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Your Employees Are Stressed About Healthcare Costs. What Can You Do?

Your Employees Are Stressed About Healthcare Costs. What Can You Do?

by | Feb 19, 2018 | Blog

Healthcare costs are the leading cause of financial stress for 17 percent of Americans, according to a 2017 Gallup poll gauging household stress. As uncertainty around the fate of Affordable Care Act mounts, this stress is only getting worse for your employees – and more expensive for your business.

Fifty two percent of male employees and 58 percent of female employees worry about becoming ill and not being able to work anymore, according to the 2017 Workplace Benefits Report. Financial stress leads to lower productivity and higher rates of absenteeism – this stress is even causes physical illness among some employees which only compounds the problem.

What can you do when healthcare costs leave your employees financially stressed? Try these 5 strategies:

1. Understand which healthcare-related stressors are affecting your employees
Your employees may be feeling massively stressed about their healthcare, regardless of their employee-sponsored benefits programs. The costs associated with monthly coverage, the difficulties of navigating confusing plan options and the weight of outstanding medical bills continue to stress out employees. Talk with your team as well as your HR department to determine exactly how healthcare may be contributing to your employees’ stress levels. This will allow you begin taking the appropriate steps to resolve these healthcare-related stressors.

2. Reassess the healthcare resources you already have
Once you understand the root cause of your employees’ stress, begin to review the healthcare resources you already have in place to help them. It may be time to diversify your approach. Reach out for external resources in order to analyze existing data.

  • Request assistance and information directly from your company’s insurance provider and its agents.
  • Reach out to company-linked financial advisors for relevant employee data
  • Access your company’s existing financial wellness programs in order to evaluate your employees’ stress levels, major financial concerns and overarching long term personal and professional goals.

If your company doesn’t currently retain all three of the above, it’s time you change that. These professional services assist you with educating yourself and your employees on how to maximize their healthcare benefits.

3. Provide your employees with the tools they need to educate themselves.
Your employees want to take control of their financial stress – many of them just don’t know where to start. Do your employees know the difference between an HMO, PPO, EPO, or POS? Between a copay and coinsurance? Do they understand how the size of their deductible will affect their monthly payment? Do you?

Improving employee literacy around healthcare is paramount to reducing employee stress and improving both their healthcare usage and your company’s savings. Look for tools through your insurance provider and if you don’t have one already, finding a financial wellness platform that will break down complex laws and regulations into readable, consumer-friendly language. By empowering your employees to take an active and supported role in researching their options, you’re helping them make educated and informed decisions. This translates into nearly $409.38 in savings for your company – per procedure, per employee.

4. Help your employees stay on top of recent changes to the healthcare system.
Healthcare stress is the highest it’s been since 2007, according to the same Gallup poll. This rising stress is tied in no small part to the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Affordable Care Act and what legislation might take its place. Whether your employees are receive insurance through you or the open market, stay aware of the changes happening in the world of healthcare – and make sure your employees do the same. Encourage employees to be proactive in gathering their own healthcare information. Task HR with maintaining effective outreach strategies including email updates, written literature in clear, readable language, face-to-face meetings and regular surveys. Host recurring employee workshops or lunch-and-learns to catch employees up on the latest changes to their plan options. Keeping employees up-to-date on the latest changes to their healthcare will cut down on employee stress, keep you connected with your workforce and keep your company’s overhead in check.

5. Make sure your employees are using the healthcare resources you already provide.
Employee benefits are useless if no one uses them. Employees who understand and utilize their benefits are more likely to be satisfied with their employer and recommend their organization as a good place to work, according to research from the Society for Human Resource Management. Yet, 80 percent of employees don’t even open the benefits materials given to them and of those who do, less than half don’t fully understand the benefits options available. In-person communication is the best way to cover confusing, and often changing, healthcare benefits. Make sure that resources about provided benefits – and about healthcare in general are easily accessible online.

Increase your employees’ access to their benefits resources. Create an environment that allows you to ensure that your employees are less stressed and more productive. That’s good for the health of your employees – and your business.

Is Protecting Confidential Employee Data A Priority For Your Company?

Is Protecting Confidential Employee Data A Priority For Your Company?

by | Feb 13, 2018 | Blog

In this week’s Best Money Moves roundup, we take a look at news stories and new research studies that may impact employee benefits and HR issues. We hope you find this news roundup helpful, and we’d love your feedback.

Is protecting confidential employee data a priority for your company?

Today, confidential data is at a higher risk of being stolen than ever before. A data security breach can quickly lead to identity theft, creating a chain-reaction of ever-growing problems.

Identity theft is not just stressful for your workforce, it costs your business money. More than half of identity theft victims reported missed time from work. Did you know that work-related stress leads to lost productivity, higher rates of turnover, lowered levels of financial wellness and even puts your employees at a greater risk for significant health problems?

