Wellness

The case, EEOC v. Orion Energy Systems, serves as a reminder for advisers and their employer clients, when putting together a wellness plan, to pay careful attention to how the EEOC defines liability.

In what could serve as a caution to employers using health and fitness apps to engage workers in their wellness programs, researchers at Brigham Young University are warning over the trend of developers basing their platforms' rewards on gamification.

Many benefit managers – especially those at smaller companies – have never had to help an employee with an accommodation at work or help chart their path back to work after a disability leave.

In this series, EBN profiles three companies with winning wellness programs. The University of Michigan shares how its network of 400 wellness champions is key to the program’s success.

While use of electronic cigarettes is growing in popularity, employers are starting to take a look at adopting policies on use of the device at work, and how to protect workers from coming into contact with second-hand vapors.

In this series, EBN profiles three companies with winning wellness programs. Whirlpool Corporation, the global manufacturer of major home appliances, began its exploration into wellness in 2009.

Baird has a rich 95-year history of providing financial advice and services to its clients and being a best place to work for its associates, earning it ninth spot on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2014. It has been included in the magazine’s national rankings since 2004, which was right around the same time it started its first wellness program.

Benefit managers looking to get more training in wellness have a new option with an online program from the Institute for Wellness Education.

The IRS has issued its first adjustment to the ACA definition of “affordability” for the 2015 plan year. Building a solid ACA compliance plan with your employer clients means understanding the act clearly provides for such changes.

The AMA’s designation of obesity as a disease promises to gain more medical coverage for treatment options, but could cost your employer clients in the short-term.

Commentary: Meditation is not just some quirky, hippy philosophy; it is actually grounded in physiology. Some companies have taken these benefits so seriously that they have dedicated quiet rooms within the office so employees can meditate.

Commentary: Here are some tips from blogger Jeff Hyman on how to ensure employers’ wellness programs are on track, including top-level buy-in and consistency.

Opinion: While some thought that expensive, broad-based health screening programs were a thing of the past, the AHA's policies may support practices that should have been abandoned long ago.

Wellness and retirement educational tools are paramount in an ever-changing landscape of employee benefits, and Mercer has taken a unique approach in its newest endeavor, Mercer Benefits U.

Funding for Social Security Disability Insurance is set to run out by 2016, and if no further action from Congress is taken, SSDI recipients could see a 20% reduction in benefits.

Over the next decade, the number of cancer survivors is expected to increase by 30%, and improvements in both detection and treatment have led cancer to become, in some cases, more of a chronic condition than a terminal illness.

Employers are spending more money to keep their employees healthy, even if it means sacrificing other benefits.

The National Business Group on Health this week recognized 63 U.S. employers for their continued efforts in promoting healthy work environments and encouraging employee wellness.

Wondering if your wellness program is delivering the goods or just delivering good profits to your vendor? Intel and GE’s joint venture Validation Institute will tell you. Think of it as a new sheriff in the wild west of wellness ROI, armed with science and a calculator.

A nearly 7% spike in health care costs in 2015 can be attributed to a revitalized economy, the modernization of health care technology and the drastic increase in specialty drug use.