Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Everyone appreciates a little recognition for their professionalism, their dedication to their work and to their employees … and the world of benefits decision-makers is no different. It’s once again time to take a moment and see if this is the year you – or one of your colleagues – might be the right pick for our annual Benny Awards.

How does your investment fund line-up compare to the market? Do you have too many investment options or too few? Regular blogger Robert C. Lawton outlines some best practices with regard to investment menus.

Benefits administration technology will never replace human interactions, such as the one-on-one new hire orientation, or open enrollment meetings, but the right kind of platform can be an effective tool to reinforce benefits messaging, help employees make smarter decisions, and communicate the overall value of your benefit programs.

Many wellness models are based on mythology. Myths like all plans should have disease management, or everyone needs to work on heart disease prevention. How to get past the noise and on to effective interventions? Look closely at your own group – its people, its illnesses, and its work environment.

Everyone who has pursued a traditional employee weight loss program knows that results can be unpredictable. Usually, enough employees succeed in losing weight to give the program value. The problem is they often gain it back. While programs are going in the right direction, clearly there is room for improvement.

Wondering whether your plan design is still market competitive? Leading-edge 401(k) and 403(b) plans have the following plan design features in common.

Pharmacy benefits are typically the most utilized benefit by plan members and one of the fastest-growing in terms of cost. Consequently, selecting the right pharmacy benefit manager is a critical decision in managing a plan and determining member satisfaction with that plan.

Typically thought of as the employees’ responsibility, plan sponsors should actually facilitate all aspects of required minimum distributions – from alerting participants about them to activating the fund withdrawal.

Self-directed brokerage account windows in 401(k) plans have always been controversial. Recently the Department of Labor indicated it intends to provide additional guidance on the use of brokerage account windows. Experts believe it is likely to be unfavorable for proponents of brokerage windows for several reasons.

Fresh off attending SXSW Interactive, flexible workplace consultant Shani Magosky believes today’s generation of entrepreneurs may not be as willing to sacrifice every other aspect of their lives for their work as were their predecessors.