Safeguarding your workforce from identity theft is a constant battle. Stay vigilant when collecting (and storing) sensitive employee data and stay informed on the latest and most innovative cyber-security options.

Show your employees you care about employee data with these five strategic steps.

The Equifax hack may be worse than previously reported. Last year’s hack affected 145 million Americans. In addition to Social security numbers, birth dates, driver’s license numbers and addresses, it is now being reported that tax identification numbers and driver’s license issuance dates were also stolen.

Hackers are stealing your identity – here’s what you need to know

Small business owners need to know about Amazon Web Services. AWS provides software to not only large corporations, but also to small businesses who may be seeking a way to offload software and infrastructure management.

Why your small business may benefit from AWS

Companies understand that happier and healthier employees are more productive. Improving their benefits will help retain your workforce and is much less expensive than raising salaries. With this year’s tax cut, companies are starting to spend a bit more on employee perks – do you know which employee benefits your team wants?

Which perks are the best perks after the new tax cut?

#MeToo hasn’t lessened harassment on professional social media sites. Since October 2017, there’s been a “public reckoning over workplace sexual assault and harassment.” So, why is it still pervasive? Why are inappropriate messages (still) being sent on professional networking sites? Are your employees receiving (or sending) harassing correspondence?

How to deal with cyber-harassers and their victims

Can tax reform influence defined benefit funding decisions? How will these benefit funding decisions impact pension management strategies? If your company is in the midst of figuring out how tax reform will affect everything related to short and long-term spending options, here are four steps that can help guide you – and your decision making.

2018’s tax reform and your company’s spending decisions

Are you attempting to build a diverse and inclusive workplace? We certainly hope so! Here are the most impactful recruiting trends when you want to recruit for diversity, inclusion, and social fit. Do you need to completely overhaul your company culture?

Refresh your selection criteria for an inclusive workplace

Color, texture, technology and atmosphere. These aren’t necessarily the words you think of when imagining positive affectivity and productivity in an office space. But, workplaces have come a long way – investing in person-friendly work environments improves efficiency, enhances productivity and inspires innovation.

Top workplace design trends for 2018

More on Topics Related to Data Protection and Tech at Work

Why You Need to Train Employees for Future Tech

Top 10 Workplace Etiquette Rules for Communication

Hiring Trends to Watch in 2020

Office Dress Code Policies in Today’s Workplace

Is Rehiring a Former Employee a Good Idea?

Top 10 Employee Benefits for 2020

Employee Privacy in 2018: 5 Ways to Show Your Employees You Care About their Data

Employee Privacy in 2018: 5 Ways to Show Your Employees You Care About their Data

by | Feb 12, 2018 | Blog

Protecting employee privacy is more important in 2018 than ever before. Show your employees you care about employee data with these five strategic steps.

It’s simply assumed that the confidential employee data workers share with their employers will remain exactly that: confidential. But if you’re collecting employee data in any capacity, that data is at risk of a security breach, potentially leading to identity theft.

Sixty-four percent of all Americans have experienced a breach in their personal data, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, and about half of Americans feel that employee privacy is less secure now than it has been in years past.

What’s worse, identity theft resulting from stolen employee data isn’t just stressful for your workforce, it’s expensive for your business. Fifty-five percent of identity theft victims reported missed time from work, 39 percent of these victims cited an inability to concentrate or focus while at work and an overwhelming 74 percent cited an increase in their overall level of stress, according to a recent survey of identity theft victims conducted by the Identity Theft Resource Center. In addition to absenteeism, stress at work leads to lost productivity among staff, a higher rate of employee turnover and even puts your employees at a greater risk for a number of significant stress-related health problems.

These days, it may seem as though a data breach is an inevitable risk for your company, but there are strategic steps you can take to protect against criminals accessing your sensitive data.

1. Be clear with your workforce about which employee data you need to access and which data your employees should keep private.
Generally, employers have the right to access and own anything their employees do, say or record on company property or while on company time. Bottom line: make your company’s privacy policy explicitly clear in comprehensive written agreements, HR workshops, employee handbooks or even pop-up warnings on any monitored devices. Ensure that any employee benefits platforms that collect sensitive information – including retirement or financial wellness – do the same. When employees have a clear understanding of what information their employers have access to and what the information is used for, they can better protect the information they divulge. It’s also important that employees understand why these privacy policies are necessary.

