Employer Strategies

Protesters packed up signs and TV talkers put away their microphones Wednesday night, the beginning of the long wait till the Supreme Court decides the fate of the Affordable Care Act.

Companies that serve 401(k) plans are asking the Labor Department to reconsider its stance on mailed notification, so that they can save costs by using email instead of regular mail to send information to plan participants. However, the industry also is trying to balance that need with the needs of older workers, who tend to not be as computer-savvy.

Whole Foods Market — which has 300 stores in the U.S. Canada and the U.K. — puts benefits to a vote. Every three years the company lets employees nominate benefits and if other employees agree, the benefit is added. It’s just one of the ways the company empowers its employees and encourages innovation, co-founder and CEO John Mackey told a packed crowd in Wednesday morning’s opening keynote address at the Great Place to Work conference in Atlanta.

The Mayo Clinic launched an ambitious social media campaign in 2008 and within a year, had a 49% market share among health care websites. It started a blog for employees, which has been likened to a weather report that enables higher-ups to assess how employees are feeling about the organization. The end goal is to break down barriers between management and employees.

Just as bright yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” and American flags flew high in front of the Supreme Court this week, so did the tempers of the crowds of supporters and opponents of health care reform gathered outside.

Creating an adequate amount of income for individuals to live comfortably in retirement will require a combination of several income producing strategies, as well as knowing what constitutes realistic and "safe" withdrawal rates from retirement plans, according to a new issue brief by the Institutional Retirement Income Council.

Facebook and lawmakers have warned employers against requesting Facebook passwords while screening job applicants, a controversial practice that underscores the blurring distinction between personal and professional lives in the era of social media.

As the Supreme Court wraps up oral arguments on the core of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — the minimum coverage provision that will address the individual mandate — brokers express their concern surrounding health reform and how they are preparing clients for the future with or without it.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared prepared to decide the fate of President Obama's sweeping health care law rather than delaying for years a review of the mandate that Americans buy insurance or pay a penalty.

Employee benefit brokers and advisers are paying close attention to the proceedings as the Supreme Court takes up an historic test of whether health reform is valid under the country's Constitution.