Sheryl Smolkin

Small employers such as Beehive PR and Beach Cities Health District create a culture of mental wellness with a suite of day-to-day programs that encourage work-life balance, employee involvement and employee growth and development opportunities.

Employers can be vulnerable to lawsuits if they have staff members they think are exempt from overtime rules, but are really not.

The benefits industry is awaiting several rulings from the Supreme Court of the United States expected in 2016 that could have far-reaching effects on the administration and cost of operating employee benefit plans.

Unlimited vacation programs, like the one recently announced by LinkedIn, sound like a dream benefit but experts caution only companies with an entrepreneurial corporate culture and excellent communication practices can successfully implement them.

The potential cost increases due to offering transgender health benefits is minimal because the population is small, says Human Rights Campaign.

As more of the baby boom generation retires, some U.S. companies will face a potentially significant loss of talent and institutional knowledge. Companies ahead of the curve are already looking at ways to avoid the brain drain by encouraging today’s workers over 50 to stay longer.

While Uber is fighting hard on all fronts to prove its drivers are correctly characterized as independent contractors, there are examples of other successful app-driven on-demand start-ups that have either converted contractors to employee status or characterized all workers as employees from the get-go.