Less than half of small businesses offer benefits
Source: https://eba.benefitnews.com
By Tristan Lejeune
Less than half of U.S. small businesses offer benefits to employees, according to research from LIMRA released this week. The firm finds that 47% of those with two to 99 employees offer benefits, the lowest level in two decades.
In its survey of 754 private small businesses, LIMRA spoke to the individuals who made or shared decision-making regarding business insurance and employee offerings. Samples were weighed by company size, industry and region based on U.S. Census Bureau data.
Seventy-eight percent of small American businesses are family-owned, LIMRA reports, and such firms had a sharper decline in benefit penetration (47% down to 40%) than non-family-owned ones between 2005 and 2012. Female-owned businesses, which accounted for a quarter of the total, tend to be smaller, produce less revenue and are less likely to offer insurance benefits than male-owned firms (37% versus 50%).
“The recession has had an impact on smaller employers’ ability to offer benefits, particularly those with fewer than ten employees,” says Kim Landry, LIMRA Product Research analyst. “The weak economy caused a lot of small firms to close, while the new firms cropping up to replace them are less likely to offer benefits. Many small businesses are also hesitant to add new benefits until the economy improves.”
Landry says that among those who do still offer benefits, health care and pharmacy remains the most popular by far, as well as the most common.
“These benefits provide an opportunity for small business owners to obtain coverage not only for their employees, but also for themselves and their families,” notes Landry. “We also found dental and vision coverage to be common offerings among small businesses, as these products tend to be very popular with employees.”
Life insurance also is offered frequently, because of its low cost and ease of administration, LIMRA reports. Accident insurance and short- and long-term disability, however, have what LIMRA calls fairly low penetration rates.
Census Bureau data reveal that 35% of the U.S. workforce is in small businesses, which account for 98% of American companies.
ERISA Bonding - Not as Easy as it Looks
Separating ERISA bonds from fiduciary liability insurance
Source: https://roughnotes.com
By Michael J. Moody, MBA, ARM
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) has been the law of the land since 1974, with regard to employee benefits. Its specific purpose is to protect the assets of millions of American workers so that funds are available when they retire. It's a federal law that, in essence, sets minimum standards for private company pension plans. Most of its requirements took effect on January 1, 1975. While it does not require corporations to create pension plans, it does establish minimum standards for those that do start pension plans.
For the most part, the key sections of the law have remained as they were in 1975. One section (Section 412) has been a source of concern for employers and their insurance agents because it deals directly with the Act's bonding requirements. In response to numerous requests, the Department of Labor, which oversees ERISA, published a Field Assistance Bulletin (#2008-04) that addresses a number of issues surrounding the bonding requirements. While the Bulletin is helpful in understanding the requirements, it was not meant to change any existing parts of Section 412. The Bulletin provides a set of 42 questions and answers that address many of the areas where employers have requested further clarification.
ERISA Bonding 101
At the most basic level, the bonding requirements are pretty straightforward. The Act, for example, requires that "every fiduciary of an ERISA-covered employee benefit plan and every person who handles funds or other property of such plans must be covered by a bond." There are, however, a number of exceptions to this requirement, as there are with most of the other specific requirements and, as such, are beyond the scope of this article. What follows, however, are a number of requirements that generally apply in all situations.
Bond limits must be issued for at least 10% of the amount of the funds handled, subject to a minimum limit of $1,000 per plan and a maximum of $500,000 per plan.
Several other points to keep in mind regarding the bonding requirements:
• Bonds cannot be obtained from just any bonding or insurance company. They must be placed with a surety company or reinsurer that is listed by name on the IRS's Listing of Approved Sureties as noted in IRS Department Circular 570.
• No plan or party-in-interest may have any control or significant financial interest in the surety or reinsurer, or in an agent or broker who arranges for the bond.
• Bonds must be written for a minimum of one year. Additionally, the bond must also have a one-year period after termination to discover losses that occurred during the original term of the bond.
• Coverage from the bond must be from the first dollar of loss; thus, the bond cannot have a deductible feature.
• An employee benefit plan can be insured on its own bond, or it can be added as a named insured to an existing employer bond as long as it satisfies ERISA's minimum requirements.
Other than the requirements noted above, the DOL allows quite a bit of flexibility with the bond. For example, a plan may be covered under a single bond or one bond that covers multiple plans. Permissible bond forms can range from individual, named schedule, position schedule or even a blanket bond.
