Ethics and employee benefits

The following article attempts to bring to light the many questions and thoughts regarding ethical behavior as it relates to the employee benefits profession. Rather than dictating to the reader all the answers regarding ethics, the article demonstrates the different ways various situations can be interpreted. It leaves open the choices available to employee benefits professionals, while compelling us to confront the difficult decisions we must face when dealing with employees, employers and insurance companies.     

Integrating benefits decision making

Integrated employee benefit decision making helps employees use their benefits more wisely and identify opportunities to balance their immediate benefits needs (such as health care) and future benefits needs (such as retirement). This article discusses how employers can overcome employees' behavioral barriers to making integrated employee benefit decisions by changing the ways benefits are communicated and employees are presented with action decisions. Undertaking these steps allows employers to not only improve their employees' overall financial perspectives, but also furthers plan sponsors' goals of actively promoting personal responsibility with respect to retirement funding and changing employee behavior with respect to controlling health care costs.     

Understanding the real risks of changing employee benefit plans

In an environment of constant change, corporations are looking to alter employee benefits programs to make them more responsive to employee and business needs. A complete risk assessment process is the key to preparing for changes to employee benefits programs by providing employers with an analysis of cost savings against the potential negative ramifications of change. This article outlines the steps involved in a complete review of risk assessment. It then discusses how employers can develop successful change management communication strategies if, after conducting a risk assessment, employers decide to move forward with alterations to their employee benefits programs.     

Employee communications and health care reform

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has made health care reform a reality. Although many of PPACA's details are still unclear to many employers, and most of the act's major reforms will take effect over the next several years, companies have reason to begin preparing for change and enough information to begin a communications effort with employees. The authors describe a number of immediate actions that employers should take to make the most of their own understanding of PPACA as it develops, as well as help their employee benefits leaders make the most informed decisions about when and how to communicate with employees about the law and its impact on their group health plan coverage.     

Employee responsibility in benefit change

If employers want to move employees beyond superficial acceptance of benefit changes, organizations need to increase the focus on how they manage the change process and support employee decision making. This article describes how employers can help workers understand changes and, through effective change management and communication, successfully navigate in an evolving benefits world. Using recent survey research about large employer and employee attitudes, the authors demonstrate tangible proof that these efforts pay off, both in financial and cultural terms.     

Communicating the new benefits deal

Communication is critical to changing employees' attitudes toward increased responsibility for benefit decisions and health and wellness. As employers shift responsibility, they not only must provide the right decision-making tools; employers must also maintain a safety net for those who don't want the responsibility. This article discusses the experience of four organizations that implemented the "new deal" of increased employee responsibility while also balancing employee needs.     

Engaging employees in health care can contain costs and improve quality

Employers need to do much more to change some of the deep-seated employee attitudes and behaviors that are driving health care costs. This article debunks common employer misconceptions about employees' attitudes and behaviors with regard to health care. It then discusses the results employers can obtain by taking specific initiatives that provide employees with the motivation and resources they need to effectively manage health risks and make informed health care decisions.     

Employee contributions: a primer on their use, historical trends and overall fit within benefits strategy

This article focuses on the use of employee contributions as a strategic tool within employee health plans. While most employers require some form of employee contributions for health care, there is no clear "one-size-fits-all" solution. A myriad of strategies are in place, some active and some passive. This article reviews both common and emerging strategies and how they differ based on industry, employer size and region; discusses how employee contribution strategy fits within overall benefits strategy; and provides a strategic framework for approaching employee contributions in the future.     

Global added value of flexible benefits

Flexible benefits, or "flex," is a strategic human resources solution that can give companies a truly competitive edge in winning the global war for talent and containing costs. Several companies in Asia plan to implement flex in the next few years, and a number of emerging best practices in flexible benefits design are being developed. This article discusses the many advantages of flex, flex best practices emerging across Asia, and important considerations for employers when designing flexible benefits. Finally, the author shows how one global company in Singapore found flex to be an effective differentiator for attracting and retaining talent as well as helping manage employee health care costs.     

