Employer Strategies

How well is your agency managed? Is it being managed to generate maximum top-line revenue and maximum bottom-line profit?

The Hartford's recent announcement to divest its retirement division has more to do about the economy and the parent's corporate direction, perhaps instigated by an activist investor, than it does about the quality of its retirement business.

The pending implementation of the Department of Labor's new rules on fee disclosure was one of several topics that had hundreds of financial advisers, consultants, fiduciaries, IRA experts and record keepers gathered in the Big Easy, at the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries 401(k) Summit buzzing with nervous anticipation.

When the recession hit, older employees put the brakes on their retirement plans and companies shelved plans to hire, train, develop and promote younger talent. With the economy growing again and retirement savings beginning to recover, baby boomers are again thinking about retirement. As a result, employers are again thinking of ways to attract, engage, and retain new talent.

As advisers continue to look for ways to become more of an asset to their clients, medical tourism is a field that continues to evolve and grow, often saving employers and employees tens of thousands of dollars in the process.

It used to be commonplace to find employees of Las Vegas-based Insurcorp at the casinos at 2 a.m. Not to blow off steam after a long workday, but to continue it, conducting benefit meetings for graveyard shift staffers.

Regulators are more closely examining companies that serve employers' retirement plans, a sign that there may be harsher enforcement when new fee disclosure rules take effect this summer.

The approximately 65 million job seekers in the United States who have criminal records would get more thorough consideration by potential employers under new guidelines embraced by the federal government last week.

Civilian employment costs rose more modestly by 0.4% during the first quarter, primarily because growth in benefits slowed after a sharp rise in last year's fourth quarter, Labor Department data showed last week.

The perception that a connected, mobile workforce can never get away from work is eroding and employers and employees are becoming more comfortable with the advantages mobile technology offers, according to Doug Ring, chief technology officer with Peoplefluent, an HR software and technology company.