Potential trouble spots
One area of considerable confusion that has continued to exist since the original Act was passed is the difference between an ERISA bond and fiduciary liability insurance. ERISA bonds are in fact fidelity bonds that protect the plan against fraud or dishonesty by individuals who handle plan assets. These bonds are a specific requirement of the ERISA legislation. On the other hand, fiduciary liability insurance generally protects the employer and/or fiduciaries from losses due to a breach of fiduciary duty. While fiduciary liability insurance is not a requirement under ERISA, many employers have chosen to provide this important coverage in their corporate insurance portfolio. To complicate the situation further, the insurance industry offers both the bond and fiduciary liability coverage under a single policy. While this type of comprehensive protection is very useful, it needs to be remembered that only the bond is required under ERISA. Additional coverages are available at the discretion of the employer.
Due in large part to the types of risks involved, there are few risk mitigation strategies that can be employed to lower the risk of loss. However, one method of risk mitigation that is being used and suggested by some consultants revolves around "credentialing" of all internal personnel and outside service providers. Typically this approach will require an approval and adoption of a written policy statement. The key element would be conducting criminal background checks and other prudent investigations to reconfirm the suitability of individuals serving in fiduciary positions or otherwise acting in a capacity covered by ERISA's bonding requirements. Care should be taken to comply with the applicable notice and consent requirements for conducting third-party background checks under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other applicable laws.
While this may initially appear to be overkill, it should be remembered that ERISA generally prohibits individuals convicted of certain crimes from serving as plan fiduciaries. Further, it also prohibits plan sponsors, fiduciaries or others from knowingly hiring, retaining, employing or otherwise allowing these convicted individuals to handle plan assets for the 13-year period after the later of their conviction or the end of their imprisonment.
Additionally, the credentialing process should also include a review that verifies the sufficiency and adequacy of the bonding that is in effect for both internal personnel as well as outside service providers. Unless a service provider can provide a legal opinion that adequately demonstrates that an ERISA bonding exemption applies, plan sponsors and fiduciaries should require the third-party service provider to provide proof of appropriate bonding that is in compliance with ERISA and other appropriate laws.
Conclusion
While there are some exceptions to ERISA's bonding requirements, the fact remains that a bond is required for every pension plan. The bond must extend coverage to those persons whose position requires them to come in direct contact with or exercise discretion over plan assets. Further, the bonds must be in amounts and form acceptable to the DOL. They must comply with all the provisions as outlined in Section 412 of the ERISA legislation.
Fiduciary liability insurance is not required by ERISA, but it can provide agents and brokers with an excellent opportunity to broach the subject with an employer. Losses following the recent financial crisis have increased, and today's fiduciary liability policies offer a variety of coverage enhancements and can provide an employer with a number of advantages, while covering many gaps in their corporate insurance programs. Becoming a key knowledge source for employers in a narrow area such as this can be a real door opener for any agency.
Training, Benefits Can Bring Millennials Around
Source: United Benefit Advisors
Maybe it's an age thing.
An annual survey by the Center for Professional Excellence notes that the perceived professionalism of entry-level (and thus usually younger) workers by their managers has slipped during the past five years, with about 45 percent of those polled saying their employees' work ethic has worsened, according to a report by Workforcemagazine. Respondents cited a "too-casual" view of work (87 percent), workers not being self-starters (72 percent) and "a lack of ownership in one's work" (69 percent).
The survey reflects an emerging trend that poses a tough challenge to HR professionals: how to encourage "millennials" -- today's youngest workers -- to adapt and succeed within a company's business culture.
The first step, according to Joel Gross of Coalition Technologies, is to train young workers from the start on what is to be expected in their jobs. Aaron McDaniel, an author and millennial himself, agrees.
"We haven't necessarily been taught how to be successful in a working environment," McDaniel told Workforce.
Creating a strong line of communication about expectations is only part of the equation when trying to elevate the performance of millennials. As with most employees, compensation can serve as a strong motivator for millennials, as well.
After seeing wages stagnate during the recent economic recession, today's young workers say they prefer guaranteed salary increases over benefits -- a shift from employees who came before them -- according to a recent study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). In prior studies, medical insurance benefits topped the list for young workers as the most important form of compensation, according to Edwin Koc, a director at NACE.
"We've basically asked the same question since 2007 and far and away, employer-paid medical insurance was the No. 1 benefit that they were seeking," Koc said in a FOX Business report. "[Now] they want to be assured that their starting salary is not going to be what they have for the next five years, but that they can actually move up a little bit."
