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In the spring of 2009, Spencer's Benefits Reports surveyed employers and health plan administrators about their experience with health coverage portability through COBRA continuation of coverage. This is the 16th [...]

The findings of surveys on variations in employee benefits are presented.

Strategic data for designing or evaluating employee health promotion and disease prevention programs can be derived from guidelines of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), convened by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Other research data highlighting the role of working in partnership with healthcare providers, cost-effectiveness of prevention programs, and employee communications are presented.

Health care flexible spending accounts (HCFSAs) are a benefit that is available for more than 20 years but was ignored during the past decade due to the first-dollar coverage provided by most managed care health plans. The important reason to offer HCFSAs is the opportunity they provide help to educate employees about health care consumerism.

Research is presented concerning the identification of the 5 most popular employee benefits from a survey of 121 managers of foreign business enterprises and 583 professional employees working in China and Hong Kong.

Employee compensation surveys are discussed with emphasis on their effectiveness. The importance of finding the right survey is described and ten strategies for achieving this are presented.

A 1997 survey of firms listed in the Fortune 1000 reveals the popularity of supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs), with 88% of those surveyed offering such benefits. The emergence of laws passed by Congress which limit compensation levels of tax-qualified plans have made SERPs the plan of choice for most companies. SERPs have the edge over tax-qualified plans in terms of advantages such as better payment options, annuities, fixed-term payments, and lump sums.

For the first time, BLS will have interrelated statistics on wages, benefit incidence, employer compensation costs, and more. The end of the 20th century can rightly be called the information [...]

Just when you thought your company was safe to swim in the year 2000 . . . For benefits and compensation professionals in the EU, the January 1999 launch of [...]

Employee benefits departments appear to have gained some solidness in spite of corporate downsizing and demands to prove value to the bigger organization, according to a 1997 biennial survey by Charles D Spencer & Associates. The survey determined that salary levels rose between 1995 and 1997 which was bigger than in preceding two-year survey periods. Staffing levels in employee benefits departments also rose following several years of reported declines. Nonetheless, benefit managers remain chiefly concerned with legal compliance.

KPMG Peat Marwick LLP conducted a survey on employee health benefit packages for 1994. Data showed that almost 80% of employees in companies with a workforce reaching 200 and above are covered by employer-sponsored health insurance plans, with 65% of them participating in managed care plans. Managed care plans are expected to become the main providers of health care regardless of the presence of federal health care reform legislation, mainly beacuse they offer better cost control.

A nationwide survey by the Charles D. Spencer & Assoc. in 1994 showed that most employers are happy with salary-reduction plans administration. The survey also showed that most employers do not bear the full cost of administering such plans because more and more plan costs are shifted to employees. The administrative function that was performed by employers was that of ongoing employee communications.

Most employers still adhere to the traditional 'three-legged stool' philosophy of retirement security. The results of a survey undertaken by KPMG Peat Marwick bear this out. Of the 933 employers polled, 84% said retirement income should come from a combination of employer-provided benefits, Social Security and personal savings. Only 8% of those surveyed believed that retirement security is the primary responsibility of employees.

Employers are improving work and family benefits to adapt to demographic changes such as increases in dual-career families and more working women. Day care, adoption benefits, alternate work schedules, tuition reimbursement and wellness programs are now used to attract and retain quality employees. Buck Consultants Inc's non-random survey of 100 companies reveals that alternate work schedules, wellness programs and pre-tax dependent care andtuition reimbursements are the favored benefits. These enhancements in the workand family relationship serve to keep employees satisfied with their jobs.

The findings of Mercer Human Resource Consulting's survey on employee benefit programs of companies, in Europe, are presented.

NONQUALIFIED DEFERRED compensation plans funded by corporate-owned and trust-owned life insurance remain highly popular among Fortune 1000 companies. The use of supplemental executive retirement plans, however, slipped from 2004, whereas [...]

A survey of state government employees benefit plans and leave provisions showed that extent of coverages, description and information varied among the states. It also showed that large purchasers of health care have 'clout' in obtaining better rates and coverages.

Byline: Warren s. Hersch Nine in 10 Americans believe companies that offer a full range of benefits help them simplify and secure their lives, according to new research. Wellpoint Inc. [...]

Surveys conducted by the US Chamber of Commerce, Foster Higgins and Company Inc., Enterprise Group and the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that larger employers have a greater tendency to offer a dental plan to their employees. The survey showed that most big companies provide their employees with a dental plan, with over one-half of their full-time employees being covered by the plan. However, more companies have to offer eye care benefits to their employees.

