•

Super Smart Strategies to Follow in 2020 to Make Your Business a Better Place to Work – Part Two

March 11, 2020 Kevin Kenealy 2019 employee benefits Comments Off on Super Smart Strategies to Follow in 2020 to Make Your Business a Better Place to Work – Part Two
Super Smart Strategies to Follow in 2020 to Make Your Business a Better Place to Work - Part Two
Focused businesspeople discussing project while looking at computer screen. Mature manager working with his creative team in a modern office. Multiethnic casual teamwork at work.

Focus On Benefits Strategies to Improve Employee Health and Wellness

When it comes to health and wellness options that are available, it is important to recognize the value associated with future health concerns. A large amount of healthcare costs are targeted towards preventative care, which not only puts employees at ease, but allows a more productive work environment while your staff is on the clock, as they won’t be trying to mask feeling ill or calling in sick. You can also cut costs when it comes to the overall coverage of health insurance plans by having any circumstance handled before it gets too extreme.

When you create a healthier workforce and environment, the medical plan that you choose will thank you. The claims being filed will be significantly lowered, which will ultimately reduce the premiums that are to be paid out by the employers, which eventually trickles down and is charged to the employees. Although wellness related programs may seem trivial at first glance, the long-term investment will help boost the economics of all employer sustained plans.

From the employees’ perspective, their employers are helping enhance not only the work environment, but also their wellness overall, including time when they are off the clock. By offering team oriented activity programs, nutritional counseling, access to biometric screenings, lifestyle coaching, and even assistance to help employees quit smoking – just to list a few items- they are able to offer a more personal service to each individual and their health needs. When utilizing these programs become common practice, employers will enjoy the overall benefit to the company that comes with having a healthier employee population and ultimately lower medical benefit costs in the long run. When you choose to implement a full wellness program you will promote more of a healthy lifestyle for your workforce, increased engagement among the employees, and a better life-work balance, which will increase productivity within your working environment.


The Advantage of Online Benefits Administration – Part Two

April 11, 2019 Kevin Kenealy 2019 employee benefits, benefits adminstration Comments Off on The Advantage of Online Benefits Administration – Part Two
Online Benefits Administration

Employers today are moving to online benefits enrollment because it’s effective, employees can check on their benefits package anytime, day or night, it generates a cost and time savings and it improves employee enrollment percentages up dramatically. Before, online benefits systems were expensive and cumbersome for both employers and employees. In 2019, there are more competitors offering the service and the online benefits enrollment platforms are flat out excellent, making it a no brainer to sign up with a service.

Today 75 – 80 % of companies in the US have moved from manual
paper driven benefits enrollment programs to online benefits administration.
That sounds good on the surface, but the bottom line is companies need to find
a vendor the provides excellent customer service both during the sale and
onboarding period and after the company goes live.

Here are several factors to know why it makes perfect sense for your company to switch to an online benefits administration platform:

  1. Premium Payment Error Elimination – Manual employee benefits administration naturally leads to occasional mistakes when paying monthly premium benefits. By going to online employee benefits instead of doing it manually, companies can realize a monthly premium mistake free experience.
  2. Reduction of Non-qualifying Employees Enrolled in Company Benefits Plan – Studies indicate employee benefits plans with non-qualified employees and dependents on the benefits rolls account for a total cost of 3% to 10% of combined annual premium expense nationally. With the advantage of computer programmed employee benefits combined with eligibility program requirement rules, this cost no longer is factor in most instances. For example, when an employee has only been with the company for 2 months and qualification for benefits does not start until completion of 3 months, an online benefits program will prevent benefits from activating until the employees 3 months with the company has elapsed.
  3. The Painless Easy and Simplicity of Online Benefits Administration – When a company provides online benefits administration it gives employees access to sign-up, check current selections and to change benefits 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The need for face to face benefits enrollment or administration is gone. Also gone are the high expenses and the time required by human resources to manage both enrollment and benefits management. It is far simpler, less painless and much more effective for employees to review available plans, make changes and review current benefits than it was before with a manual paper driven employee benefits program.  It’s obvious both employers and employees benefit dramatically from online benefits enrollment and administration.
  4. What to Look for in a Provider When Changing to An Online Benefits Administration System – When choosing an online benefits administrator provider, it is extremely critical to find one that is well versed in both the technical aspects of setting up all the online benefits your company provides and one that is well versed in human resources. The provider needs to provide highly personalized service to your company’s human resources employees and company employees.