While salary is always a major factor in compensation discussions, employers should be diligent about educating workers about the value of other employer-sponsored benefits, experts say. This includes the importance of health coverage (even for young and seemingly healthy workers), retirement plan options and even tuition reimbursement, if the company offers it.
Employers also should be open-minded if millennials make suggestions about new benefits that would work for them, said Tracy McCarthy, chief HR officer at SilkRoad.
"I appreciate when employees ask this and I take it as an opportunity to help less-seasoned employees understand business financial concepts and how benefits play into the equation," McCarthy told FOX Business. "Most employees expect and appreciate transparency."
The Check is NOT in the Mail
Source: https://analytics.ubabenefits.comBy Lesa Caputo, Benefit Advisor
The Reality of Health Care Budgeting Shortfalls and the Impact on Employers Now and in the Future
I can’t remember the last time that I went out to my mailbox to check for new mail on a Saturday afternoon but, nonetheless, I was shocked when I heard it announced on the morning news recently that Saturday mail delivery would be ending in order to help the U.S. Postal Service find some relief to its serious budgetary issues. However, my shock was not that the good old “snail mail” service was struggling or even that it needed the $2 billion it estimates it will save annually by ceasing Saturday mail delivery.1 My shock was that this new “savings” would not achieve even 50 percent of the pennies in the couch needing to be found to pay the $5.6 billion annual retiree health care fund that the USPS was unable to pay in 2012, despite federal law that they fund this benefit in advance for future retirees.2 So aside from the “benefits” of a tan and the great calf muscles received from many years of mail delivery, does this mean that those who have devoted their entire careers to a government entity with the expectation of certain other benefits (namely that their health care benefits will be paid as promised upon retirement and until death) just isn’t going to happen? The envelope please...
What will happen to the burgeoning population of retirees in future decades who find not only their retirement underfunded but also their health care? And what will the impact of the difficult decisions that these generations will have to make be on Medicare, Medicaid, long-term care costs and the commercial health care insurance industry that already does a fair amount of subsidization for shortfalls that already exist in these programs now? Read on about the real date-sensitive material enclosed…
As America ages, U.S. employers face an emerging business challenge due to the impacts to both corporate health care costs and employee productivity resulting from the eldercare and caregiving crises. A recent study shows that eldercare costs U.S. businesses more than $33 billion in lost productivity annually through absenteeism, distraction, replacement, reduced hours and more. 1
The business disruption breaks down like this -- 12 percent take leaves of absences, 36 percent miss workdays and 40 percent rearrange their schedule. 2 And millions more fall into the category of presenteeism -- physically at work but mentally dealing with distractions that impair productivity. Employees who’ve faced caregiving issues are increasingly concerned about their own long-term care. With the average cost for a skilled nursing facility topping $79,935 per year, skyrocketing care costs are the No. 1 risk to a secure retirement for baby boomers.3 Not only is long-term care more costly than most people realize, but also (contrary to popular belief) health insurance, disability plans, even Medicare and Medicaid, don’t cover many of the care options most people would choose.
So what can employers do today to address these issues and reduce the amount of junk mail invading their employees mental inboxes? There are several solutions:
- Health and Wellness Initiatives: Whether your organization already embraces the investment in a truly integrated wellness program that rewards and incentivizes healthy behaviors or you are in the initial stages of investigating the true return on investment (ROI) in such a program, make sure that your wellness program includes mechanisms to help identify, address and provide resources for employees suffering the negative effects of stress -- including being a member of the “sandwich generation.
- Core Long-Term Care Benefits with “Buy Up” option: Although there has been a significant exodus of carriers from the long-term care insurance industry of late, there are still a couple of well-established carriers offering “true group” coverage, whereby the employer can purchase a basic group long-term care program to fund for their employees and allow employees to “buy up” to a higher level of benefits at their own cost on a voluntary basis. No matter how long-term care benefits are offered to employees, it is essential that caregiving awareness and education be coupled with the introduction, enrollment and implementation of a successful long-term care plan.
- Group Retiree Health Plans: More and more employers are finding that their current provider of medical benefits for their active employees and retirees under age 65 is not interested in insuring their retiree population of those age 65+ in coordination with Medicare. In response to this need, UBA’s Strategic Allies such as The Hartford are offering stand-alone group policies to employers that may be funded by the employer or paid by the retiree to fill the gaps in their Medicare medical and pharmacy benefits. Large employers that are self-funding their medical benefits may especially want to inquire with a UBA Partner advisor about the potential reduction to their claims liability from implementing an insured group retiree health plan.
