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As a follow-up to EBN’s rewards and recognition coverage this month, I recently had an interesting and highly amusing conversation with Steve Humphreys, CEO of global rewards and recognition firm Grass Roots. According to Humphreys, crafting rewards programs for global employers creates some challenges. For one, employee gifts like iPods and Amazon.com gift cards apparently aren’t the big crowd pleasers they are here in the States. So, what is a hit?
September 18
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Released this week, Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus’ (D-Mont.) health care reform proposal seems to have spared employers from an outright mandate to provide health benefits. However, the bill does include a pay-or-play provision – as in, provide coverage or pay up to subsidize coverage in the mysterious “exchange.”
September 18 -
All summer, I’ve felt like Vladimir and Estragon, waiting for my version of Godot – a working health care reform proposal from the Senate. Finally, as summer turns to fall, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) released yesterday his plan to makeover the nation’s health care system. The bill is just as long and bloated as the now famous (infamous?) H.R. 3200, so I admit I haven’t read the whole thing. But a few pertinent notes for you,
September 17 -
Further proving my belief that there’s an association for everything, the American Happiness Association, a 501(c)3 charitable nonprofit, recently informed me of its very laudable, somewhat laughable and extremely bold mission: to significantly increase the level of enduring happiness worldwide. But it’s not all sunshine, rainbows and clowns for AHA; on the contrary, the organization provides science-based education and resources to help people learn and practice sustainable happiness.
September 17 -
At a Monday session at Benefits Forum & Expo, Lesley Leiserson, director of benefits at The Home Depot, offered this advice to attendees as a way to get employers and all their vendor partners on the same page before implementing any sort of large-scale benefits change. The home improvement retailer, which has more than 300,000 associates across 2,200 stores, took on the awesome task of changing its health, dental and vision carrier all in the same
September 16 -
That’s the scenario Don Powell, president of the American Institute of Preventive Medicine, explained would be the case if food costs had risen as quickly and sharply as health care costs over the last several decades. At a Benefits Forum & Expo session on Monday, Powell made the case to attendees on the importance of wellness programs – although to be honest, I think he was preaching to the choir – by detailing the hellishly expensive
September 16 -
We're having a peachy time here in Atlanta at EBN's 22nd Benefits Forum & Expo! To give you a sense of the atmosphere of the conference, here's a list of some of the best quotes I've heard so far: * 'I think when the House passes its bill and the Senate passes its bill, the White House will attack the House bill as going too far and being too over the top.' Michael Leavitt, former Health
September 14 -
Being a millionaire is so nice that Dave Ramsey did it twice. The renowned personal finance guru, author and TV personality famously lost $4 million in personal wealth in his 20s, only to pick himself up, dust himself off and apply the hard lessons he learned to making money and keeping it this time.
September 14 -
At a Monday morning general session at EBN’s Benefit Forum & Expo, former Health Secretary Michael Leavitt warned benefits pros of the dangers to their plans that lie underneath the legalese in H.R. 3200 (the working health care reform legislation in the House). Among the potential worrisome elements in the bill is the proposed health care advisory board, which Leavitt said, “would have one job, and that is to set the minimum federal standards for what
September 14 -
I'll always remember where I was when the news first came in, and I know you will too. Nothing since has been the same, and in the 3,000 days since, I know you've taken steps to protect your employees, information and facilities that you likely never thought necessary or possible on Sept. 10, 2001.
September 11