Byline: JERRY GEISEL Fifty-three percent of employees doubt they could buy health insurance the same or better than the coverage their employers provide, according to a National Business Group on [...]

Byline: LOUISE ESOLAEmployers that want their employees to better understand their benefits could borrow tactics used by advertisers and marketers: Know your audience and customize the message to meet their [...]

William M. Mercer Inc. has concluded its survey on executive compensation for 1993 among 642 organizations. Results showed the importance accorded to issues such as new disclosure regulations, legislative changes and planned accounting standards for stock options. To 30% of respondents, the choice of voluntary deferment of cash compensation for tax-break purposes may be expanded and offered to executives. The plan to increase nonqualified benefits to employees is being considered by 43% of respondents.

The Dept. of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics has announced the results of its second biannual survey of employee benefits in private companies employing less than 100 people in 1992. Results showed that medical care benefits were the most popular form of benefits provided by employers to employees. Fee-for-service plans included 68% of full-time employees enjoying health benefits in small businesses.

Foster Higgins' Flexible Benefits Survey for 1992 covered 350 employer-respondents, each employing more than 1,000 people. To 60% of respondents, flexible benefits plans were considered instrumental in the lowering of health care costs. This percentage is higher than the 53% positive response recorded in 1991. The health coverage choices found in the plans of surveyed employers included indemnity plans, preferred provider organizations, HMOs, dental coverage and vision coverage.

A survey conducted by Hewitt Assoc revealed that flexible benefits provided to workers by members of the Council on Employee Benefits (CEB) have increased significantly in 1993. Of the 48% of companies with benefits choice programs, only 29% did not offer any credit to participants. The number of CEB members offering choice programs is also expected to increase to 62%. Most of these employers implementing flexible benefits policies have considered partnership and employee empowerment as more functional than cost shifting to employees.

Byline: REGIS COCCIA A nationwide survey of business executives indicates most U.S. employers, at least for now, are unlikely to stop offering health care benefits in the wake of the [...]

Byline: JERRY GEISEL Amid signs of an economic recovery, many employers that suspended or reduced their 401(k) matching contributions are rethinking those moves. A survey released last week by Boston-based [...]

Nearly half of UK workers (47%) would welcome the opportunity to trade off benefits in order to increase their pay, according to a survey by Aon Consulting. It found that [...]

Employees Look For Help With Personal Investments The majority of employers surveyed in a recent Foster Higgins poll say the economic climate over the last six months has increased the [...]

Byline: NICK WHITFIELD Many employers have altered their health care plans to cope with rising costs, but the effect on vision plans has been less pronounced, due largely to their [...]

Byline: JERRY GEISEL Nearly three-quarters of corporate benefit executives say that taxing employees on the value of employer-provided health care benefit programs would have a negative effect on employees, according [...]

Insurers Pitch Benefits To Mothers The proliferation of working mothers is causing some insurance companies to offer work and family benefits that address the many needs of this group. National [...]

Child Care Ins. Available, Affordable: Labor WASHINGTON - Liability insurance for employer-provided, on-site and near-site child care centers is both available and affordable, a Labor Department task force has concluded [...]

Byline: JERRY GEISEL A significant percentage of 401(k) plan participants aren't contributing enough to obtain the full amount of their employers' matching contribution, according to a study. The study, conducted [...]

Byline: GLORIA GONZALEZ Canadian employers are concerned about the cost of health-related absences, but most have not taken active steps to address the issue, according to a new study. Rising [...]

Byline: JOANNE WOJCIK LAS VEGAS-Early research has shown that employers that have successfully implemented consumer-driven health plans all had several things in common, the foremost of which was extensive communication, [...]

Byline: RUPAL PAREKH In 2005, benefits managers' top priorities will revolve around containing the rising cost of employee health care, although the attraction and retention of talented employees will also [...]

CHICAGO-Aon Consulting, a global human resources consulting division of Aon Corp., and Westminster, Colo.-based Reed Group, a provider of employee leave administration services and disability duration guidelines, have teamed up [...]

Employees want more choices when selecting among health plans, and many favor a ``defined contribution'' payment system, according to study results presented recently at the American Assn. of Health Plans' [...]

Our nation's labor market is tight. We hear the common refrain: ``Anyone who wants a job has one, so it's tough to find qualified candidates.'' However, employers have within their [...]