Hot Topics in Total Rewards

AUTHOR

Lisa Burden

PUBLISHED

May 20, 2019

Dive Brief:

• Employees spend just 18 minutes on average enrolling in their benefits, far short of the four hours spent by the average consumer when deciding to purchase mobile phone, according to a report by benefits administration technology firm PlanSource. The company compiled the report based on anonymous user data from its own platform, it said in a statement, representing 92 million benefits elections made in the system.
• PlanSource said employees also tend to wait until the end of the enrollment period to enroll, and that employers attempted to counteract this via technology that both personalizes and makes benefits more engaging. Employers are also offering a wider variety of benefits, per the report, with large companies offering a large variety of plans and benefits.
• The report also found that the cost of providing medical insurance continues to rise; among companies using PlanSource, premiums rose 8% to 9% in 2018. Employers also increasingly offered health savings accounts (HSAs), which increased by 125% from 2016 to 2018. HSA contributions to HSAs also increased, with employers contributing $992 on average in 2018 and employees contributing $2,076, PlanSource said.

Dive Insight:

Many employees report that they struggle with the benefits enrollment process, particularly when there are many hoops to jump through during enrollment. In fact, more than 40% of employees in a 2018 Health Advocate survey said they found dealing with multiple benefits vendors to be confusing. At the same time, 78% of employers in the survey offered workers live support services to help navigate their benefits.

These trends seem to reflect what experts in the benefits space have been saying for the past few years: improving benefits engagement involves making benefits easier to use, understand and elect. As a result, vendors have shifted their focus to making the process more intuitive and, in some cases, even fun.

"The trends we see in the Benchmark Report make it clear that employees need an engaging retail shopping experience for their benefits," Nancy Sansom, chief commercial officer at PlanSource, said in a statement. "And considering the rising cost of insurance, companies need to make the most of this short window of time and create new and innovative ways to communicate with and educate employees about their benefits."

Research shows employers may find success in improving engagement via multiple avenues. In the Health Advocate survey, employers cited strategies including intranets and newsletters (78%); events and meetings (67%); contributions to flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health savings accounts (HSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) (65%); and incentives, such as reduced insurance premiums, cash and gifts (54%). There are also tech solutions to consider. A little over one-third of respondents to a UnitedHealthcare survey said they had compared healthcare plans by doing research on the internet or on mobile apps. A study by Paychex found 73% of full-time employees want and expect to have 24/7 access to their benefits.

Source: HR Dive

https://www.hrdive.com/news/on-average-employees-spend-18-minutes-enrolling-in-benefits/555041/

AUTHOR

Valerie Bolden-Barrett

PUBLISHED

May 14, 2019

Dive Brief:

• Money remains the top reason why workers quit their jobs, but it's not always what attracts them to a new opportunity, according to a PayScale study. One-quarter of respondents cited a bigger paycheck as their top reason for quitting their job, but 27% said "the opportunity to do more meaningful work" is why they accepted a new position.   
• PayScale's Chief Economist Katie Bardaro explained the study's significance in a press statement. "We are currently experiencing a strong economy with record low unemployment which promotes more risk-taking amongst workers and increases their confidence about changing jobs," said Bardaro. "The search for more pay is a very strong driver for employees who are considering leaving, but the most interesting part of our research shows that once employees decide to leave, they also want a more fulfilling job." A Gallup poll that found only 13% of workers consider their job meaningful supports PayScale's findings, the company noted.
• Less than one-fifth of respondents said they were unhappy at their current organization, while about the same number said increased responsibilities drove them to a new job or that more pay was the key driver for switching jobs. Women were 11% more likely than men to say flexible work options drove them to a new job, and millennials were 9% more likely to leave a job for more money than boomers, PayScale said. 

