Practice management

A new national bipartisan legislative effort is using an incentivized approach to push more employers to offer paid family and medical leave to their employees.

Globally, defined-benefit retirement plans are becoming a thing of the past and defined-contribution plans more widely accepted as the preferred alternative, a trend that could spur inquiries from international employer clients.

Commentary: Benefit advisers and their employer clients continue to have questions about private exchanges. Blogger Dan Garlitz shares some recent FAQs fielded by exchange administrator bswift.

Withdrawal liability is a seldom understood threat that could cost some of your employer clients tens of millions of dollars. Benefit advisers hoping to soften the blow can direct employers to do three things.

United Benefit Advisors has named insurance veteran Les McPhearson its new chief executive officer. In a Q&A with EBA he talks about trends in the benefits industry and the future role of the trusted adviser.

Hiring managers take note: State laws banning criminal background checks until after a candidate has been offered an interview are gaining momentum.

Road to Workplace Benefits Mania: Ahead of next week’s conference, speaker Reid Rasmussen talks about new employee needs that are likely to erupt in the coming years and how brokers might be able to create an opportunity out of them.

For some employer groups, setting high standards starts with hiring the right people, and from Manchester United Foundation’s mindset, as one of the most popular and successful sports teams on Earth, strong leadership and culture is “imperative” to high performance among employees.

In another blow to the health law’s federal subsidies this week, the GAO says fake application information successfully yielded subsidy payouts in an undercover investigation. One broker says if consumers are able to obtain subsidies in circumstances where they shouldn’t, they’re not going to trust brokers who tell them the truth.

Employees are increasingly dissatisfied with their benefits, and therefore dissatisfied with their employers, but new research shows better benefits education can help.