Employee benefits

During annual open enrollment, the focus of most people’s attention is squarely on health insurance coverage, and yet the season is an ideal time to consider other benefit elections, too.

Small employers such as Beehive PR and Beach Cities Health District create a culture of mental wellness with a suite of day-to-day programs that encourage work-life balance, employee involvement and employee growth and development opportunities.

Commentary: Adviser Jerry Kalish details a list of welfare benefits subject to ERISA that fall outside of health care reform.

401(k) and other defined contribution plan sponsors report high participation rates by millennials; however, millennials with student loan debt are saving at a lower rate.

ACA reporting becomes mandatory in 2016. Preparing employers to be compliant with reporting requirements is a core service that advisers should be offering, industry experts say.

Fee disclosure regulations, the DOL’s proposed fiduciary rule and lawsuits related to 401(k) fees have heightened both plan sponsors’ and plan participants’ awareness of the costs of 401(k) plans.

Commentary: The rapidly evolving regulatory environment has increased benefit and tax complexities for most employees, making the open enrollment decisions more confusing and stressful than ever.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association work together to build a comprehensive wellness program that helps retired football players better transition into a life without football, both financially and emotionally.

Commentary: Rookie adviser Brian Murphy makes the connection between carriers’ package proposals and the opportunity to market multiple lines of coverage to the client.

Commentary: While illiteracy is a source of embarrassment for people,” innumeracy” is often a source of pride. A significant number of people believe the lottery is their best strategy for accumulating a substantial nest egg, and this is a problem, says The Principal’s Aaron Friedman.

Beyond slick user interfaces and the ability to access benefits information on a mobile device, employees are looking for software that speaks to them and personalizes their own experience.

MassMutual develops an integrated benefits exchange combining retirement savings, healthcare and virtually all other kinds of benefits in a unified, cloud-based system.

Employers can be vulnerable to lawsuits if they have staff members they think are exempt from overtime rules, but are really not.

Many women contribute to their workplace retirement plans, but are also are very concerned about not being able to retire when and how they want to, implying that they may not be saving enough to feel secure about reaching their retirement goals.

As technology progresses forward, employers need to take a look at strategizing a more mobile remote workforce, including how to measure, regulate and compensate the workforce.

Commentary: We would all be better off if we stopped debating the merits of employee wellness and focus on what the intent of it should be – helping employees and their families achieve their optimal health.

More companies are offering both a traditional 401(k) plan and a Roth 401(k) but plan participants are not as quick to embrace the Roth 401(k) as their employers are.

Zenefits is back in the spotlight with news of slower than expected revenue growth. The company also this week announced it will offer a free payroll option. The announcement follows a months-long public dispute with payroll giant ADP.

Brokers have been largely an afterthought on the public health care exchanges, industry insiders say, and one company says it is trying to change that at no cost to the broker.

Many companies have embraced financial incentives as a way to encourage participation in wellness programs, but workers still express concerns about privacy and not wanting their employers to be involved in their health and well-being.