Employee benefits

Employees just aren’t using their vacation days and it’s taking a toll...on their health, their work-life balance and, ultimately, affecting the company’s bottom line. Using vacation or paid-time off allows workers to recharge both physically and mentally.

Instead of looking outside to increase workforce diversity, companies should first look inside and develop an internal labor map of their own workforce. But, experts caution, analytics alone won’t create greater diversity and should be used in conjunction with other tools.

Industry experts provide an overview of three new voluntary products — that employers might not know about yet — so benefit advisers and brokers can get a leg up before a competitor does.

Most people wouldn't buy a car without shopping around and doing some online research first. You’d think that people would show similar interest when shopping for health insurance.

As employers face growing challenges with employee disengagement, many are looking toward wellness programs as the surest route to improve morale and workplace culture. And while the Affordable Care Act offers improved incentives to support workplace wellness programs, employers aren’t rushing to take advantage of them.

Millions of ACA application inconsistencies come as no surprise to benefit advisers and could trigger an influx of business to brokers from confused 2015 ACA enrollees.

Even as employers of all sizes report increased success in their participants’ savings rates, having sufficient savings and income in retirement remains a top concern for many employees.

A recent appellate court ruling may affect the ability of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to challenge "inflexible" employer leave policies, policies that result in the termination of employees who are unable to return to work after the fixed leave period.

Baby boomers are redefining retirement, with many saying their ideal retirement will include working – often in new, more flexible and fulfilling ways. As a result, employers should be preparing for a new battle to keep their older workers engaged as they near retirement.

Although most employers review retirement plan costs annually, many are not assessing fees evenly across all asset classes — and that’s where benefit advisers come in.

Auditing fees may not be inconsequential, but the fact is that an accurate audit including both pharmacy and medical claims has the potential to pay back the investment many times over.

With the impact of health care reform still evolving, employers are taking a fresh look at their strategies for keeping employees healthy and productive.

Industry experts say that while unlikely, the historically stable product line may have the potential for price changes as its sales continue to rise.

Online enrollment for the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) on the federal exchanges will be operational later this year, according to a spokeswoman at the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

With specialty drugs expected to reach as much as half of total drug expenditures within the next few years, pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark has launched a new program designed to make the process of filling specialty medication prescriptions easier for plan members.

Business and education leaders are emphasizing an even greater need for immigration reform in the U.S. as highly skilled employees are being lost due to visa restrictions.

CMS says benefit brokers and advisers are expected to be able to enroll their small business clients on the federal SHOP exchange online by sometime later this year.

Small businesses are poised to benefit from the Small Business Health Options Program but more education for small-business owners is needed, says an industry group supportive of the Affordable Care Act.

Social Security will still be around when your employees retire, it just might look a little different. Here are five changes to expect in the coming years.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is bringing its personnel management system into the 21st century to remain competitive and efficient – a tactic that HR consultants say is being replicated by other higher learning institutions across the nation.