Benefit communication

U.S. employees are not strongly invested in their benefits, and 63% of companies agree that workers need to be more engaged, finds a new Aflac survey. In addition, only half feel their employees take full advantage of the benefits offered. Regardless of whether it’s a failing in communication or actual offerings, 54% of employees would transition jobs for better benefits, despite lower pay.

This is the second article in our Open Enrollment Boot Camp series, in which we are featuring readers' advice for improving this perennial event. The first article focused on OE communications, and is available on our website at ebn.benefitnews.com. Here, we present some of the advice we received from brokers and providers on increasing enrollment in and satisfaction with voluntary benefits.

Last October, President Obama signed into law the Plain Writing Act, which calls for communications from the federal government that are clear, concise and well-organized. An associate professor of English recently talked to EBN about how employers can incorporate plain language principles into their benefits communications.

Several group benefits providers, including Sun Life Financial, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Cigna, have won plain language awards from the Center for Plain Language.

For this year's Preparing for Open Enrollment series, EBN asked you, our readers, to give us your advice for improving this perennial event. Here is the first of three articles featuring your responses, which deals with enrollment communications.

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the establishment of health care exchanges to enable individuals to purchase health insurance on the open market is proceeding as scheduled.

Not complying with current law can be expensive in today's legal climate. Thus, employers should review their employee handbooks and employment-related policies to make sure they are up to date. More importantly, though, employers should draft their handbooks so their employees actually read them and follow their policies.

How one company used a virtual benefits fair to tame employees' inertia and boost engagement during open enrollment.

The most persuasive health information won't always serve your best interests, U.S. doctors report.

The National Business Group on Health reports a growing number of workers seek health and medical information from their employers.

If you issue employee communications only through e-mail or company bulletin board postings, I have news for you: Most employees are not listening.

For employers, managing talent has never been more important. Organizations, particularly ones who've suffered massive layoffs over the past two years, are leaner and meaner.

According to a survey on workers' perception of employee benefits, both high- and low-wage earners say benefits are vital to their health and financial security.

American CEOs are getting an earful on whether to keep or drop health insurance because of the health law, but Chris McSwain, director of global benefits at Whirlpool, said a business case on health coverage should also occur on the employee-family member level.

Most employers say they value their employees. After all, it would sound pretty harsh for an employer to say that its employees are, with a few exceptions, a bunch of idiots who can seldom do anything right.

In real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. In benefits, it’s all about communication, communication, communication.

Clearly, employees love Twitter and Facebook — stats from both social media sites show the number of registered users is growing by the thousands every month. And, employees say they want more benefits communication.