Hitting the easy button on retirement takes a multi-pronged approach. Companies that remove the barriers when it comes to investing for retirement are seeing a payoff when it comes to employee participation -- but how is that accomplished?

Financial wellness programs are all the rage these days. They were a hot topic during a GAO forum on financial literacy earlier this year when a group of experts discussed how employers are well positioned to offer more comprehensive programs to their employees.

Something is happening in tech. First it was Netflix that announced it was offering employees "unlimited" paid parental leave during the first year after giving birth or adopting a child. 

When it comes to automatic features in retirement plans, automatic enrollment gets the most press; but plan sponsors are exploring many other automatic options to help employees do a better job of saving for retirement including auto escalation, auto rebalancing, model portfolios and qualified default investment alternatives.

Child care is one of the top three lifestyle benefits about which employees would most likely leave their job, yet 60 percent of workers said their bosses don't care about it. For the total rewards professional, taking this fact into account could be advantageous. 

Compared to workers in other industrialized countries, Americans are notoriously reluctant to take time off. Unlike in the rest of the developed world, employers here have no legal obligation to give employees vacation. Getting more than two weeks is often a privilege reserved for high-ranking employees.

In today’s business landscape, employers recognize the need to engage employees from a whole-person view of health. They understand that employee well-being extends beyond physical health and includes social, emotional, financial and environmental dimensions.

No wonder Americans are so worried about retirement. A new survey shows 80 percent of them are planning to rely on Social Security benefits "substantially" or "somewhat" in retirement (or already do so). But only 42 percent are "very" or "somewhat" confident in the program’s future.

Jack Craver, BenefitsPro

Businesses in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore metropolitan areas are offering their workers new benefits in an attempt to cut their health care costs.

An overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens believe the nation faces a retirement crisis, and new data shows nearly every state faces shortfalls when it comes to retirement goals.

Take a moment and picture your workforce. They come in each day and serve customers, build products, promote brands and counsel clients, but what is their "why?" What are the primary factors that drive your employees to come into work, even when they have a case of the Mondays?

In an effort to keep their employees happy, companies are stretching their imaginations to cater to some outlandish needs. 

A quick walk to the bus stop may not seem like much of a workout by itself, but the cumulative effort could mean a lower body mass index.

Today, about half of U.S. employers offer wellness promotion initiatives. By including hearing tests and hearing health information in workplace wellness programs — as well as including hearing aids as an employee benefit — employers encourage workers to treat hearing loss rather than hide it.

On April 20, 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) addressing how Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to employer wellness programs.

Communities across the country differ radically in key health metrics, and that poses a big problem for employers in the country's least healthy communities. A report by the Vitality Institute, a health research group, suggests that certain industries are disproportionately burdened by an unhealthy workforce because of their geographic location. 

"Are you pregnant?" It’s a topic employers generally avoid, since the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 prohibited sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. But women’s advocates fear these long-standing protections could be undermined by some workplace wellness programs.

Companies are getting savvy to the benefits of wellness programs. Studies show employees who seek wellness are healthier, more productive, take less sick time and cost less in terms of medical expenses.

The Global Wellness Institute™ (GWI) today released 10 key takeaways from its recent roundtable on the topic of "Redefining Workplace Wellness."

It's increasingly hard to find a bar in the U.S. where you can light up a cigarette, and most Americans are happy about that. 

The death rate in the United States is holding steady at 100 percent. Nevertheless, the grieving process is the last thing most employees want to talk or even think about.

Need a good laugh? Washington's Sibley Memorial Hospital has you covered with their "Laugh Cafe."

Hospital-based wellness centers, once seen as marketing tools for innovative health systems, have become a major part of a hospital's population health management program in the era of quality over quantity of care.

Patients at St. Luke's University Hospital in Pennsylvania not only receive quality medical care at the facility, they also receive fresh, nutritious food courtesy of the hospital's farm.

While use of health devices and wearables continues to rise, consumers remain wary about the security of their personal health data when using the tools.