Kathleen Koster

The majority of employers want to prepare employees for a financially secure retirement, but have found educational campaigns unlikely to result in substantial changes in behavior. Employers walk a fine line when they implement automatic features; some argue that they enable lax saving habits and investment ignorance by funneling participants into plans automatically. On the other hand, Steve Utkus, director of Vanguard's Center for Retirement Research, recommends that employers use "participant inertia to their benefit and do it exclusively with plan design."

Employers address challenges of retaining employees across generations and gender.

Before joining Zappos Chief Executive Tony Hsieh dreaded coming to work at his own company. It wasn’t fun to work there anymore because the company culture went completely down the drain, he told the keynote audience at the annual Society for Human Resource Management conference in Las Vegas.

Although for the most part still in their infancy, global wellness programs are beginning to catch on. Unlike U.S. wellness initiatives that are driven largely by fighting rising health care costs, in Asia, the motive is a need to compete for top talent, and European multinationals are focused on reducing absenteeism and improving employees' health and safety, according to Towers Watson. Whatever the reason, formulating a global health strategy means balancing a universal mission with local realities.

For the year ending in September 2010, 26.3% of Americans (or 62.8 million people) volunteered through or for an organization at least once, according to the Current Population Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among working Americans, 29.2% volunteered, compared to 23.8% of unemployed persons and 22% of those not in the labor force.

The Employers Council on Flexible Compensation is fighting to repeal parts of the health care reform law that establish annual caps for flexible spending accounts and require a prescription for over-the-counter medications to be reimbursed under FSAs. It also is pushing for a change to allow for a cash out at the end of the year in place of the use-it-or-lose-it system that dates back to the 1980s.

U.S. employees are not strongly invested in their benefits, and 63% of companies agree that workers need to be more engaged, finds a new Aflac survey. In addition, only half feel their employees take full advantage of the benefits offered. Regardless of whether it’s a failing in communication or actual offerings, 54% of employees would transition jobs for better benefits, despite lower pay.

Employers nationwide - both big and small - are watching and waiting to see whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's state exchanges will succeed when they open for business in 2014. Small employers and those with low-paid or part-time employees are especially interested in finding out whether funneling their employees into an exchange or finding coverage for them through one would be beneficial.

Multiple sclerosis is a disease that may not show symptoms, and most importantly, no two types of the disease are the same. So, employers may find it difficult to effectively engage and accommodate employees with MS. However, with a comprehensive case management program that also focuses on specialty pharmacy and simple accommodations, employers can foster a welcoming workplace atmosphere while saving on insurance and pharmacy costs.

Recently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials audited the popular burrito chain, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., which fired hundreds of illegal workers as a result. Using Chipotle as a cautionary tale, employers cannot turn a blind eye to illegal workers, as Chipotle allegedly did - one woman claims she gave the company two false social security numbers when applying for positions within the company.

Despite the known benefits of flexible work schedules, employers are reluctant to grant the flexibility to employees, and the employees are afraid to take advantage of it, according to a new study from WorldatWork and WFD Consulting.

The majority of employers want to prepare their employees for a financially secure retirement, but have found educational campaigns unlikely to result in substantial changes in behavior. Instead, Steve Utkus, director of Vanguard’s Center for Retirement Research, recommended that employers use “participant inertia to their benefit and do it exclusively with plan design.”

Some aspects of the health care reform law, including the wellness and prevention provisions, have gained traction and will continue as scheduled in part because employers are taking up the cause by recognizing the importance of implementing prevention and wellness programs to enhance the health of their employees as well as the bottom line.

When Covance's five-year-old mentoring program was digitized, there was understandably some resistance from the HR staff.

The recession has been a double-edged sword to employers, forcing them to contend with the productivity and morale issues brought on by staff layoffs but also the financial squeeze of rising unemployment insurance taxes, COBRA costs and severance packages.

The Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC) is fighting to repeal parts of the health care reform law that establish annual caps for flexible spending arrangements and require a prescription for over-the-counter medications to be reimbursed under FSAs. It also is pushing for a change to allow for a cash-out at the end of the year in place of the use-it-or-lose-it system that dates back to the 1980s.

Employers nationwide - big and small, retail and high-tech - are watching and waiting keenly to see whether the public state exchanges created under health care reform will succeed when they open for business in 2014. Small employers and those with low-paid or part-time employees are especially interested in finding out whether funneling their employees into, or finding coverage for them through, an exchange would be beneficial.

In today's digitized and mobile culture, most people rarely leave home without their cellphone, and "crackberry" is a commonplace term in the national lexicon. Indeed, with more than 300 million smartphone units sold in the last two years alone and accompanying mobile applications surging in use, it's no surprise benefits providers are getting in on the action, creating smartphone apps to help employers encourage healthy behaviors and sound savings techniques among their workers.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 70% of all health claims are lifestyle or behavior related. What's more, most individuals with chronic conditions have several comorbid conditions.

The American Institute of Stress estimates that stress in the workplace costs U.S. corporations over $300 billion annually.