Population health improvement--the next era of the health care management evolution

The trend of increasing health care costs over the past several years shows no signs of slowing down. While employers have attempted to address the issue with various cost-shifting and cost-sharing initiatives to relieve the burden, those attempts have often fallen short. In today's fiscally scrutinized benefits environment, the emphasis needs to be more strategic. The management of employee health and productivity needs to move to a more encompassing organizational view that addresses the most expensive drivers of these costs head-on, with prevention, education and employee responsibility as key tenets. Organizations that make the move--by implementing programs to maintain, improve and manage their population's health--will enjoy substantial cost savings and enhanced employee productivity.     

Medical records: information gathering and confidentiality

This article focuses on protecting the confidentiality and privacy of workplace medical records. All employers should be concerned about the potential legal liability for unauthorized and improper disclosure of confidential employee medical data. Employers should adapt and follow a corporate policy governing the use and maintenance of confidential employee hiring, benefits, personnel and medical information. If there is any question concerning the confidentiality of records, employers should consult with legal counsel or other outside advisers.     

Building a culture of personal benefits responsibility

Successfully having employees take personal responsibility for their benefits plans requires going beyond the rapid rollout of new benefit plan designs; it requires employers to invest in understanding the complexity of their workforce. This article reviews the evolution of benefit plans and what has arisen as the current state of employee benefits. It then discusses steps employers can take to build a successful total benefit strategy that recognizes the importance of the emerging workforce's racial, ethnic and cultural diversity.     

Empowering the managed care consumer: not as easy as it sounds

Managed care remains one of the most highly publicized issues in employee benefits, with its accompanying controversy causing concern to the consumer and the employer. The authors of this article discuss the very basic things consumers of health benefits should know about their plans in order to be prepared, as well as what they should reasonably expect from employers that sponsor the plans.     

Disability, absence and the health reform era

The total cost of employee absence for many employers is high, and the correlation between employee health and disability is clear. This article reviews several challenges employers face in managing employee health and absence in a well-integrated manner. Although such an undertaking is not easy, the additional cost national health care reform may bring makes the interrelationship between employer profitability and employee absence, health and disability more crucial than ever for employers to recognize and manage.     

Controlling human capital costs in the new millennium

Low productivity and high turnover can be more costly to employers than insurance premiums and medical claims. This article discusses the need for coordinated management of all behavioral health benefits. It provides two case studies that illustrate how such coordination can avert possible long-term costs and loss of a valued employee.     

Compliance Costs for Employers: UK PAYE and National Insurance, 1995–96

This paper, based upon research financed by the Inland Revenue and the Contributions Agency of the DSS, presents calculations of the compliance costs for employers of PAYE and National Insurance in 1995–96. Total costs are estimated to have been of the order of £1.3 billion. The costs are very unequally spread across employers, whether measured per employee or per pound of tax raised. They are particularly high for small new employers. For the largest employers, these costs may be offset by the cash-flow benefits of acting as tax collectors. The composition of labour and other costs is calculated and estimates are made of compliance costs under various payroll ‘technologies’. The main determinants of compliance costs, for an employer, are analysed using weighted least-squares regression analysis. Finally, some policy implications are considered.     

How aware are employees of their benefits? Findings from two companies

This study examines benefit awareness of employees in two companies. Contrary to previous research, the results show that employees are generally accurate in their perceptions of the benefits available to them. However, the results also show a lack of awareness of unemployment insurance and disability insurance as benefits. In addition, employees were somewhat uncertain regarding costs of benefits to employers. These findings suggest that employers should monitor employee awareness of benefits and target communications to specific problem areas.     

The impact of health care reform on older workers, retirees and employers

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 impacts everyone who uses or pays for the health care system. Among the new law's effects will be changes in older workers' health care choices as they transition from full-time employees to part-time work or other jobs and, ultimately, to retirement, and the retiree health benefit choices facing their employers. This article reviews the major issues surrounding these changes, including those affecting retiree health benefits, benefits for Medicare-eligible retirees and health care options for older Americans not yet eligible for Medicare. The authors conclude that although employers will be reacting in 2010 and 2011 with regard to some issues surrounding FASB ASC 715-60 and the early retiree reinsurance program, employers should consider waiting to make major changes until regulations are issued and the health plans for active employees have been fully vetted.