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Teepees & toilet paper: CFOs reveal craziest expense report submissions
Think you’ve seen/heard it all from employees looking to claim questionable reimbursements on expense reports? Think again. Robert Half Management Resources polled CFOs on the most unusual submissions; here are the funniest—and most fraudulent—responses.
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Top 10 priorities for DB plan sponsors in 2012
Defined benefit plan sponsors say controlling funded status volatility will be their top priority this year, according to a poll from SEI. The poll surveyed 50 executives overseeing U.S. corporate DB plans that range from $25 million to $10 billion in assets. Here’s a list of their other top concerns.
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Benefits' 5 biggest tripwires
With all of the rules and regulations governing benefits delivery and administration, industry pros can be left feeling like they are traversing a minefield. However, knowledge is power. So, the first step to avoiding benefits’ biggest pitfalls is knowing what they are. We’ve outlined five of them for you here.
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Checklist for employers with globally mobile employees
The beginning of a new calendar year is an opportune time for employers to take a careful look at their overall global mobility strategy to make sure it matches business goals and is working well. Mercer has compiled 12 action items that HR professionals at multinational organizations can take now to ensure their international assignment policies are competitive and aligned with business objectives in 2012.
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Top 10 employee benefits compliance and reporting concerns
Employers can stay on the right side of regulators by complying with laws and regulations governing employee benefits. As the regulatory landscape changes, plan sponsors and administrators who keep pace with new requirements and filings prevent errors and problems down the road. CliftonLarsonAllen LLP offers these Top 10 Employee Benefits Compliance and Reporting Concerns as a tool or aid for keeping plan administration on the straight and narrow.
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10 most outrageous excuses for arriving late for work
Chronic latecomers can cause headaches for HR/benefits professionals aiming to keep an entire employee population happy and productive. While flexible work arrangements continue to spread throughout the mainstream American workforce, excessive tardiness can lead to dismissal. In fact, a recent CareerBuilder survey shows that 34% of employers have terminated an employee for being chronically late. Employees admit their timeclock struggles, with 16% of workers reporting they arrive late to work once a week or more (up from 15% last year), and another 27% saying they arrive late to work at least once a month (up from 26% last year), CareerBuilder finds. With those kinds of numbers, managers no doubt have heard it all when it comes to employees’ tardiness excuses. Here are the 10 most outrageous ones, according to the CareerBuilder survey.
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4 wellness trends to watch in 2012
From outcomes-based incentives to helping employees through the health care maze to social media, there’s a lot in store this year for employer wellness programs. Beena Thomas, MPH, vice president, health and wellness for OptumHealth, gives us her take on the top four wellness trends of 2012.
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The intersection between Medicare & your group health plan
Older workers make up the fastest-growing segment of the workforce; by 2014, it’s estimated 21% of employees will be age 55 and older. In an economy where more seniors are delaying retirement or foregoing it altogether, the need for clarity on navigation of coupling Medicare and employer-based insurance will be paramount. The Medicare Rights Center, in partnership with AgeOptions, recently released a toolkit designed to help older adults navigate the transition from employer-based health insurance to Medicare, and those who are dually covered. The toolkit aims to clearly explain how Medicare coordinates with different kinds of employer-based health insurance. Here are five key points from the extensive guide to help your employees.
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12 Most bizarre excuses for employee sick days
It’s that time of year again when employees have trouble making it in to the office — and no, we don’t mean cold and flu season. Some employees, not quite ready to go back to the grind after extended holiday time off, may be looking for some extra time away. According to CareerBuilder, the highest period of employee absenteeism occurs between January and March, with 34% of employers noting that use of sick days peak in the first quarter of the year. Further, 29% of workers cite errands and plans with family and friends among the top reasons for calling in sick when they were well.
Starting the year on a light-hearted note, EBN selected a dozen from CareerBuilder’s list of some of the most outrageous excuses employees have used to call in sick. We hope they’ll help you maintain your sense of humor as you endure the absenteeism of the winter months.
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EBN's top 10 articles of 2011
As the year draws to a close, EBN has compiled a special slide show reliving the most popular news stories of 2011 that directly affect benefits and HR professionals. Review the past year’s top articles and join us in the New Year as we continue to deliver the industry’s breaking news and regulatory breakdowns that you need to manage your business and benefit plans.
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Eight steps to a healthier holiday season
Kaiser Permanente recently launched "Maintain Don't Gain" campaign to help employer's wellness efforts through the holidays. Part of the KP campaign includes an eight-week guide to help employees avoid winter weight creep. As we approach the holiday season and the winter months share these tips with employees to encourage winter wellness.
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5 holiday benefits and perks to thank employees
Spread some holiday cheer around your workplace this season with these creative and thoughtful end-of-year benefits and rewards to celebrate a workforce that has dutifully taken on extra work and stress during trying economic times. Whether it’s giving a small gift or throwing a holiday bash to show your care, employees will be thankful for your support and recognition. When they return to work in the New Year, make sure employees are listing “exercise more” and “eat fewer sweets” as their 2012 resolutions, not “find a new job.”
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8 ways employees can use their flexible spending accounts before 2012
As 2011 comes to an end, it’s time for employees with health care and dependent care flexible spending accounts to use up their remaining balances before the end of their plan year, when any leftover money is forfeited. Here are eight ways your employees can spend down their FSAs before 2012, courtesy of Save Smart, Spend Healthy.
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5 most unusual benefits and perks
Ingenuity in business is all about separating from the pack. View some of the more unique ways companies stand out when attracting and retaining top talent. These quirky perks keep employees relaxed (with extended vacations), radiant (free Botox injections) and fulfilled (onsite life coaching).