- FMLA Absence Management: There is no doubt that larger employers experiencing a high volume of FMLA-related leaves of absence appreciate the peace of mind and convenience of outsourcing this labor-intensive and very complicated HR responsibility. But convenience aside, there is also a very quantifiable potential cost saving reason for employers to consider investing in a FMLA absence management program. When maternity is excluded, caregiving accounts for 40 percent of all FMLA leaves and those who are on FMLA leave for caregiving are four times as likely to file an LTD claim. LTD claims are typically coupled with high medical costs. And so thecirculation continues until the final notice arrives C.O.D.
The Megro Benefits Company has access to discounted premiums, fees and administration for all of these solutions and more. Contact us to discuss these ideas in more detail.
Employers who make it a priority to deliver a well-intentioned employee benefits package to ensure their employees peace of mind about their futures will find the return on their investment in the form of first-class employees reporting for work every day of the week -- and maybe even on Saturdays!
References:
- Washington Post: Mandate Pushed Postal Service into the red for first quarter, February 2013
- The MetLife Caregiving Cost Study: Productivity Losses to U.S. Business, June 2006
- The MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home & Home Care Costs, September 2009
- Caregiving in the United States, National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, 2004
Do Employees Understand the Value of Your Benefit Offerings?
David Ortloff, from Dillingham, A UBA Partner Firm
Value is a funny thing. What one person might value, another couldn’t care less about. Either way, you never want to assume value is there -- especially when it comes to how your employees perceive the employee benefit program being offered. After all, your employee benefits costs are likely some of the largest costs on your business ledger, so why spend so much money on something that isn’t valued by the people you receive them?
Many companies out there work hard to find and implement the best employee benefits program that fits the perceived needs of the employees. They utilize the top carriers in the marketplace and acquire quality coverage at the lowest price possible. They do a great job implementing coverage, getting applications and paperwork in to the carriers on time. So far, so good, right? More often than not, companies stop there and give themselves a pat on the back. They don’t take that crucial extra step to ensure their employees actually understand and appreciate the true value in what is being offered.
Are you getting every penny’s worth of value out of your current employee benefits offering?
A number of issues can erode the value of a benefit offering in an employee’s mind. Here are just three all-too-common examples:
1. Poor Communication
a. The positive aspects of a benefits offering aren’t communicated effectively
b. Employees lack an understanding of their coverage options and how the coverage actually works
2. Poor Employee Advocacy
a. Employees don’t feel like anyone is watching out for their best interests with claims issues, etc.
3. Poor Perception of Benefits Offering
a. Organizations don’t have a legitimate comparison of their benefits offering with other employers in a region, employer size or industry.
In studies, employees have been found to have a higher regard for "below average" benefits offerings that have been communicated well, compared with "above average" offerings that aren’t communicated well. With that in mind, imagine how much value could be built in your employees’ minds if the benefits offering is properly communicated? Perception is reality.
Often, creating more value with your employees doesn’t mean spending more. On many occasions, less expensive types of coverage, or even voluntary (employee-paid) coverage can be valued more by employees than the current benefits offering. Many employers simply never stop to ask their employees what types of coverage they value.
Don’t be an employer that provides a quality benefits offering that is perceived as "ho-hum" by your employees. There’s not much value there.
Balancing Benefits Communication
Source: https://www.hreonline.com
By Mark McGraw
Recent research shows a majority of companies struggle with communicating benefits information to employees on a year-round basis. Experts urge HR leaders to incorporate the technology and tools at their disposal to make communication strategies more successful, and to document their efforts to ensure consistency.
HR professionals know that a healthy workforce generally equates to a more productive workforce. And, HR professionals know they need to consistently encourage healthy behaviors among employees. Actually driving this important message home on a regular basis, however, seems easier said than done.
A recent Benz Communication survey of 298 benefits professionals finds less than one-third of employers communicating with employees throughout the year about benefits program information, despite nearly 80 percent of respondents citing "getting employees engaged year-round" as one of their biggest challenges.
Economics and antiquated approaches are two of the biggest culprits behind breakdowns in benefits communication, says Jennifer Benz, founder and CEO of Benz Communications, headquartered in San Francisco.
"Part of the issue is bandwidth and capacity. Benefits teams have been trimmed back while their responsibilities get bigger and bigger," she says. "You have large organizations with small teams responsible for all aspects of benefits -- regulatory, compliance and communication.
