before they lead to more serious and expensive problems, the CDC reports. Most employees already understand this value: two-thirds say early detection of eye disease is a reason they prioritize annual eye exams.

When communicators frame vision benefits as both a preventive health tool and a financial safeguard, employees may be more likely to see enrollment as a smart decision.

That win is not only important for the individual employee, but it also helps build overall trust in the organization and its benefits package.

“(Employees) understand that you, as an organization, are really looking out for them, and it is not just a paycheck. You don’t see them as somebody who’s replaceable. You see them as a valuable part of this organization,” Taffaro said.

At Ochsner Health, benefits communications are frequently tied to overall organizational themes for the year as defined by the CEO. For instance, in 2026, one of those major themes is purpose. Their benefits comms both draws inspiration from and reinforces this theme, furthering the overall goal of the organization.

“What’s the purpose of the vision benefit? How does it potentially coordinate with the other benefits that we have?” Taffaro said.

Sharing success stories

In Taffaro’s experience, the best way to get people to use benefits is to publicize stories of how their co-workers have seen their lives improved through benefit use. Her team created a Google Doc where employees can share their story with the comms team. It’s included in every employee newsletter to make discovery and sharing easier.

If the story is of interest to the benefits comms team, they reach out directly to the employee to work with them. There’s no pressure, and employees are even permitted to be anonymous or to use vague details instead of their name — for instance, “a nurse in Shreveport.”

“They are genuinely some of the most heartwarming stories you’ll hear,” Taffaro said. “To read them from my perspective makes me really proud to work for the organization.”

Employees bring many tools to work each day. But none are as constant or as easy to take for granted as their eyes. When vision becomes strained or uncomfortable, the effects show up quickly: in focus, in energy and in how people perform during the workday. Vision benefits help employees manage those challenges, but only when workers understand what’s available and how to use it.

For communicators, the task is not simply to promote coverage, but to connect vision benefits to real work experiences and real needs. Done well, that clarity helps employees take advantage of their vision benefits, work more comfortably and reinforces that their wellbeing matters.

1 The 2025 Transitions Workplace Wellness Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,000 nationally representative US office professionals, employed full-time, between August 13^th and August 19^th, 2025, using an email invitation and an online survey.

2 The featured speakers’ opinions and remarks are their own. Some may receive consideration for their work with Transitions Optical.