Healthcare

The National Labor Relations Board held recently that employers must allow use of company emails for union organizing purposes during non-work periods, a decision that many employment and labor advisers say will be a nuisance for workplace communication policies.

Workplace Benefits Renaissance 2015

2014 brought increased emphasis on retirement plans as employers are offering more engaging tools and creating a more holistic view of benefit offerings.

Reflecting on the challenging and exciting changes to employee retirement plans in 2014 - from the myRA to fee disclosure rules - plan sponsors and advisers certainly had their hands full.

Commentary: More than 90% of today's professional workforce are finding trouble balancing home and work, resulting in the need to complete personal tasks on the employers’ dime. ACI Specialty Benefits' Erin Krehbiel shares her firsthand tips on how to get it all done without impacting company time.

As health consumerism continues to infiltrate employer-sponsored benefits, benefit advisers say that voluntary options have helped to limit out-of-pocket costs for employees and curtail overall costs for their employers.

Employers are becoming more familiar with the players in the private exchange marketplace but still feel they lack sufficient information about fees and how the exchanges are paid.

For much of the country, Monday was the last day to enroll in health insurance coverage through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, Healthcare.gov, to have a Jan. 1, 2015 effective date. Overall enrollment ends Feb. 15, 2015. Unlike last year’s open enrollment, the system has hit few, if any, snags and is on track to hit or exceed its enrollment estimates.

When it comes to robust retirement systems around the globe, the U.S. is ranked 19 of 150 different countries, and American business – from lawmakers to employers and plan sponsors – can learn from some of those international success stories.

From the first open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act to the unveiling of Apple’s HealthWatch, the health care industry has seen some big advancements and major changes in 2014, making it a year of constant adjustment for benefit advisers.