Employee benefits

Greg Giangrande, executive vice president, chief human resources officer for Time Inc., is the recipient of EBN’s 2015 Benefits Leadership in Health Care Award.

With the increase to the individual mandate penalty slated for 2016, will more people seek coverage through their employers or the public exchanges?

Commentary: There is a new normal when it comes to underwriting offers in the employer-sponsored or group LTCI marketplace.

As the health care landscape continues to evolve, the expanding menu of options has made navigating benefits a tricky endeavor for employees and employers alike. But one new partnership aims to help curb the confusion.

With open enrollment season upon us, there’s a lot of talk about benefits communications. Here are three tips to ease the communications burden.

Commentary: We find our clients like having a guaranteed income, and they also like having buckets of income that start at different times and are taxed in different ways.

This year’s winners put special emphasis on health care cost transparency, financial wellness, private exchange adoption and face-to-face communications.

Americans express lower overall retirement confidence than in years past, but rank saving for retirement a top priority.

Commentary: Just because vendors are promising you will avoid penalties because you were able to provide a “good faith” effort, doesn’t mean you actually will be penalty-free.

Generation Y employees want more customization and education about their benefits — and employers need to provide a broad range of offerings while taking a holistic view to contain rising health care costs.

Commentary: Where do these fees go? There are a number of hands in the pot. Here are the three entities that collect on 401(k) fees.

Schwab’s Steve Anderson talks managed accounts, QDIAs and the increased attention to financial wellness.

Group pension buy-outs are usually seasonal, with the most activity happening in the fourth quarter, but industry analysts are seeing a trend toward more sales throughout the year.

Health and wellness startup HealthiestYou promotes productivity in the workplace and enables parents to conveniently meet with doctors, according to brokers who have firsthand experience.

Under USERRA, employees that are called up for Reserves or National Guard duty are considered a protected class, and can’t be discriminated against based upon their military service or obligation.

While employees see the value in their 401(k) plan, many admit they don’t use it to its full advantage because of competing financial priorities.

Anticipated merit increases are to remain relatively flat, while some experts say variable pay options like bonuses and cash rewards are gaining popularity.

Educational policy statements can be a valuable tool to help defined contribution plan sponsors and participants keep on track toward retirement outcome goals.

The number of employers who could be subject to the ACA’s Cadillac tax is predicted to rise if employers remain stagnant on health care plan changes, underscoring a need to make plan adjustments sooner rather than later.

Commentary: If you want to guarantee that a wellness program doesn’t make any headway in delivering positive results, be sure to commit these five common worksite wellness offenses.