Quality of life benefits

EBN’s annual Benefits Forum & Expo, held last week in Boca Raton, Fla., included a special focus on wearable wellness and an inspirational keynote address from marathon swimmer Diana Nyad. In case you missed the event, here’s our coverage.

What tricks and treats do you have lined up for your employees to help them manage the frequently conflicting personal and professional priorities that arise during the holiday season?

As the obesity epidemic and overall sedentary lifestyle continue to cripple the American workforce – drastically increasing health care costs – consider the inspirational words of Diana Nyad. The record-holding swimmer, who accomplished a near-impossible swim from Cuba to Key West, Fla., centers on one key message to help jump start the population: "Never, ever give up."

In a world where instant gratification and customization are a way of life, workplace wellness programs haven’t kept pace, says Scott Haverlock, senior manager, talent & total rewards with Niagara Bottling, Inc. and a keynote speaker at this year’s Benefits Forum & Expo.

Because there are no state or federal laws defining or regulating workplace bullying, a new federal court decision illustrates why it may be difficult for employees to prove non-discriminatory bullying claims.

The movement towards eradicating the longstanding discrepancies of pay between male and female workers slowed this week when the the Paycheck Fairness Act failed to foster enough votes to advance.

Last week Apple unveiled its Apple Watch and Apple HealthKit app to much fanfare. But how these new technologies will fit into or transform the health care landscape remains to be seen. Catch up on EBN’s coverage and analysis of the event to see how these new technologies could impact the benefits business:

A panel of U.S. companies representing more than 1 million active employees and another 50 million retirees across the globe convened Tuesday in Washington, D.C. to unveil a campaign aimed at reducing the nation’s health care costs.

As interest increases in employers offering voluntary benefits, a particularly large number of employers are beginning to add a more robust range of voluntary benefits to improve morale of existing employees and attract new talent.

The impending post-retirement health costs of America’s baby boomers may still seem remote, but benefits managers would do well to help their older workers by working together to consider those potentially explosive concerns – and include them in a comprehensive employee health plan.

The National Restaurant Association’s Dawn Cacciotti is the recipient of EBN’s 2014 Judges’ Choice Benny Award.

Wellness vendors are excited about Apple’s potential foray into smartwatches. Today, the Cupertino, Calif.-based technology company is expected to announce its next generation of the iPhone. But for those in the employer health care market, their sights are set on the reported “iWatch” because of its potential use as a wearable fitness and health tracking device.

Since joining the NFL Players Association 25 years ago, Dana Hammonds has launched a successful financial education program and constantly fine-tuned educational topics and outreach to meet players’ needs. She is the recipient of EBN’s 2014 Benny Award for Leadership in Retirement Planning.

As the gap widens on whether e-cigarettes are part of the solution or still part of the greater problem of employee smoking cessation, their popularity is still on the rise. Experts from the health management group HealthFitness have provided some additional tips for employers taking on the challenge of creating e-cigarette policies in the workplace.

Millennials took a big financial hit during the recession, with wounds that are still fresh and unlikely to heal quickly, and a growing, under-utilized industry is hoping to build some new momentum.

Employers from Starbucks to ConAgra have begun partnering directly with academic institutions to create specialized programs for their employees. It’s a new spin on an older system, as benefit managers are trying to evaluate the long-term benefits of helping to pay for their workers’ education.

Commentary: How obesity is secretly hurting your employer clients’ bottom lines and what strategies you can help implement to combat it.

Online dating site eHarmony is venturing into the hiring and recruiting world with the launch of a new careers platform.

Minimum-wage activists seized on a decision against McDonald’s by the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel Tuesday, saying the move may make it easier to unionize workers and ultimately raise wages.

A new national bipartisan legislative effort is using an incentivized approach to push more employers to offer paid family and medical leave to their employees.