Employees of company’s changing to online benefits administration will rave about the change for a variety of good reasons including 24/7 access, instant access to benefits information, easy of use and finally, the ability to make changes to benefits anytime anywhere.

Companies with online benefits administration platforms are
not new, but they are not par for the course for most companies either. Company’s
start realizing the advantages of online benefits administration almost
immediately because of the cost savings, time savings and the added benefit of
employees being able to both enroll in company benefits online and their
ability to access their personal benefits information anytime, anywhere.


The Advantage of Online Benefits Administration – Part One

April 8, 2019 Kevin Kenealy 2019 employee benefits, benefits adminstration Comments Off on The Advantage of Online Benefits Administration – Part One
Online Benefits Administration

Employers today are moving to online benefits enrollment because it’s effective, employees can check on their benefits package anytime, day or night, it generates a cost and time savings and it improves employee enrollment percentages up dramatically. Before, online benefits systems were expensive and cumbersome for both employers and employees. In 2019, there are more competitors offering the service and the online benefits enrollment platforms are flat out excellent, making it a no-brainer to sign up with a service.

Today 75 – 80 % of companies in the US have moved from manual
paper driven benefits enrollment programs to online benefits administration.
That sounds good on the surface, but the bottom line is companies need to find
a vendor the provides excellent customer service both during the sale and
onboarding period and after the company goes live.

Here are several factors to know why it makes perfect sense for
your company to switch to an online benefits administration platform:

  1. Lower Costs – This factor is obvious. The average cost for human resources to enroll a new employee in its benefits package manually is $120. A new employee benefits enrollment done directly by the employee is on the average $20.  Bigger employers hiring on 100’s of employees realize significant savings with online benefits enrollment. Small businesses using online benefits enrollment realize cost savings. Those savings can be put to use elsewhere by the company, such as toward its company advertising and marketing.
  2. Time Savings for Human Resources – The Human Resources department realize a time savings of up to 20% in companies using online benefits administration systems for employee on-boarding
  3. 50 Percent Time Reduction for Company Open Enrollment – Human Resources time savings when using online benefits management are better able to dedicate time and critical staff resources towards important company goals. Focusing on important Human Resources areas of responsibility such as employee retention and wellness are critical to companies today. This tool help Human Resources have the time to do the best job possible and help the company in the process.
  4. Huge Reduction in Postage, Print and Paper Costs – The cost of preparing, printing, stuffing and mailing benefits packets is very high for a variety of logical reasons. Ink, paper and postage cost money and stuffing envelopes costs associated with labor are all expensive. By changing to online benefits enrollment and management, a company eliminates all four expenses.

Employees of company’s changing to online benefits administration will rave about the change for a variety of good reasons including 24/7 access, instant access to benefits information, easy of use and finally, the ability to make changes to benefits anytime anywhere.

Companies with online benefits administration platforms are not new, but they are not par for the course for most companies either. Company’s start realizing the advantages of online benefits administration almost immediately because of the cost savings, time savings and the added benefit of employees being able to both enroll in company benefits online and their ability to access their personal benefits information anytime, anywhere.


Top Ways to Literally Get Your Employees to Participate in Their Benefits Plan and Why Part Two

March 15, 2019 Kevin Kenealy 2019 employee benefits Comments Off on Top Ways to Literally Get Your Employees to Participate in Their Benefits Plan and Why Part Two

Small businesses featuring staffing of 2 or more employees should focus on providing a strong set of employee benefits to build a strong team, keep the best employees and lure in top workers. Due to the fact putting together a personal set of work benefits like health insurance and a strong 401k that are self-funded isn’t feasible for your average person, it turns out a strong benefits package may carry more value than high wages.  Surveys bear this fact out. The fact is most employees want more benefits as opposed to increased compensation. Oddly though, it turns out that lots of employees do not make the most of their benefits package offered by their employers. This fact ends up hurting both the employee and the employer, due to the fact each one comes up short with respect to a better picture. Employees would be better off in several areas such as increased retirement savings and life insurance coverage in the event of an untimely death. Employers would be better off if more benefits were used because it would translate into a better picture for its employees and a more satisfied work force for the company. Featured below are a set of sure-fire strategies to motivate employees to take full advantage of all their benefits.