"You also have a lot of companies still using old tools that make it expensive and more difficult to manage communication," Benz continues. "This kind of connects to the bandwidth issue, and makes communicating year-round impossible. But if organizations transition to new tools like social media, blogs and websites, they could better manage ongoing communication."
For example, many organizations still rely on print newsletters and/or brochures to relay benefits-related information to employees, she says. "Some companies still feel that individuals can't rely on online channels if they don't have computer access during the day. But that's just not true. Print newsletters are expensive and take time to put together. And, the same can be said of brochures and employee meetings as well. Trying to orchestrate them takes a lot of time. These channels are viable, and can be used to complement more modern methods, but they require a lot more resources."
Creating a website outside the company's firewall that includes video and other multimedia resources is just one relatively simple example of how embracing technology can aid benefits communication, Benz continues.
"These tools just make the message easier to understand and more accessible. Benefits managers have been focusing on communication, but there's still a big gap between the way benefits communication works and the rest of the world communicates."
But, however successful your efforts in getting employees to read benefits materials -- in print and/or online ? may be the challenge of getting employees engaged in health benefits programs remains, says Helen Darling, president and CEO of the Washington-based National Business Group on Health.
"People have always done very little related to their benefits until a problem arises or when they are required to actively enroll in plans," says Darling. "Inertia tends to be one of the most powerful forces in health benefits."
To spur employees into action, employers "have to do a number of things," she says, "such as . . . paying employees through reduced premiums or money into accounts to encourage engagement.
"And, more effective, targeted and clever communication can help ensure more success. HR can evaluate what they've done in the past, segment their populations, target communications to them, use diverse approaches and track which methods and messages are most effective."
The study does suggest some movement on this front, with 56 percent of participants reporting the effectiveness of their benefits-communication efforts has improved during the last three years.
"While it may not always feel like it, we're at a very exciting time for HR and benefits communication," says Jim Hoff, principal at Aon Hewitt's communication practice in Chicago.
"The role of effective communication is more important than ever, as organizations need to get their people healthy and productive, and need to show an increasing return on the investments they're making in people and benefits programs," says Hoff. "Plus, there are more and better tools and tactics at our disposal to truly market benefits programs and drive new behaviors."
Despite making strides, however, nearly half (45 percent) of survey respondents indicate they still aren't satisfied with their current communication strategies, with another 28 percent describing themselves as "ambivalent" about their approach.
First and foremost, successful benefits-communication strategies should be comprehensive, and not just a calendar of benefits-related activities, says Hoff.
"HR leaders and benefits communicators can ask questions like, 'What are the goals of the business and HR overall, and how can communication efforts drive behaviors that will achieve those goals? How can we best segment and target our audience to ensure we're delivering the right messages to the right people via the right channel at the right time? And how can we best use the channels and technologies available in a multichannel approach -- traditional web and email, mobile sites, text messaging and very targeted use of print?' "
Beyond using the technology and tools at HR's disposal, communication plans should start with understanding the three-to-five year strategic priorities of the business -- healthcare cost management, growth by acquisition, improving productivity and customer service, and attracting and retaining talent, for example, says Hoff.
"Associated with each of these priorities are one- to two-year HR outcomes," he continues, "with a focus on measurable return and a few outcomes that are aggressive but achievable. From there, a communication strategy can be tied to those outcomes.
Within each of these focus areas, the strategy should address the key messages for each critical audience as well as stakeholders and opinion leaders within the organization, says Hoff. An effective approach should also include what he describes as a "multi-channel blend of push and pull communication, so that busy employees get the information -- and motivation -- they need while having access to additional information when they want it. And, on top of all this should be a relentless focus on making it easy and relevant."
The entire strategy should be documented as well, in order to track and measure consistency and progress throughout the year, adds Benz.
"Without having some sort of documented strategy, you can't tell if what you're doing is effective," she says. "I think HR leaders can make this a priority within their organizations, and can elevate the role of benefits to something that's critical to business, rather than just being thought of as a necessary administrative function."
4 Unique Employee Benefits You've Never Heard Of
By Rachel Brown | Investopedia
What does your company offer you beyond your salary? Help with childcare, flexible working or a discounted gym membership?
Employers are finding that supporting and incentivizing their staff improves motivation and engagement, which in turn impacts productivity. So, employee benefits are now frequent features of employment, but what about those benefits that are outside of the norm? Here we look at some of the more unusual benefits in the workplace. Perks you may not have heard of ... until now.