Dive Insight:

The importance of meaningful work is hardly a new idea; a two-year-old study by Globoforce's WorkHuman Research Institute and IBM's Smarter Workforce Institute found that meaningful work was critical to employees' happiness. A 2018 survey by the mobile coaching firm Betterup found that 90% of those polled said they would give up 23% of their salary for an opportunity that provides more meaningful work. This statistic is a powerful example of how much some employees are willing to sacrifice for a more rewarding work experience. 

Employees' job choices at the start of their careers can be influenced by this desire, as evidenced by more college graduates selecting careers in the arts and social services over those in business and finance. Jobs in healthcare, science, social services, education and government are often seen as meaningful vocations, but recruiters must recruit for the positions that need filling — regardless of how meaningful the work is. Employers can make up for what some jobs lack in inherent meaning by offering community volunteer opportunities, supporting causes and promoting philanthropy via corporate social responsibility initiatives. 

Although several surveys have confirmed that many want meaningful work, more money is still a priority for job seekers. Workers in an employee-driven labor market can be choosier about the positions they apply for, and that includes a desire for jobs offering the best pay. In fact, about half of all employers are now offering higher salaries in the competition for talent, as well. 

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Source: HR Dive

https://www.hrdive.com/news/lack-of-money-meaning-fuels-turnover-payscale-says/554593/

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) responded to the district court decision striking down the final regulations expanding the ability for a group of unrelated employers to form an organization in order to offer health care to its members. The DOL’s statement setting forth policy positions regarding association health plans (AHPs) indicated its intent to fight the district court decision, and offered interim relief for those employers who have obtained health coverage from AHPs relying on the DOL’s final regulations. The DOL noted that the agency is committed to taking all appropriate action within its legal authority to minimize undue consequences on employees and their families. Thus, employers participating in insured AHPs can generally maintain that coverage through the end of the plan year or, if later, the contract term. During this time, the DOL will not pursue enforcement actions involving AHP in reliance of the DOL’s final rules.

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Source: The National Law Review

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/dol-offers-interim-relief-employers-association-health-plans 

5.3.19

The EEOC just announced that, in order to comply with a recent shocking court order, most employers will need to turn over compensation information from both 2017 and 2018 when they submit their Component 2 pay data with their EEO-1 submission on September 30, 2019. While there is still a chance that an appeals court could put the pay data/hours worked reporting requirement on hold once again, or that a newly reconstituted EEOC Commission might modify the regulations, you should start taking action immediately under the assumption that all of this information will need to be disclosed by the recently announced due date. Meanwhile, the May 31, 2019 deadline for the traditional demographic data (now called “Component 1” data) remains firmly in place.

How Did We Get Here?

Employers felt a tectonic shift in early March, when a federal court in Washington, D.C. revived the Obama-era requirement that calls for employers to turn over compensation information in the EEO-1 Report along with general demographic data. The judge’s March 4 order required the pay data collection to commence immediately, but when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) unveiled its 2019 reporting system on March 18, there was no method by which employers could have included such information even if they wanted.

In response, the court ordered the EEOC to begin collecting the pay data by September 30, 2019. And the judge took it one step further: she agreed with those advocacy organizations bringing the original lawsuit and ruled that employers should be on the hook for turning over two years’ worth of pay data. After all, the original plan from the Obama-era EEOC called for this information to be collected starting several years ago, and the judge believed the agency erred by putting a halt to this collection effort. So she gave the EEOC the option of either collecting pay data from both 2017 and 2018 information by the September 30 deadline, or collecting 2019 pay data during the 2020 reporting period, and asked the agency to choose an option by Friday, May 3.

EEOC Picks Its Poison: Double Data To Disclosed In 2019

In an announcement both posted on the agency’s website and released in the Federal Register, the EEOC announced that EEO-1 filers should begin preparing to submit their pay data for calendar year 2017, in addition to data for calendar year 2018, by the September 30, 2019 deadline. It also said that it expects to begin collecting this data by mid-July, which comports with its earlier announcement that the collection portal would be open for business and in a position to accept compensation information on July 15, 2019.