  • Set Up a Series of Benefits Explanation Meetings – Ask any
    employee out there in the work force what they know about their benefits
    packages and only 5 out of 10 employees will be able to give you a decent
    explanation. The other 5 employees are mostly in the dark about what their
    benefits are and how to make the most of them. The best way to change this fact
    is to hold a series of meetings to cover the benefits the company offers, the
    value they provide and what to do next to sign up for them.
  • Review Benefits Monthly or Quarterly – Stop making benefits an
    annual thing and start communicating about them the entire year. This can be
    accomplished by sending out regular direct mail and emails to employees
    covering benefits available and when enrollment is available. Additionally, staff
    meetings, lunches and simple webinars could be used to communicate available
    benefits, review packages and offer information or answer questions.
  • Set Up a Benefits Information Depot – Create a portal that
    employees can log into to watch webinars or videos about the company’s benefits
    packages. This portal should be available year-round, 24/7. Include other ways
    to access the benefits packages such as downloadable PDFs, and PowerPoint slide
    shows employees can save on their desktop so they can look and learn about the
    company’s benefits packages.

Be sure
to let your employees know the benefits offered are being provided to improve
their lives and to make the company a place that support its staff with both
wages and a solid benefits package. Make certain you communicate the company
values them with respect to their well-being, health and work they provide.


Top Ways to Literally Get Your Employees to Participate in Their Benefits Plan and Why Part One

March 14, 2019 Kevin Kenealy 2019 employee benefits Comments Off on Top Ways to Literally Get Your Employees to Participate in Their Benefits Plan and Why Part One

In 2019 small businesses, featuring staffing of 2 or more employees should focus on providing a strong set of employee benefits to build a strong team, keep the best employees and lure in top workers. Due to the fact putting together a personal set of work benefits like health insurance and a strong 401k that are self-funded isn’t feasible for your average person, it turns out a strong benefits package may carry more value than high wages.  Surveys bear this fact out. The fact is most employees want more benefits as opposed to increased compensation. Oddly though, it turns out that lots of employees do not make the most of their benefits package offered by their employers. This fact ends up hurting both the employee and the employer, due to the fact each one comes up short with respect to a better picture. Employees would be better off in several areas such as increased retirement savings and life insurance coverage in the event of an untimely death. Employers would be better off if more benefits were used because it would translate into a better picture for its employees and a more satisfied work force for the company. Featured below are a set of sure-fire strategies to motivate employees to take full advantage of all their benefits.

  • Send Out a Benefit of the Month Presentation – Push out a printed
    presentation or send a “Highly Sensitive Must Read” email highlighting a
    Benefit of the Month. By highlighting benefits available all year long employees
    will know their benefits package, how to sign up and make the most of them.
  • Harness Today’s High Tech to Make it Happen – Look at signing up
    for a full-service payroll services plan that includes benefits onboarding and
    administration like the one offered by Albuquerque based Payroll Company. The
    Payroll Company’s benefits administration program, which is available
    nationwide, provides a platform that allows employees the ability to review
    their benefits, make changes to it and see their time off and current payroll
    figures.
  • Be Brave and Request Suggestions – Benefits are only going to work
    if employees are signing up for them. That means if employees are not signing
    up then there’s a problem that needs addressing.  Request suggestions via an anonymous survey
    or better yet, hold a meeting with a written set of benefits built into a
    survey and meeting agenda to improve the company’s benefits package sent out a
    day in advance via email. Advise employees they need to write down responses to
    the survey before the meeting. Make it your goal to come away from the meeting
    with information that will help you develop a better benefits package for the
    company.

Be sure to let your employees know the benefits offered are being provided to improve their lives and to make the company a place that support its staff with both wages and a solid benefits package. Make certain you communicate the company values them with respect to their well-being, health and work they provide.


The Huge Advantage of Providing Employee Benefits to Your Company’s Workers

February 22, 2019 Kevin Kenealy 2019 employee benefits Comments Off on The Huge Advantage of Providing Employee Benefits to Your Company’s Workers

Employee or Worker Benefits: Why Your People are the Pillar of Your Company and Why Benefits Can Make a Huge Positive Difference

Your people are the critical component underpinning your organization’s capacity to grow and thrive. So just how crucial are employee benefits to accomplishing your firm’s goals as well as purposes? They are extremely essential.

What is employee or worker benefits?

Business owners typically get asked, “What are the fringe benefits or employee benefits being offered by your company?” when interviewing prospective employees. Employee benefits, also referred to as perks, benefits or fringe benefits, are given to workers over and above salaries and earnings. These fringe benefit bundles might include overtime, health insurance, paid vacation, revenue sharing and 401k or 403b retirement plan benefits.

Why is providing a package of fringe benefits essential?

