Voluntary benefits

Pet perks have become a critical component of employee wellness.

Caring for a healthy pet can cost employees an average of $700 to $2,000 per year in veterinary bills.

Voluntary benefits are playing a more critical role in helping employees achieve health and financial security.

President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled a $1.8 trillion, 10-year plan to ramp up federal support for American families, with a major expansion in spending on child care, paid leave and education.

Dana Simms reflects on changes in voluntary benefits during the pandemic and offers advice for up-and-coming advisers.

These executives manage benefits as a portfolio of investments in a healthy, productive workforce.

Benefit consultants wanted more simplicity when it comes to the group voluntary benefit solutions they offer their clients.

People who suffer with chronic pain say it interferes with daily life and work.

Misty Guinn, director of customer advocacy at Benefitfocus, discusses the current state of employee benefits.

Forty-one percent of parents are not aware of the benefits their employer offers them to help with child care and other family support.

Employees have increasingly been turning to their employers for support managing the stressors in their lives outside of work.

“Pets really have a positive impact on people,” says Melissa Marshall, vice president of people and organization at Banfield Pet Hospital.

The memo calls for Congress to work with the White House to include permanent paid leave in the $3 trillion “Build Back Better” recovery plan the Biden administration is preparing to roll out.

Demand for fertility benefits is rising as more employees delay starting families.

Telehealth benefits are an accessible way to offer benefits to at-risk employee groups.

“There is a sense of tribe that is lost when we’re all staring at each other on Zoom calls,” says Matt Macinnis, chief operating officer at Rippling.

More than one-third of parents, mostly women, have yet to return to jobs they lost largely because there’s no one to look after their kids.

Underrepresented employees are unfairly and unequally burdened by student loan debt.

Employees agree that their benefits have grown in importance since the start of the pandemic.

Employers want resources to get employees and their families vaccinated against COVID-19.