The agency also reminded employers that general demographic information for 2018 is still due by May 31, 2019, and that recent events have not impacted the existing due date for the standard EEO-1 Report.

What’s Next?

You can expect a few things to happen in the near future. First and foremost, in order to be in a position to comply with the new requirements, the EEOC has already announced that it will offer a series of training sessions and provide detailed information to employers so you understand your obligations in advance of the September 30 due date. Be on the lookout for those in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, you can expect employer organizations to launch independent legal challenges against the new requirements now that the dust has settled and the obligations are set in stone. No doubt that these organizations will point out that the September 30 deadline for 2017 and 2018 information will present a difficulty for employers given that it is just a day before the 2019 data collection payroll period begins.

Finally, it would not be surprising if the federal government also filed an appeal against the judge’s ruling that resurrected the pay data reporting requirement in the first place. While we would assume that the independent employer organizations and the federal government would ask for an indefinite delay in reporting while any appeal is pending, you cannot count on the fact that such a stay would be granted. Instead, you should operate under the assumption that you will soon be responsible for turning over a mountain of pay data – indeed, twice as big as you might have thought – by September 30.

What Should You Do?

For EEO-1 filers (those businesses with at least 100 employees), we can’t stress this enough: you should assume that you will need to turn over both 2017 and 2018 pay data and hours worked by the September 30, 2019 deadline. You should begin by determining how your W-2 pay data will be split into the 12 pay bands required for each of the 10 EEO-1 categories. And you need to determine how you will report your hours worked, which is also a significant undertaking, where the data is likely tracked separately from the pay data W-2 information.

You should also make it a priority to review current pay systems and identify and address any areas of pay disparity. It is critical to take steps now to minimize increased scrutiny that may soon come your way. Ideally, you would work with counsel to conduct this initial review under the protection of the attorney-client privilege while you are assessing your workforce and the proper grouping for your employee population.

By conducting your own audit of pay practices, you will be able to determine whether any pay gaps exist that might catch the eye of the federal government if or when you are forced to turn over this information. You may have time to determine whether any disparities that may exist can be justified by legitimate and non-discriminatory explanations, or whether you will need to take corrective action to address troublesome pay gaps. Due to the increased complications caused by varying state legislative developments, we strongly encourage you to get your attorney involved in this analysis early in the process.

We will continue to assess the situation and provide necessary updates, so you should ensure you are subscribed to Fisher Phillips’ alert system to gather the most up-to-date information. If you have questions, please contact your Fisher Phillips attorney or any attorney in our Pay Equity Practice Group or our Affirmative Action and Federal Contract Compliance Practice Group.

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Source: Fisher Phillips

https://www.fisherphillips.com/resources-alerts-double-duty-you-will-soon-have-to?click_source=sitepilot06!4723!YmlsbC5icmV3ZXJAY2xlYW5jdXR0ZWsuY29t

Thursday, April 25, 2019

As we previously reported here, on April 3, 2019, the White House Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) filed a brief with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia proposing a September 30, 2019 deadline for the EEOC to complete collection of the required 2018 EEO-1 pay data forms. The brief was filed in response to a March 4, 2019 court order lifting a 2017 stay of pay data collection, which had been implemented to allow for further review of the burdens associated with pay data collection.

On April 25, 2019, in a ruling from the bench, a federal judge approved the September 30, 2019 deadline.  This means that employers with 100 or more employees (and federal contractors with 50 or more employees) will be required to report their employees’ 2018 W-2 compensation information and hours worked by September 30, 2019.  The goal of the collection is to reduce pay gaps based on sex, race, and ethnicity.  Remember, the deadline to submit all other EEO-1 data, such as race and gender information, remains May 31, 2019.

