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The Benefits and Wellness Bulletin (BWB) is dedicated to helping you explore new ideas around wellness and benefit offerings. If you are not an ASHHRA member, please check out the benefits here and consider joining ASHHRA here. FROM ASHHRA
Join ASHHRA and receive a special gift from ASHHRA. Already a member? Join or renew your membership by December 25, 2014, and receive a special holiday gift as our THANK-YOU for supporting ASHHRA by clicking here.
ASHHRA, in collaboration with PwC Saratoga, formally invites you to participate in the 2015 HR Metrics Tool. The mission of this collaboration is to enable ASHHRA members to benefit from PwC Saratoga's expertise in HR analytics and knowledge of the health care field in order to obtain relevant benchmarks for workforce and HR metrics. Additional information is here, and you can apply to participate here. Early Bird Rate extended until December 19, 2015.
The Call for Proposals for the ASHHRA 51st Annual Conference & Exposition September 19 - 22, 2015, in Orlando, Florida, is now open. To submit a proposal for one of the 2015 learning sessions, please visit the ASHHRA Call for Proposals. Submissions are due by Friday, January 9, 2015.
Additional resources:
Are you exploring career opportunities? Having a certification exclusive to health care human resources will add value to your resume as you differentiate yourself in a competitive marketplace. Explore how you can obtain a new Certified in Healthcare Human Resources (CHHR) certification by clicking here.
Assess your CHHR knowledge. Try the demo exam. Purchase the CHHR SAE here. Additional information on the CHHR is here.
The ASHHRA Mentoring Program is designed to create a mentorship community for health care HR professionals to enhance and grow knowledge, skills and abilities to excel in their career. The 2014/2015 Mentoring Program is accepting registrations from practitioner members. If you are interested in participating in the Mentoring Program, complete and submit the requested information here.
BENEFITS
By Brian Feeley, Employee Benefit News
With 2015 fast approaching, employee benefit decision makers are scrambling to ensure that they stay ahead of the curve – particularly as the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate kicks in next month. As employers look to increase benefit offerings and weather rising health care costs, here are the top five areas to which everyone should be paying attention.
By Michael Giardina, Employee Benefit News
With mental illness and substance abuse costing employers an estimated $100 billion annually in indirect costs alone, benefit decision-makers are seeing value in promoting employee assistance programs as a means to improve their workforce’s mental well-being.
By Dan Cook, BenefitsPro
Employers must be listening to what employees are telling pollsters when they say they want more flexibility at work. A survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans finds that nearly half of those employers who responded are offering flexibility in scheduling as part of their 2015 benefit package.
By John Tabis, Mashable
The holidays can be an incredibly busy time for small business owners and those in the retail space. A recent report by Forrester Research predicts that consumers will spend $89 billion shopping online during the holiday season this year, and Deloitte’s 2014 annual holiday survey revealed shoppers plan to spend a little more than half of their holiday budget in-store.
Employee Benefit Research Institute
People enrolled in so-called "consumer-driven" health plans are more involved in their health care, according to a new report from EBRI.
World at Work
While DC plans are the primary company-sponsored retirement program, most employers haven't moved the needle in preparing workers for a financially secure retirement.
By Mike Nesper, Employee Benefit Adviser
As employee benefits plans evolve, so too does the employer’s perspective, particularly when it comes to voluntary benefits. More and more, employers are viewing benefits holistically instead of taking a siloed approach. As Mercer’s U.S. innovation leader, Betsy Dill expects to see that trend continue as we head into the new year as employers continue to personalize benefit plans to their workforces.
By Marlene Y. Satter, BenefitsPro
Only two in 10 baby boomers plan to retire by 65, according to a survey commissioned by Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement.
By Susan Scutti, Medical Daily
The benefits commonly offered to employees have been changing over time; and while today companies offer more health-related perks such as gym memberships, acupuncture reimbursement and even on-site doctors, the future will bring personalized medicine.
By Ann D. Clark and Erin Krehbiel, BenefitsPro
Work-life balance is dead. The concept that work and life are opposing forces is unraveling. And that’s a good thing for benefits. At the same time working hours are getting longer, work-life satisfaction is increasing. What’s behind these seemingly counterintuitive trends?
CULTURE OF HEALTH
By Andrea Davis, Employee Benefit News
2015 could prove to be a trying year for employer-sponsored wellness programs with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission having filed suit in recent months against at least three employers – the largest one being Honeywell – over their wellness programs.
By Greg Goth, Employee Benefit News
Seattle-based 2Morrow Inc. has launched SmartQuit, a smartphone-based smoking cessation app based on technology pioneered in a groundbreaking trial at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
By Portia Williams, portsmouth-dailytimes.com
According to reports from King’s Daughters Medical Center (KDMC) in Portsmouth, Ohio, they are among 46 Ohio employers selected by the Ohio Department of Health and the Healthy Ohio Business Council to be recognized for healthy worksite practices.
By Sandi Eskew, Employee Benefit Views
For any employer that has implemented a wellness program as part of employee health benefits, there are two things to say: First, congratulations. Not only do these employers clearly recognize that helping employees become more aware and educated about their well-being will ultimately reduce cost and improve productivity, but they’re also creating an incredibly positive internal culture.
HR.BLR.com
Some 64 percent of employees report having high levels of stress, according to the latest StressPulse report by ComPsych® Corporation. ComPsych Corporation provides employee assistance programs and is the pioneer of fully integrated EAP, behavioral health, wellness, work-life, HR, FMLA and absence management services under its GuidanceResources brand.
By Dan Cook, BenefitsPro
With the flu season in full swing, new information from the Centers for Disease Control should be unsettling to human resource departments.
By Dan Cook, BenefitsPro
Pollster Gallup is narrowing its focus in an effort to find out why some companies perform better than others.
World at Work
While few employers plan to make major changes in their health care benefits, changes are inevitable, particularly in the growth of wellness programs designed to address worker risks and behaviors.
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