ASHHRA Health and Wellness Pulse
December 2015
 
Benefits
Strategy
Scott Wooldridge, BenefitsPro The underlying movement in the U.S. economy is toward growth, and HR professionals should prepare for the issues that have come with it.
 
Louis Efron, Forbes Despite what you think you can get out of this new talent pool in the short run, it is overshadowed by the benefits of a long tenured relationship.
 
Meghan M. Biro, Forbes Without trust, the foundation of nearly any relationship is seriously weakened. It’s no different at work. But defining trust in the workplace is a little different.
 
Benefit Trends
Nick Thornton, BenefitsPro Many of today's employee assistance programs (EAPs) were created in the 1990s. It may be time to revisit this workplace benefit and determine whether it's braced to address the challenges of the workplace of 2020.
 
Alex Siedleck, BenefitsPro The move to consumer-driven health care is a trend not just for hospitals and health systems, but also for the health benefits industry.
 
Financial
World at Work Workers around the world can expect to see real wage increases of 2.5 percent as pay increases combine with historically low inflation to leave employees better off.
 
World at Work Among the provisions of the proposed legislation is an increase in spousal protection that requires spousal consent before a married worker can take money out of a retirement account.
 
Susan Schoenfeld, HR.BLR Workers around the world can expect to see real wage increases of 2.5 percent as pay increases combine with historically low inflation to leave employees better off.
 
Workplace Programs & Perks
Stephen Bruce, HR.BLR A whopping 79 percent of employees would rather have better benefits or perks than have better pay, according to a recent survey conducted by Glassdoor.
 
Smallbiztrends More employers are offering workplace wellness programs than ever before. This year, close to half of the 1,977 business decision-makers surveyed for the fifth annual Aflac WorkForces Report said their companies sponsor workplace wellness programs.
 
Retirement
Caroline Marwitz, BenefitsPro The year 2015 packed controversy and court cases into your news feeds.
 
Rich White, BenefitsPro The U.S. Department of Labor proposed new rules to move forward in adopting mandatory state-sponsored retirement plans for private businesses.
 
Marlene Y. Satter, BenefitsPro If you’ve wondered how people actually spend their money once they’re retired, a new study from the Michigan Retirement Research Center at the University of Michigan can help you out.
 
Culture of Health
Workplace Wellness
Ann Wyatt, Benefitspro If you asked your employees if they would like to get more exercise, most would agree that they would prefer to be more physically active, but finding time for fitness is challenging.
 
Michael Mink, Investor’s Business Daily Physically unhealthy employees drain company resources and productivity – in addition to being a drag for them personally.
 
Danny Timblin, Benefitspro After reviewing aggregate reports from annual wellness screenings, a large employer in the Southeast found that more than 50 percent of its employees were obese and an additional 28 percent were overweight.
 
Work-Life Integration
World at Work Between worker demands and employer needs, the workforce is changing. And, according to a recent study, the vast majority (95 percent) of chief HR officers are currently using or will soon use nontraditional (nonemployee) skilled workers.
 
Jacob Morgan, Forbes Typically, corporate culture energizes us or drains us; it motivates us or discourages us; it empowers us or it suffocates us.
 
Catherine Pearlman, Huffington Post The issue of leave after a baby is born is a hot topic. However, focusing on the few months after the baby is born only scratches the surface of some of the issues working women face once they become mothers.
 
Mental Health
Jeanne M. Stafford, Huffington Post This time of year calls for social gatherings and events with friends and relatives, often resulting in encounters where we share about our lives, leading to communication fatigue.
 
Alan Ross, Biz Journals It is no secret that mental illness is still stigmatized in this country and that depression and suicide are something almost no one wants to talk about, especially in the workplace.
 
In the Black Are managers doing enough to promote effective mental health policy at work?
 
Population Health
Greg Slabodkin, Health Data Management Driven by rising health care costs, alternative payment models and the emergence of big data analytics, the global market for population health management software and services will more than double over the next five years, growing from $14 billion in 2015 to nearly $32 billion by 2020.
 
Philip Betbeze, HealthLeaders Media Health systems are uniquely positioned to learn from both sides of the health care cost and quality equation. Start using that to your advantage.
 
Dave Chase, Forbes There is no better place to generate staggeringly high bills than at a hospital. For entirely rational reasons, health care providers invested vast sums of money on IT systems optimized to maximize billing opportunities.
 
Wellness Trends
HR.BLR What actions are employers taking to prioritize workplace wellness and ultimately boost employee attraction and retention, reduce sick days and decrease health care costs? A recent survey adds some insight to this question.
 
Elisabeth Leamy, ABC News You already know your boss wants to help you lose weight and improve your vital signs through one of the workplace wellness programs that more than 90 percent of big employers now offer. Now are you ready for the new kind of wellness in the workplace?
 
Linda Harding-Bond, Huffington Post The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) which recently took place in Mexico City was the largest, most diverse and cross disciplinary conference in its 9-year history, attracting 470+ delegates from over 40 countries.
 
 

 

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