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Source: The National Law Review

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/federal-court-confirms-september-30-2019-deadline-employers-to-submit-eeo-1-pay-data

AUTHOR

Valerie Bolden-Barrett

PUBLISHED

April 26, 2019

Dive Brief:

• Keller Williams Realty took the top spot on Indeed’s 2019 list of 100 top-rated companies for work-life balance; In-N-Out Burger and Capitol One followed.
• Top companies used various strategies to create work-life balance, Indeed said, including allowing employees to set their own schedules; paying above-average wages; consistently accommodating work, school and other life responsibilities; offering alternative childcare options; offering remote work options; providing on-site medical and fitness centers; and allowing workers to swap shifts electronically.
• According to the job board, employees might appear to be productive by putting in demanding hours, but a balanced work style makes them happier, healthier, more productive and less likely to quit. Indeed said it used its 100 million ratings and reviews to create its list.

Dive Insight:

As Indeed pointed out, employees with a strong work-life balance​ are said to be twice as happy, productive and loyal to their employers than workers who struggled with trying to find balance, according to a 2018 study by Robert Half. And the onus is increasingly on employers; of the 2,800 employees in the survey, 39% said employers were responsible for creating work-life balance. 

But not all employment experts think work-life balance is achievable or even exists. Although work-life balance was cited along with salary and job location as a top employee motivator, the lines between work and non-work hours have blurred now that technology allows people to multitask nearly 24/7. Lisa Sterling, ​Ceridian's chief people and culture officer, told HR Dive in a 2018 interview: "You've got to get to a point at which work and life integrate, and you figure out organizationally and individually how to make those two things work together."  

One common thread among the Indeed winners is flexibility. Increasingly, workers desire it within their work lives, study after study has shown. Flexibility allows for that work-life integration, allowing employees to make the choices and take the leave they need when they need it, so long as the work gets done. To adopt flexible work, employers have traditionally focused on providing remote work, telecommuting and job-sharing options.

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Source: HR Dive

https://www.hrdive.com/news/keller-williams-in-n-out-burger-top-work-life-balance-list/553311/

AUTHOR

Jennifer Carsen

PUBLISHED

April 18, 2019

Dive Brief:

• Nearly 70% percent of employees spend an hour or less considering their benefits at enrollment time, according to a new survey of 1,500 full-time U.S. employees by Colonial Life. 
• Employees who rush through their benefits choices are 23% less likely to understand their benefits moderately or very well, the survey found. They are also 55% more likely to leave their jobs in the coming year, 32% more likely to feel dissatisfied in their jobs and 18% less likely to feel cared about by their employer, it continued.
• Women and single or divorced employees tend to take less time considering their benefits, as are employees at companies with fewer than 250 employees and employees without children, according to the report. 

Dive Insight:

Unfortunately, it's not surprising that employees tend not to understand their health benefits very well, as they don't spend a lot of time reviewing their options. According to a 2018 Unum poll, employees spend 30 minutes or less reading open enrollment materials. The haste could be due to emotional discomfort — about one-fifth of respondents reported that signing up for benefits resulted in stress, confusion and anxiety. 

So, what's the solution? As tempting as it may be to inundate employees with all the information you think they might need, it's important not to bombard them, Brenda J. Mullins, vice president of human resources and chief people officer at Aflac, said in an opinion piece for HR Dive. Discrete, "bite-sized" communications spread out over time are far more effective than an avalanche during open enrollment.

Additionally, varied strategies can help you reach a wider range of employees more effectively. Some employees, for example, prefer town hall meetings, while others do well with online quizzes and contests. A benefits advisor can help an employer design communication strategies and schedules that are a good fit for its particular workforce.

But employers shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that benefits confusion, discomfort, or haste means that benefits aren't important to their employees. According to 80% of respondents in a 2018 online survey conducted by the American Institute of CPAs, a job with benefits is preferable to the same job with more pay and no benefits. This was true even though only 28% of respondents were very confident that they were fully using their benefits.

