Word on Benefits

Running an Effective Apprenticeship Fund in Canada: 8 Questions for Your Plan

Justin Held, CEBS

16 Sep 202014 Sep 2020

Running an effective apprenticeship fund requires the management of a wide variety of key stakeholders. Navigating this complicated landscape and avoiding potential pitfalls have long been concerns for a wide variety of apprenticeship program stakeholders, including training directors, coordinators and trustees. The […]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employee Benefits Health Care U.S.

Impact of the COBRA Extension Interim Final Rule

Anne Newhouse

14 Sep 202010 Sep 2020

On January 31, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) initially declared a federal public health emergency due to the coronavirus. The declaration has now been extended twice, including the latest extension on July 23, 2020. Unless the declaration is terminated […]

Canada Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employee Benefits Mental Health U.S. Wellness

Resilience: Readiness to Face Adversity

Julie Stich, CEBS

10 Sep 202006 Apr 2021

We’re entering the sixth month of the declared COVID-19 pandemic. And, speaking for myself and my International Foundation colleagues, our sixth month of working from home. For me, personally, it’s my sixth month of social isolation, seeing in person only those people […]

Communication Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employee Benefits Health Care Human Resources (HR) Talking Benefits Podcast U.S.

Open Enrollment Strategies in the Time of COVID-19

Anne Patterson

09 Sep 202022 Sep 2020

The International Foundation recently surveyed employers and plan sponsors about benefit communication for an upcoming report (watch for it soon—called Trends in Benefit Open Enrollment and Communication), and tons of responses came in about going virtual for open enrollment this year in […]

Canada Employee Benefits U.S.

Pensions and Benefits in the New Future of Work

Robbie Hartman, CEBS

08 Sep 202008 Sep 2020

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated changes in the workplace, with many organizations implementing new policies for remote work in weeks instead of years. Current and future areas of focus include workplace flexibility, the need for new skills, longer tenured […]

Employee Benefits Health Care Human Resources (HR) U.S.

Four Employee Benefits to Pack for College

Staff

03 Sep 202022 Sep 2020

College move-in is more challenging this year than ever before. Health concerns have risen to the top of the list of worries for parents taking kids to campus this fall in the midst of a pandemic. Now is the time to expand […]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employee Benefits U.S. Work Life Balance

Back to School . . . Virtually—Helping Employees-Turned-Teachers

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

02 Sep 202003 Nov 2020

At the end of a typical summer, many parents of school-aged children would be breathing a sigh of relief, knowing the struggle to keep kids busy and to cobble together child-care arrangements during the summer is over because their kids are back […]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employee Benefits Mental Health U.S. Wellness

CDC Report on Mental Health Highlights the Severity of This COVID-19 Side-Effect

rosep

21 Aug 202001 Sep 2020

Listen to this content here. On August 14, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the report, Mental Health, Substance Use, and Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The report summarizes results of a survey conducted from June 24-30, 2020, in […]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employee Benefits Financial Education Financial Education (U.S.) Financial Wellness U.S.

COVID-19 Highlights the Need for Workplace Emergency Savings Programs

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

20 Aug 202017 Feb 2023

About 31% of people in the United States have faced negative economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent report from the Commonwealth Fund. Those economic effects include being unable to pay for basic necessities like food, heat or rent, […]

Canada Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employee Benefits Global Benefits Mental Health U.S. Wellness

Supporting the Mental Health of Your Global Workforce

Alyssa Hodder

19 Aug 202019 Aug 2020

It’s no surprise that the global pandemic has had a significant impact on employees’ mental health. But even before the pandemic, mental health was on many employers’ radars. According to the Global Business Group on Health Survey 2016-2019, mental well-being was one […]