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Commentary: Blogger Sam Fleet submits that in order for a wellness initiative to be truly comprehensive, benefit advisers and their employer clients must look at other components of employees’ lives.

The IRS has launched a compliance check program to better understand how plan sponsors are complying with Roth deferral provisions in 401(k) plans. If asked to participate, failure to to respond could trigger an audit.

Insurance carriers are proposing a series of solutions to make the ACA exchanges more consumer-friendly, but not all brokers and agents agree with the ideas.

The state of Massachusetts officially repealed the employer pay-or-play regulations that were part of its landmark 2006 health care reform law. Similar to the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act, the state statute required employers of a certain size to either offer health care coverage to their employees or pay a fine.

The harsh reality for a couple retiring at age 65 this year is that they will need a small fortune just to cover their medical expenses in retirement.

Commentary: Columnist Craig Davidson explores the future of employee benefits in the kick-off to a new series about what’s to come and how to prepare for change.

Estimated enrollment is three times the number consultancy predicted last year.

Commentary: Columnist Nelson Griswold explores the value of selling this product line for benefit brokers and advisers.

Find out the true risk discussion one adviser and financial planning expert says other advisers should be having with employers and their employees.

Employee benefit advisers and employers will have to wait longer than anticipated for the DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary, as the agency has delayed the issuance of its proposal until January 2015.

As more than a quarter of American workers report that they have experienced abusive conduct at work, it’s important for employers to develop an effective anti-bullying policy that respects past decisions by the National Labor Relations Board and the courts.

Although a vast majority of employers plan to continue providing health care benefits for their employees, many are taking drastic action to mitigate the health care reform law’s financial effects on their benefit strategies.

Commentary: Columnist John Ludwig says employers and their benefit advisers still have a long way to go to help workers be retirement-ready.

Virtually all large employers are committed to conventional wellness programs. Because of this market saturation, wellness vendors and their commercial partners, benefits consultants, are now setting their sights on smaller employers. These groups would do well to learn what hasn’t worked in wellness and avoid wellness programs built around health risk appraisals, biometrics, and preventive medical care.

Commentary: A technique that blogger Andy Torelli uses to establish new hires’ natural skills in the workplace could be put to use in optimizing the best service teams for new clients. Hear his theory out.

CMS has granted 18 states a delay in enacting employee choice on the SHOP exchange, which some advisers feel is the only incentive for employers to enroll on the exchange at all.

Benefit brokers should be prepared to communicate ACA updates and answer questions both in-person and via new technology to reach employees.

Changes to the federal Workforce Investment Act will increase accountability for national job-training programs and shift the emphasis to employer-led education in growth industries.

The emergence of public and private health insurance exchanges, as well as the ongoing shift toward placing more responsibility on workers for health plan decisions, is creating a new normal for employers and employees alike.

People managers should not underestimate the impact of coaching their people to success around individual and shared goals. It’s one of the rare benefits that accrues to the organization as much as its employees.