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Source: HR Dive

https://www.hrdive.com/news/survey-hasty-benefits-decisions-damage-employee-morale/552755/

AUTHOR

Valerie Bolden-Barrett

PUBLISHED

April 18, 2019

Dive Brief:

• The labor market's continuous job growth during the past eight years has been "extremely positive," according to ADP's State of the Workplace Report: Pay, Promotions and Retention report. But there also was a lag in wage growth during the same period and a disparity between women and men's wages and managers and non-managers' wages. Citing the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the report said that 2018's job growth averaged 200,000 jobs a month.  
• On national wages, the report found that the average hourly wage is $29.03 per hour. For managers, who make up 16% of the workforce, the report said that the average wage was $47 an hour. Non-managers are 84% of the workforce and earn on average $25 an hour, according to the report. Women comprise 47% of the workforce and earn on average $25 an hour, while men are 53% of the workforce and earn an average $32 an hour, it continued. 
• Employers promote 8.9% of their workers on average, according to ADP, and they offer those employees an average wage increase of 17.4%. The report also found the average worker's age to be 41.7 years, the average tenure was 5.6 years and the average monthly turnover rate was 3.2%.

Dive Insight:

ADP's findings indicate that job growth has been steady, as the latest BLS numbers showed earlier this month. However, as positive as job growth is for the overall economy, for employers in a tight labor market facing talent shortages, recruiting for new positions may well remain a challenge. 

Sourcing and hiring may be especially challenging for employers that continue to decline to adjust wages to account for real wage stagnancy. At the start of the year, 19 states had raised their minimum wages to benefit largely low-wage earners. And a few high-profile employers, like Target, Chick-fil-A, Bank of America and Disney, have raised their minimum wage either in response to union demands or to proactively reduce turnover and stay competitive in an employee-driven labor market. 

Meanwhile, the pay disparity that continues between women and men could remain in place for another 217 years without direct action, some have predicted. In response, HR managers can review compensation practices, flag any disparities, study market rates and conduct periodic compensation audits.

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Source: HR Dive

https://www.hrdive.com/news/adp-gender-managerial-pay-gaps-persist/552682/

Staff Writer

Apr 05, 2019 | 12:11 PM EST 

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We take a look at Castlight Health’s latest report on the state of employee benefits personalization and how AI will drive the future of benefits management.

Employers are seeking to make more data-driven employee benefits decisions. That’s according to Castlight Health’s latest report,  Employer Perspectives of Personalization in Digital Health, which found that employers strongly believe that personalization has the ability to significantly impact employers and employees.

As consumers become more accustomed to personalization everywhere – right from their Netflix recommendations to ATM kiosks, they have come to expect the same level of personalization in the workplace as well. And employee benefits are no exception.

What’s Keeping Employers from Personalizing Their Benefits Offerings?

While artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics have transformed several business functions rapidly, organizations are at a data disadvantage when it comes to their benefits offerings. Maeve O’Meara, Executive Vice President of Product and Customer Experience at Castlight believes that employers typically work with limited data-sources which keeps them from unleashing the true power of benefits personalization.

“Our survey of employers with the National Business Group on Health (NBGH) found that most organizations are eager to take advantage of the technological advances that enable benefits personalization. But, an employer’s ability to personalize benefits and recommend them to employees is only as good as the data they use to inform those recommendations,” says Maeve. “Our report found that employers today are leveraging some data, such as medical claims and biometrics screenings, to drive personalization -- but powerful data sources remain largely untapped. Delivering on the promise of benefits personalization requires employers to collect additional data from disparate sources such as third-party apps, user preferences, and user behavior, as well as the ability to synthesize that data into timely, granular recommendations.”

The report that focuses on large employers, found that a majority of employers (71 percent) offer little or no personalization to employees when it comes to matching the right benefits/resources to employees’ needs. When asked how they would grade their organization’s current benefits personalization efforts, none of the employers awarded themselves an A grade. “Our survey of the nation’s largest employers found that they widely recognize the power of personalization to positively impact employees, but most believe they are not tapping into its full potential. As well as quantifying that gap, the survey highlighted several opportunities to improve benefits programs through personalization,” says Maeve.

