Benefit strategies

Performance-based awards are one of the hottest trends in stock compensation today. According to a recent study by the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, usage of these awards has surged by almost 200% in the past decade and already surpasses usage of service-based stock options for executives and senior managers.

Despite some sense of grumbling out in the working world about the shape of benefits in the midst of further ACA rollouts, one new study suggests employee satisfaction regarding their benefits is at an all-time high.

Traditionally the domain of large employers, self-funding is becoming more attractive for smaller companies.

Whether employers are looking to figure out mandated paid sick leave laws in their home state –or multi-state jurisdictional requirements, should their business cross state lines – global law firm Morgan Lewis says that a one-size-fits-all approach can be difficult to pull off.

Culling through big data is nothing new, but professional employer organizations like Engage utilize databanks from multi-location businesses to laser-focus employers’ risk management. Until recently, employers and their benefits advisers could only assess risk for a bird’s eye view, over an entire company. Now with new technology, they can hone in on medical claims and safety data from each restaurant location, distribution center or factory.

Finding a new job is a top priority for many workers with 83% of Americans saying they plan on switching careers in 2014. Considering the upswing, Allison & Taylor, an employment verification firm, offers 10 employment trends that potential job candidates should consider while searching – ideas that reflect many of the changes and the new normal in the HR world.

Many organizations aren't taking advantage of the most effective tool to distribute and reinforce messages—benefits administration technology. Technology is extremely useful in automating many of the tactical components of benefits administration while it also enhances your education and communication strategy.

With the economy slowly gaining ground and employees able to take their pick of job opportunities, employers are finding it increasingly important to pack extra benefits to attract the best hires. But according to SHRM’s new State of Employee Benefits in Workplace Survey, the story changes a bit when workers are on the job – as HR professionals less frequently use benefits as a retention tool.

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.

The National Business Coalition on Health has developed ValuePort, an online benefits administration and strategy tool designed to help employers adopt value-based health strategies tailored to their populations.

In certain regions, such as the Midwest, consumer-driven health plan enrollment is now more than twice that of HMOs, according to Mercer research on how employers mean to combat rising health care costs.

Currently, one in four flexible savings account holders forfeit money at the end of the year, according to benefit technology company Alegeus.

In a new survey of defined benefit retirement plan sponsors, 30% still have their pensions open to new hires, and 70% of those employers think they shall still be offering the plan to all employees five years from now, according a survey released Tuesday.

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

Congress, faced with a borrowing deadline of midnight, considers sweeping deals that could impact retirement plans, Obamacare and, it almost goes with saying, economic stability and market security in general.

Small business owners are more hopeful about the national economy and less concerned about systemic threats to their businesses, according to the Hartford, but more rate their risk-taking as conservative.

The skills shortage, already engulfing some industries, will soon lead to nationwide economic meltdown, warns author Edward E. Gordon in his new book.