Benefit management

Pop singer Adam Levine is among the celebrities who'll be promoting enrollment in online health insurance exchanges as part of a social media campaign kicking off this week.

Looking for real engagement — and improved outcomes — for workplace weight-loss programs? A new range of electronic tools (and old-fashioned psychological incentives) can help get workers to shed the pounds, for life.

The best way to encourage healthy decisions is to make cultural changes that affect the entire workforce, as well as the broad environment. Here are nine suggestions for small changes that can have big results.

Dr. Rafael Bengoa, the Basque region's former minister of health, is currently serving as an adviser to President Obama on ACA implementation.

At the crux of the issue are two constitutional distinctions: whether the “corporations are people” rights of for-profit companies extend to religious rights for the corporation, as opposed to just their owners, and what kind of accommodations for different views are required.

Learning to cope with treatment – or even the time or alternative work arrangements required for an employee helping a loved one dealing with cancer – can be a challenge for any HR professional, but a new guide hopes to provide better understanding.

Half of employees age 50 and up say they would make major sacrifices that could affect their own retirement to help family members, finds a recent survey.

“The tool ... provides us with the ability to send out critical food safety alerts to all store managers instantly,” says one official, who adds that the ability to upload training videos was a big part of what needed to be a very low-budget solution.

Prepare yourself for monumental changes in health care with wise words from BFE speakers.

In recent years, many employers have introduced flexible work practices to help employees manage their work/life balance, although Culturerx founder Jody Thompson said she believes that “standard flexible work programs are holding us hostage.”

More than a third of survey respondents plan to make a change to their HR structure before the end of 2014. Towers Watson says that among those organizations planning change, 74% say it’s to improve operational efficiencies.

We talk with our 2013 winner about global benefits administration and what makes the HR calling so special.

The ruling sets up a split between federal appeals courts that makes it more likely the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually consider the dispute over the ACA requirement for for-profit firms.

Total Rewards program offers employees a comprehensive look at everything that is included in their compensation, aiming to show workers the whole picture, because many only consider their base salary.

Employers should prepare for potential problems by drafting clear policies and thoughtful procedures on bring-your-own-device setups.

A benefits microsite can be a way to break through communications clutter and focus on a singular message.

Ric Edelman, chairman and CEO of Edelman Financial Services, told his Chicago audience that a combination of factors — including a misunderstanding of exponential growth and its effect on compounding interest — have led workers to short-term planning that can be deadly to 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans.

Chief people officer Jeff Perkins says he took HR at NPR to a far more prominent and decision-making position, and that HR professionals always need to leverage opportunities such as new facilities or outgoing senior leadership.

Casinos have the largest percentage of employees on FMLA leave with 49% in a given year, FMLASource reports; they also rank the highest in intermittent leave (58%) and average duration of an intermittent leave (17 days).

Communication of benefits isn't easy. It's one of the reasons we pay tribute to the best of internal communication of benefits every year with the i-COMM Awards. Here's how to enter.