Benefit management

The recession has been a double-edged sword to employers, forcing them to contend with the productivity and morale issues brought on by staff layoffs but also the financial squeeze of rising unemployment insurance taxes, COBRA costs and severance packages.

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.

As a CPA with 20+ years of experience, I'm a big supporter of accountability and company audits. (See a related story on page 10 on benefit plan audits.) Early in my career as an auditor, I made a living by ensuring companies said what they did and did what they said. The Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70: Service Organizations, commonly known as the SAS 70, has been an industry staple since its issuance in 1992 and a requisite for service providers to test internal controls.

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.

With less guaranteed income when they retire, a larger number of older workers remained in the workforce in 2010, according to research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

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.

U.S. workers can expect median base salary increases of 2.8% in 2011, compared to 2.4% in 2010, while executives and skilled trades workers can anticipate a 2.7% increase, according to the Salary Budgets Survey by the Hay Group.

Special-interests groups among employees are not only making a comeback in corporate America, but the groups are also receiving significant financial support from employers, finds a new study by Mercer.

U.S. workers can expect median base salary increases of 2.8% in 2011, compared to 2.4% in 2010, while executives and skilled-trade workers can anticipate a 2.7% increase, according to the "Salary Budgets Survey" by the Hay Group.

Small-business employment continued to show growth in December with hours worked up and wages flat, according to the latest update of the Intuit Inc.’s "Small Business Employment Index."

Business owners who employ between two and 500 workers recently told pollsters they have reshuffled business priorities where now business and income protection have taken center stage.

Over the last three decades, the job tenure for American women who work full time increased, while the length of time men workers stayed with an employer dropped, report researchers at the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Walk into any well-run early learning/child care facility, and you'll likely be floored by an assault of cuteness: happy children working on art projects, being read to by caring teachers and eating nutritious snacks.

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.

Principal Financial Group will exit the medical insurance business (both insured and self-insured), the firm announced Sept. 30.

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.