Word on Benefits

Opioid Epidemic: The Role of Workplace Injuries

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

21 Nov 201721 Jan 2019

Private employers reported 2.9 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2016, and it’s likely that some of those employees received prescriptions for an opioid to manage their pain. In fact, research shows that workers’ compensation insurers spend about $1.54 billion annually […]

401(k) Plans Employee Benefits Financial Education Retirement

How to Increase 401(k) Participation With Automatic Enrollment

Anne Newhouse, CEBS

20 Nov 201720 Nov 2017

One of the great tools available to employers is automatic enrollment to increase participation in the 401(k) plan. The Pension Protection Act (PPA) was signed in 2006, encouraging employers to improve their plans and make it easier for employees to save through […]

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Employee Benefits Health Care Insurance Legislative MPRA Paid Leave Regulatory Retirement Talking Benefits Podcast

Talking Benefits Podcast Episode 11: Never a Dull Moment

Staff

17 Nov 2017

News, news and MORE NEWS! The fall months have brought an exhausting amount of ACA news as well as tax reform bills from the House and the Senate, so we’ve got you covered. The Talking Benefits podcast has a rundown of everything […]

ACA and Play or Pay—IRS Letters 226J Are On Their Way

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Employee Benefits

ACA and Play or Pay—IRS Letters 226J Are On the Way

Lois Gleason, CEBS

15 Nov 201721 Nov 2017

The IRS started sending 226J notices of potential “play or pay” Affordable Care Act (ACA) penalties to employers. What should you do if you get one? Well . . . Remember 2015? . . . Viola Davis won the Emmy for Best […]

401(k) Plans Employee Benefits Legislative Pensions Regulatory

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Potential Impact on Employee Benefits

Lois Gleason, CEBS

09 Nov 201710 Nov 2017

Employee benefits professionals scoured the House Republicans’ proposed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act with some trepidation after its release on November 2, 2017. While many were relieved to find no changes in this draft to the tax treatment of employer-sponsored health care […]

Employee Benefits Wellness

Seven Sleep Rules for Overall Wellness

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

06 Nov 201709 Aug 2018

Most of us across North America enjoyed an extra hour of sleep this past weekend—Sadly for many, this may be a rare occasion of getting the optimal amount of sleep. Many people wear their ability to function on small amounts of sleep […]

Employee Benefits Work Life Balance

Telecommuting: Who Offers What and Why?

Anne Patterson

03 Nov 201703 Nov 2017

Solving tight parking lot situation, promoting work-life balance, decreasing carbon footprints . . . Organizations have many reasons for offering telecommuting, finds a new survey report from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. Flexible Work Arrangements: 2017 Survey Results revealed that […]

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Compliance Employee Benefits HIPAA Wellness

When Wellness Programs Get Scary

Guest Contributor

31 Oct 201731 Oct 2017

You wouldn’t think running wellness programs would be all that scary for employers, but Macy’s Inc., along with its subsidiaries Anthem and Cigna, are likely screaming in horror at a lawsuit filed against them by the Department of Labor (DOL) for management […]

Employee Benefits Health Care

Give Workplace Flu Prevention a Shot

Teri Dougherty, CEBS

26 Oct 201726 Oct 2017

When most people think of Thanksgiving Day, they visualize turkey, football and family; I think of flu shots! For years before I was able to receive my flu shot at work, I relied on my father-in-law, “Doc,” for my shot. Doc convinced […]

Canada Employee Benefits Pensions Retirement

Reacquired: Pension Plan Considerations for Returning Retirees

Robbie Hartman, CEBS

24 Oct 2017

“I’ll be back.” More and more retirees are uttering the line Arnold Schwarzenegger made famous and deciding to return to work. For pension plan administrators, this plot twist can create very different visions of the future. Some will picture the organizational benefits […]