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4 ways to create an HIV/AIDS inclusive workplace
Since HIV/AIDS was first reported in the U.S. in 1981, employers have struggled to not only keep up with the disease and the accommodations workers might need, but have lost countless numbers of employees who were unable to work due to illness or side effects of treatment. However, in 2007, Integrase Inhibitors were introduced and the one-pill-a-day treatment had dramatically fewer side effects and was usually taken before bed. This meant that for the first time, people could go back to work. Here are some ways companies can support that move back to work.
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Top 5 medical tourism destinations
Medical tourism is the practice of traveling abroad for health care. Globally, it’s a $120 billion business, according to a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit. “The reason an employer might offer medical tourism benefits would be for cost savings or for medical care that’s not available in their region,” says Rudy Rupak, CEO of Planet Hospital, a division of Global Health Voyager, a Web-based medical tourism facilitator. Rupak shares the top five countries outside of the U.S. where employees travel and the most common procedures they have done there.
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4 Ways to attract and retain top female talent
Women face many challenges in the U.S. private sector workforce—breaking glass ceilings is just one of them. Though women make up 47% of the American workforce, this number dwindles the higher they move up in the ranks. Many women are pushed out because of lack of leadership opportunities or pulled out due to family responsibilities. Here are some ways companies can retain them longer and help them ascend to their fullest potential through benefit changes and in-house initiatives.
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Top 5 legal cases of 2011
From health care reform to social media to Walmart, 2011 was a busy year for benefits law, regulations and court decisions. Here are five of the top legal issues that held our attention this year.
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Best practices from 4 of Fortune's Best Places to Work
HR leaders from four of Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work share their tips and strategies on how to foster a productive and happy workforce. Representatives from KPMG, Intel, W. Baird & Co, and Microsoft discussed their company’s best practices for work life balance, leveraging social media and corporate transparency.
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EBN’s 24th annual Benefits Forum & Expo: Day 2
They say everything is bigger in Texas, and EBN’’s 24th annual Benefits Forum & Expo is no exception! Here are some of the steer-sized sights from Day 2 of BFE, Monday, Sept. 26
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EBN’s 24th annual Benefits Forum & Expo: Day 3
Parting is such sweet sorrow, but EBN’s 24th annual Benefits Forum & Expo definitely ended on a high note! Here are some of the best moments from the final day of BFE, Tuesday, Sept. 27.
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Who should have your ear? Best HR tweeters
Twitter is brimming with inspiring tweets to inform and entertain the HR professional. EBN found four tweeters who consistently deliver benefits and HR advice to their followers. Whether their focus is on social media or health care, their style insightful or witty, we recommend you follow these thought leaders on twitter. Of course, follow @EBNmagazine and our list of editors for more breaking news and hot topic tweets.
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Work-Life Rising Star Recognition Award
Every year for the past five years, WorldatWork's Alliance for Work-Life Progress honors work-life thought leadership, best practices and innovation through its Work-Life Rising Star Recognition Award. Meet this year's winners and find out how to nominate someone for next year's awards.
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The top 6 things you don’t know about health care reform, but should
In July, EBN issued the PPACA Challenge, a 30-question quiz designed to test benefits professionals’ knowledge of the landmark health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Of the hundreds of practitioners who took the quiz, there were six questions that stumped you most often. View our slideshow to see what they were and find the right answers. For a PPACA crash course, view EBN’s award-winning PPACA interactive timeline.
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From the EBN bookshelf
The editors at EBN have compiled a list of summer reads for the benefits and HR professional. While lounging by the pool, learn more about pressing HR topics of the day. Keep abreast of health care, retirement, and management issues with the following books.
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There’s an app for that
In a fast-moving technological world, it’s often hard to keep up. For this reason, EBN has compiled some of the top mobile apps and optimized websites for smart phones currently on the market to help you sift through the most promising programs. These mobile applications encourage healthy behaviors and good savings techniques among your employees and enhance engagement with their benefits.
Read more about the future of benefits mobile app technology and benefits technology’s potential in general in the April 15 article of the same name.
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Winning at wellness: Inspiring photos from EBN’s BeneFIT Success series
NEW PHOTOS ADDED! To help empower and encourage EBN readers toward better health, we started 2011 by launching a year-long BeneFIT Success series, which chronicles employers and employees in their individual and organizational wellness triumphs. All articles in the series are available at ebn.benefitnews.com, keywords “benefit success series.” Just as inspiring as the stories, however, are the photos that go with them. This slideshow features shots of our profile subjects along various points in their wellness journeys. Add your employees’ photos to the group by submitting your company’s wellness success story to EBN Editor-in-Chief Kelley M. Butler at kelley.butler@sourcemedia.com.
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10 Tips to Hiring Right the First Time
It's difficult to overestimate the cost of hiring wrong. According to Top Grading by Dr. Bradford Smart, the average cost for a bad hire, earning between $50,000 and $100,000, is $80,000. While, there is no foolproof method that guarantees consistently good hires, here are some tips to maximize the chances of success.
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Thought leaders share health care advice for employers
Medical benefit sponsors remain caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place: rising costs are hitting the bottom line hard, yet uncertainty over regulatory implementation of federal reform legislation – and the prospect it might be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court – has put long-term strategic decision-making into near limbo.
To help, EBN reached out to some of the most influential thought leaders for their best thinking on what employers can and should be doing to cope in the current environment.
Take three minutes to help control health care costs and improve health outcomes
March 10, 2011 Watch this Video >>
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