Employee benefits

Estimated enrollment is three times the number consultancy predicted last year.

Commentary: Columnist Nelson Griswold explores the value of selling this product line for benefit brokers and advisers.

Employee benefit advisers and employers will have to wait longer than anticipated for the DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary, as the agency has delayed the issuance of its proposal until January 2015.

As more than a quarter of American workers report that they have experienced abusive conduct at work, it’s important for employers to develop an effective anti-bullying policy that respects past decisions by the National Labor Relations Board and the courts.

Although a vast majority of employers plan to continue providing health care benefits for their employees, many are taking drastic action to mitigate the health care reform law’s financial effects on their benefit strategies.

Commentary: Columnist John Ludwig says employers and their benefit advisers still have a long way to go to help workers be retirement-ready.

CMS has granted 18 states a delay in enacting employee choice on the SHOP exchange, which some advisers feel is the only incentive for employers to enroll on the exchange at all.

The emergence of public and private health insurance exchanges, as well as the ongoing shift toward placing more responsibility on workers for health plan decisions, is creating a new normal for employers and employees alike.

People managers should not underestimate the impact of coaching their people to success around individual and shared goals. It’s one of the rare benefits that accrues to the organization as much as its employees.

Potentially a result of complaints from consumers and increased competition on the ACA exchanges, benefit brokers may be pleased to find more options on the 2015 plans.

Automatic 401(k) features – including auto-enrollment, as well as plans that also automatically increase participant contributions each year – are beginning to have a significant impact on the success of employer-sponsored savings plans, and the balances of participants who’ve stayed in the game.

Employers in Southeast Michigan have projected an increase in health care costs this year. Still, to retain talent, businesses say they intend to continue offering health benefits to full-time employees, despite price increases resulting from the ACA.

When Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey froze its cash balance retirement plan in 2009, the organization knew it had to make its new benefit model work for current employees. And as a company charged with making health care work for both its clients and its employees, it realized that the only way to do so was through more education.

Each year Brightscope, a company that aggregates retirement plan data, releases a list of what it believes are the best large 401(k) plans. Here are the six plan features Brightscope says result in a 401(k) plan receiving a high ranking on its list.

Commentary: One of America’s most enduring mysteries is why the organizations that pay for most health care don’t work together to force better value from the health care industry.

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.