Providing benefits to your staff members is important because it communicates to them you are committed not only in their total health and wellness, but also their future. A solid fringe benefit employee benefit plan can aid to draw in and retain quality employees. Benefits can help you distinguish your business from industry rivals.

Employee benefits can enhance your company’s bottom line by encouraging staff members to join programs for improving wellness. Healthier staff members can possibly reduce healthcare costs for your company. Workers participating in wellness programs often experience fewer days out ill, fewer trips to the medical professional like a doctor or urgent care centers, and often times it allows employees to invest more time working at your company, bringing the best version of themselves to work each day.

Employee Perks or Fringe Benefits Program

Depending upon the type of company and the work, fringe benefits vary from company to company. Government employee benefit packages for full time staff members look extremely different from the packages provided to permanent part-time employees. Fringe benefit packages are usually discussed during the final interview or when a job is being offered. The best fringe benefits or employment perks package can offer your business a distinct advantage when it comes to winning the recruiting battle for good employees.

States in the U.S. vary unquestionably when it comes to benefits, but by law there are a basic set of benefit laws and regulations all businesses must follow across the board. Mandatory benefits required are as follows:

  • Give workers the needed time to serve in the military, do jury duty and to vote in all elections.
  • Adhere to all workers’ compensation laws and guidelines
  • Pay both state and federal unemployment taxes
  • Pay into state mandatory short-term disability insurance programs
  • Adhere to the Federal Family and Medical Leave act

Companies are not mandated by law to provide the following benefits

  • Retirement plans.
  • Health Insurance Coverage (other than in Hawaii).
  • Dental Plan
  • Vision Plan
  • Life Insurance
  • Paid Holiday

The Most Sought After Work Benefits Wanted by Employees in 2019

January 11, 2019 Kevin Kenealy 2019 employee benefits Comments Off on The Most Sought After Work Benefits Wanted by Employees in 2019

Benefits are becoming more important to employees today than in the past. Employees in 2019 more than ever want benefits that positively affect their life including wellness, dependent care and top-level health care.

In recent years work benefits have become just as important as compensation to people working on a new career. Job seekers are wanting daily life balanced with work life with respect to a variety of benefits. Feature below is a list of most sought-after benefits by employees in today’s 2019 workplace

#1 Health Care Coverage Benefits

Companies now more than ever are providing optional benefits like mental health coverage, contraception, vision and laser vision surgery. Employees are seeking benefit coverage that impact their lives now not benefits when supplied when they retire.

#2 Preventive Health and Wellness Benefits

Today’s corporations and companies are reducing employer paid health care costs by providing benefits focusing on wellness and prevention.

#3 401K, 403B’s, Stock Purchase Plans

Today’s employees in all age brackets are seeking employers offering strong retirement plans. Depending on how a corporation is structured impacts the level of pre-tax savings employees can deduct from each pay check. Employees are goal driven when to retirement savings.

#4 Benefits When Taking Time Off

Despite that fact that employees are looking for employers offering time-off benefits, employers are reducing paid personal time. Employers want more work and less time off and employees are seeking the opposite in 2019.

#5 Flexible Work Schedules

In 2019 employees are seeking increased flexible work schedules. In the past for decades employees allowed employers to oversee their time and demand a lot. Today’s employees are demanding that employers not be the overpowering influence on day to day like the past decades were for workers. Today balance is everything to employees.

#6 Career Training and Education

Despite that fact fewer companies offering paid career development, it is still a benefit many employees want in 2019 from their employers.

#7 Company Travel Benefits

With the advent of online meetings provided by many technology companies, company travel for work is happening less and less. However, companies that do require travel are expected to cover expenses incurred by employees such as lodging, airfare and transportation.

#8 Relocation Reimbursement or Payment

Employers are paying less and less when it comes to relocation costs in 2019. This benefit is still sought after by employees because no one wants to pay for a move or the cost of transportation to a new location due to a job transfer or new job.

#9 Pay or Additional Salary Bonuses

Employers are offering lower wages today, but is a fact bonuses, such as end of year bonuses and signing bonuses, for top-notch employment prospects are still a great tool for keeping and hiring great employees in 2019.

#10 Employee Perk Benefits

Employers are now providing less perks than in years past, it is a fact. But, employees still desire these perks such as daycare, dry cleaning and company paid sports teams.

Employers seeking top employees and retention of current employee need to be aware of what benefits are super important and which ones can be dropped. It is intriguing to see what employee benefits will be in the years and decades to come.


Call Now ButtonTAP TO CALL