Lisa V. Gillespie

If you’re a customer of WellPoint, Inc., your employees’ records soon will come under the guidance of a computer. Granted, a very smart computer, but a computer nonetheless.

The latest federal data shows that benefits costs account for about 30% of employees’ total wages, as private-sector employers spent an average of $28.13 per hour worked for employee compensation in June 2011. Further, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, wages and salaries averaged $19.81 per hour worked and accounted for 70.4% of these costs, while benefits averaged $8.32 and accounted for the remaining 29.6%.

Benefits professionals annually shake their heads in frustration as they spend countless hours preparing open enrollment materials and conducting benefits meetings, only to see employees spend just minutes considering and making their benefits choices. As this year’s enrollment season approaches, new survey results from Aflac give pros hard proof to show employees that not selecting carefully carries meaningful financial consequences.

The rising cost of health care will soon be reflected even more substantially in employee cost-sharing. A new National Business Group on Health survey shows that large employers anticipate their health care benefit costs to climb 7.2% in 2012.

Nationwide Better Health, part of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, closed its doors Sept. 1 after five years in the wellness and productivity business. The company announced on May 25 that Nationwide would sell its productivity services to Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. and wind down disease management and wellness programs.

Prior to joining ValuMarket - a family-owned chain of grocery stores in Louisville, Ky. - Amy Bisig had no experience in wellness programming. She clearly made a great impression on CEO Greg Newman, who hired her anyway to be the company's corporate wellness director.

The group legal plan is growing. More employers are slashing budgets, which often equals cutting benefits. No more 401(k) matching, a high-deductible health plan becomes the only option, and money gets tight and employees see it and feel it.

Reflecting uncertain economic conditions and a conservative cost-management environment, U.S. employers are projecting moderate pay raises for employees in 2012. Employers expect to fully fund their annual bonuses for workers this year, as corporate profits have increased, according to a new survey of 773 employers conducted by Towers Watson.

This story is part of EBN's year-long BeneFIT Success series, which chronicles employers' and employees' wellness triumphs. Find the entire series online at ebn.benefitnews.com, keywords "benefit success series," and view the accompanying slideshow - featuring several of our profile subjects at various points in their wellness journeys - at ebn.benefitnews.com/slideshow. Learn how to submit your company's wellness story at the end of this article.

The majority of Americans think that planning for retirement is easier for those who are not married, according to Charles Schwab's latest quarterly retirement pulse survey findings released yesterday. More than half (53%) of married Americans and more than two-thirds (69%) of singles say they believe it is easier to make major financial decisions for retirement when there is no spouse in the picture.

Corporate America does lend itself to a workday that includes 90-minute intervals of intense work and then periods of deep recharging. It’s certainly not the image conjured; it’s the dedicated employee who works late, comes in early and eats lunch at his/her desk.

Employers looking to attract engage and retain Generation Y workers need to do their homework to see what makes this demographic group tick — their preferences and communication styles, especially when it comes to benefits.

Three-quarters of Americans without health insurance are likely to obtain coverage starting in 2014, according to a new survey by the health and life sciences practice of Oliver Wyman. In all, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act seems on track to reduce the uninsured to 5% of the population.

According to new survey results from Charles Schwab, 401(k) plan sponsors are offering participants more counseling but less cash to help them prepare for retirement.

Against conventional wisdom, the recession didn’t spur employees toward increased short-term and long-term disability claims. On the contrary, a new study of employers from the Integrated Benefits Institute indicates that key aspects of lost-time benefits programs have remained remarkably stable.

Although most retirement plan sponsors train their laser focus on helping participants save adequately for retirement — and rightly so — one nonprofit group is encouraging sponsors also to pay attention to assisting pre-retirees in preparing for the income distribution phase.

With more older Americans delaying retirement to work longer and cutbacks looming in federal social insurance programs, many wonder what retirement will hold.

Benefits and benchmarking go hand in hand, particularly for health and retirement plans. The National Compensation Survey on Health and Retirement Plan Provisions in Private Industry report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides benchmarking data for workplace health and retirement benefits.

As the economy picks back up and companies begin to shift focus from maintaining financial stability to cultivating employee growth, performance management will prove to be a key way to enhance employee engagement and job satisfaction.

While there is projected to be a slight uptick in salary increases in 2012 compared to 2011, companies are continuing to place the greatest focus on variable pay, according to the U.S. Salary Increase Survey released by Aon Corporation. Aon Hewitt surveyed 1,494 large U.S. companies in June and July, which revealed a 2.9% base salary increase projection in 2012 for salaried exempt, executives, salaried nonexempt and non-union hourly workers. This is up slightly from 2011…