Michael Giardina

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor, and subsequent guidance from the federal government, legal advisers recommend that employers sift through their benefit plans and employee policies to ensure compliance for 2015.

Despite great investment returns recently, the nation’s largest corporate defined benefit pension funds have been defenseless against growing liabilities resulting from dropping discount rates.

Lawmakers in Springfield, Ill., decided this week to green light a new statewide private sector retirement program that will consist of individual retirement accounts to be funded by automatic employee payroll deductions.

Open enrollment has been an annual headache for employers, even before the presence of the Affordable Care Act and the numerous plan changes towards more employee consumerism that followed.

Despite enhanced compliance and tracking requirements in the post-ACA world, benefits administrators are still reluctant to adopt to new, time-saving technology, especially at small businesses.

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Wednesday on a legal challenge that could affect the future framework of employer pregnancy benefits and associated work accommodations.

With mental illness and substance abuse costing employers an estimated $100 billion annually in indirect costs alone, benefit decision-makers are seeing value in promoting employee assistance programs as a means to improve their workforce’s mental well-being.

With its sights set on maintaining lifetime retirement income for the American workforce, a new final rule from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation hopes to limit any obstacles participants face when rolling over their 401(k) money into traditional pension plans.

Prenatal and postpartum care programs are not only a benefit for employees who are expecting, they can also help employers avoid unnecessary costs related to preterm births.

President Barack Obama outlined steps Nov. 20 that would revamp the nation’s “broken immigration system” by allowing undocumented immigrants to play by the rules and gain work authorization – potentially changing the rules for benefit managers.

A majority of employers – regardless of workforce size – are planning to keep their health plan coverage going into next year as the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate takes effect.

The 2014 midterm elections did more than just make paid sick leave benefits mandatory and increase minimum wage; ballot measures also approved recreational use of marijuana in various states and regions.

Multiple measures indicate the nation’s unemployment picture is changing for the better. Yet more jobs and an increase in hiring activity also means higher turnover and retention challenges for employers.

With an expected 5.5% rise in health care costs in 2015 – the same year the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate takes effect – employers have high hopes that spending can be reined through increased employee consumerism.

In the midterm elections, a majority of Massachusetts voters checked “yes” for Question 4 on their ballot – a measure that calls for employers with 11 or more employees to earn and use up to 40 hours of paid sick time per calendar year. Companies with fewer than 11 employees will have to provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick time.

Numerous states and cities across the country decided during last week’s midterm elections to raise their minimum wage, which has legal and retail employment experts predicting changes to other benefits could occur as a result.

As retirement confidence among employees remains low, small business owners and their workforces may even be less prepared due to the scarcity of formal retirement education and established retirement savings plans to help this demographic.

The funded status of some multiemployer pension plans has not seen any drastic improvements since the great recession. But now, as proposals lurk in Congress to eliminate pension liabilities and improve the overall insolvency of these plans, there may be changes on the horizon.

It’s not every day that you hear about a financial services company that is pushing the envelope when it comes improving the health and well-being of its workforce. Prudential Financial’s chief medical officer, Dr. Andrew Crighton, explains the success behind the company’s health, wellness and work-life programs.

The nation’s largest corporate defined benefit pension plans continue to experience woes as their collective funding statuses dwindle due to unsavory interest rates.