Nick Otto

The light is shining on 3M, Cisco, Kimberly-Clark and the National Geographical Society as the companies take steps to provide employees a first-of-its kind employee benefit: discounts on home solar power installation.

Employers are finding many ways to trim health care costs — such as introducing high-deductible health plans alongside health savings accounts. But one cost-saving strategy is growing in popularity: conducting audits to ensure that every dependent is eligible for health care benefits.

Retirement patterns are changing globally. As a result, providing employees greater retirement security and financial literacy can help employers cultivate a less stressed, healthier and more engaged workforce.

Gone are the days of hula chairs and ThighMasters at the desk, new technologies and wearable devices are playing into the benefits and wellness strategies of employers, Amy McDonough, Fitbit’s director of wellness, told conference goers at the 2014 Employee Benefits Forum & Expo, being held this week in Boca Raton, Fla.

A focus on retirement has been key recently, with a push for younger generations to begin investing into 401(k)s, along with recent calls to Congress to empower savings among employees. Employee Benefit News has remained on top of the coverage and has packaged it for you here.

Although the scars are still visible since the economy’s near-collapse, investors today are more optimistic than they have been since 2007.

The American Benefits Council has introduced its strategic plans for health and retirement policy, providing 46 specific regulatory recommendations for Congress to consider in easing the burdens on employees, employers and government agencies.

Having an engaging 401(k) plan recordkeeper, partnered with innovative online educational tools, may provide a solution to piercing the Gen Y markets as more and more of the current employee base moves closer to retirement.

Offering financial education can provide a big boost to employee productivity, allowing employees to solve financial dilemmas and refocus on work.

U.S. health care spending is expected to reach close to 19% of America’s gross domestic product by next year, and private sector leaders are taking the opportunity to unite and create a healthier employee base.

A panel of U.S. companies representing more than 1 million active employees and another 50 million retirees across the globe convened Tuesday in Washington, D.C. to unveil a campaign aimed at reducing the nation’s health care costs.

As interest increases in employers offering voluntary benefits, a particularly large number of employers are beginning to add a more robust range of voluntary benefits to improve morale of existing employees and attract new talent.

The impending post-retirement health costs of America’s baby boomers may still seem remote, but benefits managers would do well to help their older workers by working together to consider those potentially explosive concerns – and include them in a comprehensive employee health plan.

New research points to low-cost consumer-directed plans as being a key strategy in thwarting rising health benefit costs.

Expectations of retirement haven’t quite bounced back since the recession, and retirement security is increasingly becoming a topic of concern for workers around the world.

The National Restaurant Association’s Dawn Cacciotti is the recipient of EBN’s 2014 Judges’ Choice Benny Award.

As the gap widens on whether e-cigarettes are part of the solution or still part of the greater problem of employee smoking cessation, their popularity is still on the rise. Experts from the health management group HealthFitness have provided some additional tips for employers taking on the challenge of creating e-cigarette policies in the workplace.

While online training and development courses may have a bad rap for being mundane, new strides are being taken to create more innovative and engaging programs with a focus on human achievement.

Employees aren’t shouting from the roof over how great their employer-sponsored benefits are. In fact, satisfaction is sitting at some of the lowest levels since 2008, according to new data released from Unum.

New data reveals only 46% of middle-market consumers have individual life insurance, and that more than three quarters of consumers age 25-64 say they would benefit from more close guidance from financial services professionals in adding that important voluntary benefit.