Benefit strategies

As employer-provided benefits continue to become a bigger portion of labor costs, organizations are increasing employee cost sharing as well as providing employee health education, wellness initiatives and financial education/advice. According to the Employee Benefits Accountability and Consumerism 2011 survey by WorldatWork, 45% of surveyed organizations report that turning employees into educated consumers of benefits is a very high priority for their organization's top management with more senior leaders now acting as advocates.

Retirement plan administrators and advisers take note: It’s not a company’s size but rather the demographic makeup of its workforce that influences whether it sponsors a retirement plan.

About two weeks ago, Huffington Post blogger (and former EBN contributor) Jane White sparked a bit of controversy when she called retirement plan annuities "the biggest financial rip off on the planet."

With consolidation in the big-plan consulting market over the past few years garnering all the headlines - Towers Perrin merging with Watson Wyatt in 2009 to form Towers Watson and Aon joining forces with Hewitt last year to create Aon Hewitt - it's easy to forget there are a slew of smaller consulting firms out there providing consistently high levels of service to thousands of small- to mid-sized organizations.

Benefits matter more than ever to employees. The third annual study of employees’ views by Unum toward their benefits and enrollment was conducted online in December following the 2010 benefits enrollment period among more than 1,700 working adults. The research finds the perceived importance of many employee benefits notably increased from 2008 to 2010 across all age groups.

Patricia Sowell Harris is very into McDonald’s. Understandably so. She started as a "fry girl" but moved on after two weeks to administrative assistant.

When Casey McConnell started text messaging marketing company Qittle he took the traditional route of hiring onsite employees. But he soon realized it was more advantageous to hire workers online.

The funded status for most pension plans is anticipated to drop significantly and plan sponsors face sharply higher contributions for 2011, according to an analysis by Mercer actuaries. Mercer estimates that among the private-sector plans it studied, more than two-thirds will see required contributions jump from last year by at least 50%, and at least one quarter will likely see contributions more than double.

Sponsors will fund rising contributions to private pension plans that are still recovering from the investment nosedives of 2008, according to a report released yesterday by the Society of Actuaries and American Academy of Actuaries.

Employees need time to make big benefits decisions. Most benefits managers know this; what might not be known is more communication methods are needed to allow for the best decision making.

In an effort to help Americans better prepare for their retirement, ING’s U.S. Retirement division has launched a nationwide initiative that allows employees to instantly enroll in their workplace retirement plan by accessing ING’s online enrollment center through a tablet.

Things have changed. Health care costs have turned benefits from HMOs to consumer driven health care. Pensions have long been a thing of the past and the process has shifted onto the consumer and onto benefit managers.

In 2010, the unemployment rate of post-2001 veterans was 11.5% - including 20.9% among vets age 18-24 - well higher than the national 9.1%. Because of this, President Obama has called for two new tax credits: One would provide an incentive for companies to hire unemployed veterans, and the second would double an existing tax credit for hiring long-term unemployed veterans who have service-related disabilities.

Over the next five years, revenue for the human resources and payroll software industry is expected to increase to $4.0 billion, according to a new study.

Benefits professionals annually shake their heads in frustration as they spend countless hours preparing open enrollment materials and conducting benefits meetings, only to see employees spend just minutes considering and making their benefits choices. As this year’s enrollment season approaches, new survey results from Aflac give pros hard proof to show employees that not selecting carefully carries meaningful financial consequences.

Reflecting uncertain economic conditions and a conservative cost-management environment, U.S. employers are projecting moderate pay raises for employees in 2012. Employers expect to fully fund their annual bonuses for workers this year, as corporate profits have increased, according to a new survey of 773 employers conducted by Towers Watson.

Insurers have yet another cloud option available to them, as Informatica announced several new insurance clients using their services. Although not a new offering (the company launched cloud services in 2006), it's relatively new coming from an insurance industry known as technologically risk averse. According to a recent Gartner Group study, annual spending on cloud-related transactions may grow to almost $150 billion worldwide by 2014.

Employers looking to attract engage and retain Generation Y workers need to do their homework to see what makes this demographic group tick — their preferences and communication styles, especially when it comes to benefits.

Employers looking to attract engage and retain Generation Y workers need to do their homework to see what makes this demographic group tick — their preferences and communication styles, especially when it comes to benefits.

As the economy picks back up and companies begin to shift focus from maintaining financial stability to cultivating employee growth, performance management will prove to be a key way to enhance employee engagement and job satisfaction.