Unlimited Vacation
Red Frog Event Company claims that its employee benefits are "the world's best," and with unlimited vacation as part of its package, it might be difficult to argue the claim. Can this be true, and how does anyone get any work done?
CEO Joe Reynolds insists that unlimited vacation is exactly as it sounds. "Taking vacation at Red Frog is encouraged, and even celebrated. It's not abused. Simply make sure your work is getting done and make sure you're covered while you're away," he said. "The pessimists and naysayers have said this policy would either be abused or that it's not entirely real, and that our employees feel pressured to never take off. I assure you they're underestimating a positive work culture and are simply wrong."
If unlimited vacation is not incentive enough, after five years of working for the company, employees are rewarded for their loyalty with a four-week, full-paid trip to Africa, Asia, Europe or South America for them and a friend. It's no wonder they only hire one in every 750 applicants who apply to work there.
Shopping Loans
Umpqua Regional Bank has a famously quirky work environment, which includes morning huddles, in-office games and 40 hours of paid time off per year to volunteer. One of its most unusual perks is its shopping loans.
Have you ever found that the cost of a professional wardrobe is a stretch? Well, Umpqua has found a solution. It will loan its staff the money to buy their work wear. With a loan of up to $1,000 a year, repayable through payroll deductions, at this bank there's certainly no reason to look scruffy.
Go Green
Today, companies are committed to greener policies, but none more so than David Evans and Associates. The company offers its employees cash incentives to ditch their cars and go green. Staff can claim up to $6 a day if they commute to work by walking, biking, carpooling or riding the bus.
Life After Death
Google is a pioneer when it comes to offering a great package to its employees, but this benefit, launched in 2011, takes looking after your staff to a whole new level. Should one of the U.S. Google team die while still employed by the company, the employee's surviving spouse or partner will be given 50% of his or her salary for ten years after his or her death.
There is no small print, which states a minimum employment time, so the majority of Google's 34,000 staff are eligible. "One of the things we realized recently was that one of the harshest but most reliable facts of life is that at some point most of us will be confronted with the death of our partners," said Laszlo Bock, Google's Senior Vice President of People Operations. "It's a horrible, difficult time no matter what, and every time we went through this as a company we tried to find ways to help the surviving spouse of the Googler who'd passed away."
The Bottom Line
There is plenty of evidence that employee benefits and perks improve retention of staff, staff morale and productivity. But perhaps we should end with the words of a company that leads the way in wacky and innovative staff perks. "It turns out that the reason we're doing these things for employees is not because it's important to the business, but simply because it's the right thing to do. When it comes down to it, it's better to work for a company who cares about you than a company who doesn't. And from a company standpoint, that makes it better to care than not to care," said Bock.
Employee Benefits Plans: Getting The Focus Back To The Workplace
Source: https://insuranceontheweb.ca
According to a study by ComPsych Corporation, personal relationships at home are the top distractions for employees while at work. Business owners reading the study may not be aware that many of these issues have support within their employee benefits plans.
The responses for top distractions were:
22% – Relationships at home
16% – Relationships in the work place
15% – Financial / Legal problems
11% – Child or caregiving issues
6% – Personal health concerns
4% – Communication (cell phones, instant messaging, social media)
7% – Other
A Healthy Work/Life Balance
How can an employer help get an employee’s focus back to the workplace, increase productivity, and create a more stable working environment?
There are resources within employee benefits plans such as implementing an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that provide allow employers to provide a 24/7 confidential resource for their workforce. EAP provides information, tools, and counseling services that help your employees get through the situations that create stress in their lives from a qualified professional with the comfort of confidentiality.
Over the years it has been proven employees use these services when available in their employee benefits plans. When employees have a professional to consult with during a crisis it takes the stress of life out of the workplace. This in turn improves productivity & creates a more stable, reliable employee.
A healthy employee is more present and focused at the task at hand. There are thousands of distractions that take an employee’s focus away from their work but the important ones to manage aren’t blocking Solitare or Facebook, it’s ensuring the health of your workers. Benefits that cover spouses and children also offer employees the peace of mind a working parent needs when bills not covered by Canadian health care come up.
Getting the Word Out on the Positives of Employee Benefits
BY PAULA AVEN GLADYCH
Source: benefitspro.com
Employers who want to boost employee satisfaction with their benefits need to evaluate their employees’ current benefits experience and identify ways to improve the process through more effective communications and education.
