Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

The ADP-Zenefits lawsuit, wellness programs, workplace stress management and the ACA all made headlines this week. Here’s what EBA readers had to say about each topic.

Auto-escalation, which automatically increases the percentage of an employee’s salary that is contributed to a retirement plan, is getting more Americans on track for retirement, says Joleen Workman, assistant vice president in the retirement division of Principal Financial. Workman shares half a dozen ways advisers and employers can implement the practice within an employee population.

There is a direct correlation between closed sales and social media usage, according to sales consultancy A Sales Guy. In fact, nearly three-quarters of sales people using social media as part of their sales process outperform their peers. See what your colleagues are doing right on Twitter: EBA presents 30 top benefit pros to follow on the popular social media site.

Benefit insiders fear merger and acquisition activity in the health insurance industry is eroding market competition, a trend that could lead to increased premiums for employers and individuals. Recent research from the American Medical Association identifies the top 10 states with the least competitive PPO markets.

“Because of globalization, many issues related to business, health and society tend to be more and more common between geographies,” says Nicolas Michellod, a senior analyst with Celent’s insurance practice and co-author of a report that identified trends that are playing a major role in the employee benefits market. “Conditions that impact their employees’ health and productivity encourage companies to look for services beyond traditional benefits schemes.”

During his time in the White House, former President Jimmy Carter, who died XXXX, made the creation of a comprehensive program of national health insurance a top priority. In 1979, he proposed to Congress a National Health Plan. His plan never passed, but many of the plan's proposals have been enacted in some form or another by succeeding administrations, including in Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

There is a growing need for plan sponsors to help participants with retirement readiness and securing their financial future. This will drive plan sponsors to expand their financial wellness initiatives and evaluate retirement income solutions for their defined contribution plans, according to the Institutional Retirement Income Council. Here are four trends the IRIC has identified for 2016.

From the IRS extending Affordable Care Act reporting deadlines to a delay of the Cadillac tax, 2016 is gearing up to be another active year for government regulations impacting employee benefits. Here are 10 regulatory issues that benefits professionals and employers should be aware of in 2016, according to Paychex, Inc., a benefits, HR and payroll provider.

HR technology providers are increasingly designing applications with an employee-first mindset, to enable workers to learn and develop, collaborate, share feedback, steer their careers and even manage other people more effectively. Josh Bersin, founder and principal of Bersin by Deloitte, shares 10 trends that reflect a major shift from a decade ago, when vendors designed HR systems primarily to streamline HR administration and help redesign HR processes. Today, digital technologies are transforming nearly every aspect of HR, from sourcing and recruiting to talent and performance management.

Everything from wellness programs to President Obama’s State of the Union address to the difference between ACA compliance and HSA compatibility made headlines this week. Here’s what EBA readers had to say.