ASHHRA Health and Wellness Pulse
January 2017
 
Benefits
Strategy
Forbes
For an organization of any kind to effectively function, a clear division of duties must exist. The right people need to be doing the jobs for which they are best suited. In this respect, it's time to evolve how we think about HR services and discuss how we can maximize the effectiveness of our greatest assets: our people.
 
Benefits Pro
The workplace is changing, and one of those changes is an increasing need for companies to keep employees happy. That’s leading to greater investments in culture and professional development in the New Year. Here are five employee participation and engagement trends that may dominate 2017.
 
Benefit Trends
Fierce Healthcare
President-elect Donald Trump wants to both repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, a position that contradicts what Republican leaders in Congress have planned for the health care law. In brief comments during his first post-election press conference, Trump said he wants his administration to submit a plan as soon as his pick for Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, Tom Price, is approved. 
 
Inc.
About 658 million vacation days went unused last year in the United States. According to a recent study conducted by economic researchers, Americans toil more hours, retire later in life and take fewer vacation days than people in other countries. In fact, they clock 25 percent more time on the job, compared with Europeans.
 
Financial
Science Daily
Incentive-related pay schemes can stress rather than motivate employees, according to new research by the University of East Anglia in England. The study explored the relationship between three types of "contingent pay" — performance-related, profit-related and employee share-ownership — and positive employee attitudes such as job satisfaction, employee commitment and trust in management.
 
UPMC  Health Plan
Workplace Programs & Perks
WTOP
According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, 22 percent of gainfully-employed Americans are planning to change jobs in 2017, and the list of perks job-seekers are looking for are vastly different than they were a decade ago.
 
Retirement
PR Newswire 
A recent study found that 80 percent of millennials would prefer to work for a company that offers a 401(k) plan, dispelling a commonly held belief that millennials are not as interested in 401(k) plans as other generations. Despite their high levels of interest, millennials also tend to be less educated on retirement planning.
 
Culture of Health
Workplace Wellness
HR Dive
Employer decision-makers in a recent survey said there is continued positive growth in their wellness programs, but there also is a disconnect between employers and employees in how each group views those programs.
 
Healthcare IT News
Health insurer UnitedHealthcare and Qualcomm Life, a health services subsidiary of telecommunications equipment provider Qualcomm, announced enhancements to UnitedHealthcare Motion, a wellness program that provides employees with activity trackers and enables them to earn up to $1,500 per year by meeting certain goals for daily activities.
 
Work-Life Integration
Business News Daily
If you've noticed a steady stream of employees leaving your organization for other opportunities, you might be piling too much work on them. A new study reveals that 46 percent of human resources leaders blamed employee burnout for up to half of their annual workforce turnover, with nearly 10 percent saying burnout causes more than half of their yearly turnover.
 
Chicago Tribune
More employers are making the business case for family friendly workplace policies, with several top-performing companies already offering six weeks or more of paid leave. Led by technology and financial companies jockeying for talent, many employees have a more flexible workplace and more help with finding child care than they did a decade ago. 
 
Mental Health
The National Law Review
In December 2016, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced its new publication on the Rights of Applicants and Employees with Mental Health Conditions, noting that charges of discrimination relating to employee and applicant mental health conditions are on the rise. Given the heightened media attention and agency focus on mental health, now is a good time for employers to review their legal obligations relating to mental illness in the workplace. Here are some key reminders.
 
Wellness Trends
Entrepreneur
Employee reviews are meant to be helpful and constructive, but many workers say that they have the opposite effect. In fact, a recent commissioned study found that 80 percent of office workers would prefer on-the-spot feedback rather than periodic formal reviews. Researchers also found that nearly two-thirds of employees and managers believe performance reviews are an outdated practice.
 
Safety + Health
OSHA will pursue a federal standard aimed at preventing workplace violence among health care and social service workers, after receiving petitions from National Nurses United and a coalition of labor unions led by the AFL-CIO.
 
 

 

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