A new study by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America shows a strong relationship still exists between an employee’s benefits enrollment experience and their perceived value of the benefits that their employer offers.
According to the study, 70 percent of employees who were able to receive benefits communications in their preferred channels said they were very confident in their benefits selections versus just 57 percent of those who did not. Workers who were able to enroll in their preferred channel were significantly more satisfied with their overall benefits package (70 percent).
Thirty-seven percent of employers say their benefits communications are very effective in helping employees make the right benefits decisions, and only 34 percent of employees say that the benefits communications they receive are very effective.
“Employee benefits are not the easiest to understand to begin with and as healthcare continues to evolve with employees needing to take a greater role in the decision-making process, the right education and communication is critical,” said Elena Wu, vice president, Group Marketing and Learning Services at Guardian.
“As we gear up for the annual open enrollment period, it is important for employers to realize that the benefits selection process must be top-notch, and communicated effectively, in order to ensure the highest employee satisfaction possible.”
Preferences vary by employee, so single-focused communication efforts, such as only communicating benefits-related information via email, is not likely to have as great of an impact as a benefits communication plan that encompasses multiple channels, the study found, especially during the enrollment period.
Almost 20 percent of employees said they would like to receive benefits communications through six or more options.
When exposed to the same message through different mediums, employees said they are more likely to understand their options.
Eighty percent of workers appreciate being able to sign up for benefits online so they can enroll when and where they choose, and 9 in 10 workers say they are quite satisfied with the online enrollment experience.
The study shows that when employees have benefits communications delivered in the channels they prefer, and are able to enroll in the channel they prefer, they are more likely to make more informed enrollment decisions and ultimately feel more satisfied with their benefits.
This employee confidence in benefits choices then reflects well on their employers, leading to greater loyalty. Employees who are more confident and satisfied with their benefits selections have a higher perceived value of their company’s benefits.
These employees go on to have longer tenure with their current employers and are more likely to say that they plan to stay in their current positions, the study found. Although many factors can affect engagement, it is clear that an effort to enhance the employee’s benefits experience overall can play a major role in creating a positive outcome for not just the worker but also their employer.
The data from this study came from two separate Internet surveys conducted concurrently among 1,667 benefits plan participants and 1,071 benefits plan sponsors. Plan participant results were conducted among those age 22 or older who work full time for a company with at least five employees.
The plan sponsor survey was conducted among employee benefits decision makers, including business executives, business owners, human resources professionals, and financial management professionals. The Center for Strategy Research, a Boston-based, independent, market research firm, conducted the interviews from May-June 2012.
Employer-Provided Healthcare: One Size Does Not Fit All
By Tom Starner
Source: hreonline.com
Offering all participants in a healthcare program equal access and opportunity to receive quality care and medical purchasing efficiency should be the goal of any organization. Experts say eliminating structural and language barriers, and respecting the cultural context of each individual employee or their family members, are the keys to success.
In the world of consumer decision-making, it's very common for buying patterns to be guided by ethnic and gender preferences and differences.
There is little doubt the same is true of healthcare, but in this case, that diversity can prove costly both for employers, via rising healthcare bills, and employees, who may not receive the best possible health outcomes.
Some call it "culturally competent healthcare." To others, it is described as "targeted" health.
Whatever it's called, the emerging trend is best defined as an approach that offers all participants in the healthcare process equal access and opportunity to receive quality care and medical purchasing efficiency. How? By eliminating structural/language barriers and respecting the cultural context of each individual employee or their family members.
While a quick search will find that the concept has existed for more than a decade, employers faced with rising healthcare-benefit costs across the country are turning to this strategy. In fact, eight such employers -- Aetna, American Express, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, H.J. Heinz, Verizon, Pitney Bowes (in partnership with UnitedHealthcare), Cigna and Wyndham Worldwide -- recently were recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the White House Business Council and the National Business Group on Health for their efforts in reducing healthcare disparities in the workplace.
Stamford, Conn.-based Pitney Bowes, for example, worked with UnitedHealthcare to improve the health status of the former's employees and engage the company's Spanish-preference employees. UHC brought in a dedicated team of Hispanic professionals -- Latino Health Solutions -- to improve the health and well-being of its Hispanic/Latino members.
Mary Bradley, director of healthcare planning at Pitney Bowes, explains that as the company began to develop an ethnically diverse workforce, it needed to do more to help specific employee populations get the most out of their healthcare benefits. In one case, the company acquired some new facilities where employees had a basic understanding of English, which was not enough to use their benefits appropriately.
