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I received a Watson Wyatt release yesterday that literally made me scratch my head and say, “What the …?” Let’s recap: Employers know that having employees who possess a firm understanding of their benefits makes good business sense, and even know that conducting in-person meetings helps them gain that understanding. However, not only do employers seem okay with letting them maintain a middling understanding of their benefits, the latest from WW reports that the majority of companies
August 13
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What do ERISA and jam bands have in common? Not much…normally. But ERISA lawyer, Andrew L. Oringer, welded the two concentrations when he formed the band, Throw us a Rope, a nod to Ropes & Gray, LLP, the firm that spawned the budding talent and at which Oringer is a partner in their Tax & Benefits Department.
August 13 -
In a town hall meeting yesterday in Portsmouth, N.H., President Obama changed the semantics, if not the strategy, of his health care agenda. In the first of three such gatherings scheduled for this week to discuss health care, the president stressed the importance of passing “health insurance reform,” rather than health care reform, as he’d said in other speeches.
August 12 -
Although it doesn’t fully explain the wage-gender gap, new research from a University of New Mexico study could provide a small bit of insight into how and why it persists. UNM researcher Scott Taylor studied 251 managers and found that women were far less likely (three times less!) than men to accurately predict their coworkers’ perception of their work performance. Although women rated their own job performance highly compared to men in the study, they undercut
August 12 -
Yep, you read that right. Although employees find themselves working more hours 'off the clock,' thanks to Blackberries, iPhones and technology that allows them to connect to workplace servers from home, employers can be walking into a wage and hour minefield if they aren't careful. Brian Jackson, an attorney with labor and employment firm Fisher & Philips, says that employers need to track the time that employees spend responding to clients -- phone calls, e-mails, etc.
August 11 -
My colleagues at Money Management Executive (my moles within the investment management industry) gave me a lead this week on a Denver Post report that finds young employee-investors, having watched their parents and grandparents suffer from recent market declines, are much more risk-averse than their age might suggest – an attitude that is affecting their retirement planning.
August 11 -
Hello, DD followers. I know I didn't live up to the 'Daily' in our title last week, and for that I sincerely apologize. To say the last several weeks have been a challenge would be a huge understatement, but I'm ready to make good, and have what I think is a great peace offering — a first look at EBN's August podcasts! Not yet promoted on the rest of the site, in the magazine or
August 10 -
Every so often I'll get an e-mail from former EBN Contributing Editor Richard Quinn, who recently launched his own blog, 'Quinn's Commentary.' His funny, incisive posts recently have taken aim at health care reform. One of the latest entries, 'Ear infections will bankrupt us,' is at once a humorous and sobering look at the current state of our nation's health care system, and where it could be headed under reform legislation. I highly recommend you click
August 10 -
Exchange-traded funds are poised for steroid-like growth over the next several years. So if you haven't yet kicked the tires and checked under the hood of ETFs, you better hop to it because the rubber is meeting the road. The mutual fund industry will be a shadow of its former self in just five years time, if the findings of a study by Novarica pan out, according to my colleagues at Money Management Executive
August 4 -
In my August EBN editorial, I voiced my growing pessimism about the chances for full health care reform this year. Although at presstime, there still was a small chance for passage of legislation before the August recess, we now know that Congress' self-imposed deadline has come and gone.
August 4