Benchmarking employees’ choices of voluntary benefits is a good way to take their “benefits pulse.”

Reason: Employees “vote” for such plans with their own wallets. Here are the voluntary plans employees ask for and enroll in most often, according to one survey.

Long-term care insurance is one the most asked-for voluntary benefit at firms not already offering it. About one-quarter (26.3%) of firms cited it as the most in-demand benefit at their firm. Top runners-up:

• retiree medical. Some 19.3% of benefits pros have seen a big jump
  in people’s interest in Medicare supplements and similar plans, and
• supplemental disability. It’s  the third-highest in demand at 14%.

Implication: With enrollment in long-term care and retiree medical often skewed toward older employees, Baby Boomer employees are the most willing group to sacrifice pay for greater benefits security.

Among younger employees, the fastest-growing demand (10.5%) and enrollment (14%) is in homeowners and/or auto insurance plans.

The two biggest duds are both “small niche” benefits:

• identity theft coverage. Despite widespread publicity about the rising crime of benefits theft,  only 3% of firms offer such plans, and
• pet insurance. While it’s in-demand among a small percentage of employees (8.8%), only about 4% of firms offer the coverage.