"That was a defining moment for us, knowing we had to do something different," she says. "We started with a basic focus group that spoke both English and Spanish, and went from there."
For one, it was difficult for those employees to find Spanish-speaking providers. In many cases, their children were translating the benefits information. Also, an unexpected finding was "informal" local leadership felt pressured to provide translation for co-workers.
"People were always clustering around them, constantly asking them questions, and they were distracted from doing their own benefits decision-making," she says.
Of course, using informal trainers was not a good solution. Enter the partnership with UHC and its Latino Health Solutions group.
"LHS had initially focused on smaller markets," says Bradley, adding that Pitney Bowes, which is a $5.3 billion company with 29,000 employees worldwide, recently launched an Asian-American effort as well. "We were the first employer to integrate their services into a national self-insured program."
As far as bottom line value goes, Pitney Bowes is certain that the strategy is a win-win for both employees and the company.
"We know this is important work, because employee health is a huge driver of quality of life [for employees] and productivity [for Pitney Bowes]," says Johnna Torsone, the company's executive vice president and chief human resources officer. "It is equally important for leaders to share best practices so that more companies and people can benefit from these efforts and learnings."
Aetna, another company honored for its efforts, offers, among other tools and features, a dashboard that helps identify health conditions that are more common among ethnic and racial minority populations.This information is used to create targeted programs to improve health outcomes.
In the past 11 years, Aetna initiatives include Breast Health Ethnic Disparities Initiative, Beginning Right Maternity Program, African-American Hypertension Study, and ER Utilization in Minority Asthmatic Populations. Also, a key component of the effort has been the company-supported and employee-managed employee resource groups. ERGs have helped reduce barriers to collecting racial and ethnic data on a voluntary basis to help create more culturally focused disease management and wellness programs.
"We must continue to develop targeted programs that address differences in healthcare among people of different races and ethnic backgrounds," says Aetna's Dr. Wayne Rawlins, national medical director.
Another insurer, Philadelphia-based Cigna, launched its Health Disparities Council in 2008. It comprises more than 200 employee volunteers from across the company's departments who facilitate the exchange of ideas, share knowledge, and identify internal and external opportunities to address healthcare disparities in culturally sensitive and medically appropriate ways.
Also, a key part of Cigna's work has been improving the cultural competency and linguistic sensitivity of its staff. More than 20,000 employees have completed cultural competency training and all bilingual employees are tested for proficiency. The company has also adapted into Spanish and traditional Chinese its "Words We Use" guide for simpler communications.
"It gets back to the concept of 'know me as an individual,' which is fundamental to our strategy," says David Cordani, Cigna's president and chief executive officer. "If we're going to be successful at helping people improve their health, we have to reach them at an appropriate time with meaningful messages that relate to their unique status."
While the eight companies cited are leading the way, there is still much work to be done within the HR and employers. For example, a study by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies calculated the direct and indirect costs of racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare in the United States for the period 2003 through 2006 was $229.6 billion.
Also, a 2008 survey by the Harvard School of Public Health of 609 large public and private employers and 252 health plans showed that nearly all health plans (90 percent) and most employers (58 percent, with the percentage increasing with size of employer) cite healthcare disparities. However, only three percent of employer respondents analyzed differences in health plan performance by race and ethnicity or chose plans that addressed racial and ethnic disparities.
Jim Winkler, the chief innovation officer for health and benefits consulting at Aon Consulting, in Norwalk, Conn., says he sees this growing trend as a part of a broader strategy that requires employers to finally stop thinking that everyone is the same.
"It is about being culturally aware, age and gender aware, and understanding the different mindsets these groups have," he says. "This is finally getting more traction. Employers for a long time were all using fancy words to say 'we print [our] manuals in English and Spanish'."
Winkler adds all of the companies honored go well beyond just communicating differently or changing a phone prompt to both English and Spanish.
"It's clear that in different cultural settings people think and act differently in how they view health and using the healthcare system," he says. "This is much more frequently discussed as a topic."
The fact that this is only the second annual Healthcare Disparities award alone speaks volumes about how new it all is in terms of real action, Winkler notes.
"Today, there is movement away from recognizing just language differences to recognizing cultural differences," he says. "The makeup in the U.S. is changing and employers are focusing on the workforce globally. We know from years of banging our heads against the wall that traditional disease management programs don't work. Today we all think and act differently."