Employee benefits

Leave-sharing programs make sense for employers seeking tax-efficient opportunities to financially assist employees impacted by the pandemic.

As many traditional benefits including gym memberships and commuter stipends are no longer available to employees, companies need to change their benefit offerings as well.

The Department of Labor issued a new rule that allows companies to distribute retirement benefit information electronically.

The lack of seamless plan-to-plan asset portability prevents participants from easily moving and consolidating their 401(k) savings, leaving them open to the temptation to prematurely cash out their 401(k) accounts from prior employers’ plans.

“Helping bring broader benefits to more employees is particularly important during these challenging times,” says Neil Vaswani, CEO of Corestream.

“The mindset has shifted in terms of how we need to be able to lead and support a virtual workforce,” says Edward Jones CHRO Kristin Johnson.

It’s essential that companies take actions that protect their employees, yet they are getting little federal guidance in what exactly that means.

The impact of COVID-19 on the workforce and business has only reinforced the importance of leave policies and the value of protection offered through disability insurance.

Finding ways to work with and embrace different communication styles can help make certain everyone feels like they have a voice at the table.

Those who are bereaved need comfort from each other and extra effort needs to be made to reach out and encourage employees to take advantage of their EAPs.

The coronavirus has highlighted the importance of child care benefits.

If you’ve been missing your office these past eight weeks, that feeling of dislocation may not dissipate even if you return to HQ. No matter what your office looks like, it will feel very different.

Digital health can transition employees back to work in a safe, cost effective and scalable way, says Andrew Le, CEO at Buoy Health.

Now more than ever, employees need options for meeting their short-term financial needs without compromising their long-term finances.

Social isolation of colleagues who may be grieving is a unique part of the crisis that is adding more mental strain on the workplace.

Providing nutritious food options for employees lowers healthcare costs and drives productivity and engagement.

Managers and leaders should plan monthly reintegration-related check-ins to determine whether everyone is on the same page about returning to work.

“Employers are grappling with the seemingly endemic skills gaps in healthcare, supply chain and skilled trade fields,” says Rachel Carlson, CEO of Guild Education.

Getting back to work requires thoughtful planning to ease employee fears and optimize mental and physical health.

The usual time to sign up for health insurance is during open enrollment but businesses and the Marketplace allow you to make changes to your health insurance anytime if certain major life events happen.