Quality of life benefits

I'm firmly on the record - both in this space and on EBN's blog, Employee Benefit Views - as a big advocate of telework. I've long said it's my favorite benefit and believe the corporate world would be a better place if only more employees were able to telework.

An increasing number of U.S. workers say they are willing to trade some of their pay for more secure and generous retirement and health care benefits, according to a survey released today by Towers Watson. In addition, nearly half of workers polled say they are worried about reductions in their retirement benefits over the next two years.

Average life expectancy has risen dramatically during the last century. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the number of centenarians, people who live to be 100, rose from 2,300 in 1950 to nearly 80,000 in 2010, and will exceed 600,000 by 2050. And according to the Society of Actuaries, a 65-year-old couple now has a 31% chance of at least one spouse living past the age of 95

The number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, the latest sign of recovery in the labor market.

Paycheck a little lighter this month? Despite the extension of the payroll tax cut, taxes are still taking a bigger slice of many workers' pay in 2012. And 2013 could be even worse.

Last week's report on unemployment shows that the economy continues to gather steam - payrolls grew by 200,000 and the jobless rate ticked downward again, to 8.5%.

Planners have been hearing about and preparing for the baby boom ever since the first 1946er became a client. Yet their single-minded focus on boomers may mean they've missed another demographic trend: the singles surge.

Small businesses created 55,000 jobs in December and increased working hours for employees, further evidence the labor market was strengthening.

Workers in the U.K. and Poland have the most generous statutory employee holiday entitlements while employees in the U.S., Canada, Philippines, China and Thailand have the least generous entitlements, according to an overview of employee regulation and employment practices released by Mercer.

Americans' trademark optimism is intact, at least in regard to retirement, despite the economic turbulence that is reportedly forcing many people to work longer and make do with less. In fact, many retirees found only one downside.

Not only are older American workers (age 50 and over) expecting to work longer, but many now say they expect to never retire, according to the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute. Data suggest the trend may be tied to the recent economic recession.

Mayo Clinic researchers have amassed additional evidence that secondhand smoke kills and smoke-free workplace laws save lives.

In 2009, the Civil Service Employees Association Employee Benefit Fund was at a crossroads. The benefit fund, which provides dental and vision benefits for more than 300,000 public employee union members and their dependents in New York State, was facing a double-digit spike in its health insurance costs and seemed resigned to renewing a policy with an insurer that was not meeting the needs of the fund's 60 employees.

Mercer has launched a new blog for employers that it hopes will be thought-provoking. M/THINK also includes data-rich infographics and commentaries on key business issues facing today’s employers.

The U.S. health care system is more effective at delivering high costs than quality care, according to a new study that found first-rate treatment for cancer but insufficient primary care for other ailments.

There may be only one day a year devoted to giving thanks. But expressing thanks regularly — year round — and doing it well is one of the most profitable business strategies you can have.

Amidst high U.S. unemployment and against the backdrop of a volatile economy, workers 18-34 years old are increasingly concerned about job loss and having to delay retirement, according to the 2011 Mercer Workplace Survey, a nationally representative survey of employees enrolled in their employer’s 401(k) and health plans.

The ranks of the nation's oldest residents are growing quickly now that people who reach age 90 are expected to live longer than ever before, according to a study released on Thursday.

When it comes to retirement, many middle class Americans said 80 is the new 65 and plan to delay retirement because of worries over money, according to a new survey.

A series of interactive computer exercises designed to encourage healthy eating and physical activity didn't help keep middle school students from gaining extra weight, according to a study in the Netherlands.