How AI Can Help Drive Benefits Personalization

With high-deductible health plans (HDHP), open enrollment, and 401(k)s benefits offerings still being viewed as complicated and difficult to understand by employees, employers need to deploy the right tools to offer personalization. In the candidate-driven jobs landscape today, personalized benefits offerings are a part of employers’ overall competitive advantage. “With employers facing increasing pressure to attract and retain talent, offering a personalized, engaging, and consumer-grade benefits experience is a key competitive advantage. We have seen from other industries -- from entertainment to shopping -- that technology-driven, personalized services drive deeper consumer engagement and satisfaction than the one-size-fits-all status quo. The same is true in health benefits: by connecting employees with the right benefits and resources for them as an individual, we see greater employee engagement with -- and satisfaction in – benefits,” opines Maeve.

The report classifies personalization data sources into Mature (eligibility file and claims data), Crossover (health risk assessments and biometric screenings), and Nascent (in-app questions, third-party apps, and search data/history). AI-powered benefits solutions that draw on all three data-sources are crucial to delivering a personalized benefits experience. With the right data sets, AI can help employees make educated benefits choices that are relevant to them and their individual needs. Once organizations have a unified view of all data, AI can provide personalized nudges to inspire better benefits utilization.

Conclusion

All indicators point to AI driving the future of benefits administration. “It’s clear employers recognize the promise of digital health benefits, as they continue to invest in solutions that empower employees to access care, manage conditions, and stay healthy. Now, employers are seeking ways to drive greater value in their existing digital health investments.

“One of the key levers to do so is through benefits personalization. Our recent report identified three innovations employers can take advantage of to improve benefit personalization going forward: increased data liquidity creates the opportunity to incorporate broader data sources; advances in machine learning enable more granular segmentation in communicating with employees, and applying personalization across disparate programs enables employees to understand and connect with the right resource at the right time,” says Maeve.

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Source: HR Technologist

https://www.hrtechnologist.com/articles/benefits-administration/why-ai-is-the-future-of-benefits-personalization/

AUTHOR

Lisa Burden

PUBLISHED

March 28, 2019

Dive Brief:

• Cash rewards might not be the most effective way to get employees to participate and complete employer wellness programs, according to a study by Brigham Young University.
• Researchers say they studied an employer that provided awards such as cash bonuses added to paychecks, gift cards or a tangible reward of equal value to employees who completed six-week wellness challenges, BYU reported. Although 60% of the participants choose cash rewards, people who selected gift cards were 25% more likely to complete a wellness challenge, BYU said. 
• Researchers speculated that gift cards may be more motivational because they represent the "optimal balance between hedonic value (fun, enjoyment) and fungibility," the study's authors told BYU. The study does not recommend that organizations only offer gift cards as incentives, the report said.

Dive Insight:

According to a 2018 study by Wrike, all but 6% of American workers reported being stressed at work, and one-fourth of the respondents to the survey said they will burn out within the next year if they continue to feel so stressed. Stress and burnout can lead to high turnover, and poor sleep — a common side effect of stress — has shown to cause workers to make more mistakes.   

With this in mind, it's not shocking that wellness is a serious consideration for employees and candidates. According to a recent survey, 73% of workers weigh whether an employer offers well-being programs when deciding whether to accept a job offer. In the same survey, about one-quarter of respondents said they favored incentives that reward healthy behavior. Academic case studies from Stanford University and the University of Michigan have also shown the popularity of wellness programs among workers. 

Even with strong employee demand for wellness programs, employers might look to personalized programs and incentives to encourage full participation. Personalized wellness programs or non-cash incentives like paid time off would motivate 80% of employees to participate, according to the Wellbeing Wake-Up Report by Welltok.

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Source: HR Dive

https://www.hrdive.com/news/gift-cards-more-effective-than-cash-at-motivating-employees-study-finds/551318/