Quality of life benefits

While employers define the topic in different ways, most are focused solely on the physical.

When employers understand what really matters to employees, they can shape a total work and benefits experience that can have an impact on engagement and business performance.

Lower income employees present a particular challenge to employers as they seek to get a handle on managing their health plans.

The financial rewards of an engaged workforce can be significant for employers, and yet the correlation between higher levels of employee engagement and a company’s bottom line is not necessarily well-understood by senior executives.

Although the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently released some new proposed regulations on wellness programs, employers are still grappling with how to incorporate new health technologies into their programs.

The possibility of specialty drug pricing financially overwhelming business and union health plans is very real.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling in the Burwell v Hobby Lobby Stores case addressed in broad terms how exceptions to the Affordable Care Act’s mandate for contraceptive benefits coverage can be granted in the private sector, it left some unresolved questions both in the for-profit and in the nonprofit world.

Commentary: Providing accommodations for workers will disabilities can help reduce employee absenteeism and presenteeism, the type of productivity loss associated with employees working through medical conditions.

Most disabilities, on average, can keep an employee out of work for roughly three months, and yet, only about a quarter of employees say they currently have disability insurance.

Commentary: While an employee assistance program may be promoted to employees when it’s launched, it quickly becomes lost in the collection of employee benefits and is rarely utilized. To maximize its value, ask whether your prospective vendor includes some of the following services.