2. Use the best data security for the information you keep.
Data from an employee’s computer may help you monitor office productivity, while information about your employees’ average length of employment can help with turnover predictability. You can also use data about employee health or employee finances to help you choose the best benefits programs for your team. Access to this information brings the responsibility of implementing strong security protocols for the safeguarding of employee – and employer – privacy. Work with your data security team to establish best practices for handling internet usage and document storage or destruction of confidential employee data. Limit the time your employees spend on unsecured networks and opt for a private, secure network when dealing with company and employee data. Encrypting all messaging done on company time and property should be a default practice, but utilizing multi-factor authentication adds another layer of safety.

3. Know how your benefits providers handle your employee’s information.
Your company might be handling your employee’s data with care, but what about your third-party employee benefits providers who have access to sensitive employee information about retirement, healthcare and financial wellness? Work with benefits providers that meet your business’ security standards and reevaluate them regularly. Assess what your vendors have access to and limit it to what is absolutely necessary. Look for a retirement or financial wellness provider who can anonymize sensitive information about your employees’ finances. Put your company’s confidentiality requirements in writing. Be transparent with your expectations and only use vendors that comply with company security and privacy protocols and who are willing to submit to regular auditing.

4. Encourage your employees to take an interest in their own privacy.
Employee error is the number one reason for company-wide data breaches, according to research from the Association for Corporate Counsel. Ensuring that individual employees are practicing safe data management can ensure the safety of your company at large. Helping your workforce understand that employee privacy is valuable (and vulnerable) is your first line of defense. Host company-wide workshops with IT professionals to bring everyone on the same page.

5. Stop thinking of employee privacy as a one-time problem.
Criminals are constantly finding new ways to access sensitive employee data. Staying on top of employee privacy isn’t a one-time activity, it’s something that requires constant review and regular maintenance. As quickly as technology improves, criminals find new strategies for stealing employee data.

Safeguarding your workforce from identity theft is a constant battle, but it’s one your company can accomplish by staying vigilant about how you handle sensitive employee data. Stay informed on the ever-growing online privacy landscape in order to take the correct steps in securing the privacy your company’s and employees’ data.

Mastering the High Stakes Benefits of Employee Financial Wellness

Mastering the High Stakes Benefits of Employee Financial Wellness

by | Feb 7, 2018 | Blog

In this week’s Best Money Moves roundup, we take a look at news stories and new research studies that may impact employee benefits and HR issues. We hope you find this news roundup helpful, and we’d love your feedback.

More employers recognize that financial wellness is table stakes for employees. What has also become apparent is that simply providing a 401(k) and retirement planning advice isn’t enough to reduce the financial stress almost all employees feel. Your employees need more.

Many employees struggle with paying down debt. They often have significant, unreimbursed, medical expenses or may be experiencing other financial hardships. This means they don’t always have the option to set aside funds for retirement, and have to “opt-out” of employer-sponsored savings plans simply because they can’t afford it..

From the employer’s point of view, adding one more benefit to an increasingly expensive pot might seem like a waste of money, especially if the employee benefits you’re providing aren’t being fully utilized.

But when it comes to financial wellness, the calculus is different. Forty-nine percent of employees feel that their workplace productivity would increase if their employer-sponsored benefits included financial planning programs in addition to existing retirement savings assistance. While retirement planning benefits are important, they don’t come close to capturing the full financial wellness needs of your workforce. Employees with financial security are much more motivated and focused at work.

In this week’s blog post, we run down the reasons that:

Financial Wellness Is About More Than Just Retirement Planning Advice

Do you feel like workplace financial wellness is out of reach? Ideally, financial wellness programs will lower health costs, enhance productivity, boost employee engagement and reduce employee absenteeism and turnover. Often, the only barrier is getting employees to try something new.

How to improve workplace financial wellness

Is your onboarding process thorough enough? If your onboarding process goes beyond basic training to include “acculturation,” then it probably isn’t. Whether it’s for new hires or internal transfers, when you consider the amount of time, staffing and money that goes into your onboarding process, shouldn’t it be fully comprehensive?

The importance of expanding your onboarding process – across the board

Positive investments in small businesses is driving economic growth. Small business investments continued to grow at the end of 2017 as payment delinquencies and defaults remained low. However, some warning signs in financial health are starting to emerge.

 Small business investments – what you need to know

How do you know if your corporate wellness program is successful? The answer is much more nuanced than simple numbers and charts although those are important as well. Beyond standard metrics, a successful program will show employees with more energy, enthusiasm, productivity, creativity, higher engagement and lower absenteeism.

Here’s why financial wellness goes beyond numbers

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has altered two important tax breaks for homeowners. Homeowners with large mortgages and home equity loans should be paying attention to the new tax laws, as there are new  limits on deductions for state and local taxes. There are fine details that you should read about to see how they’ll affect you – and your employees.

The new tax law may affect you more than you think

Is there a magic number that tells you how much to save for retirement? Or a magic 8-ball that tells you what to do with your retirement investments when the market drops? Unfortunately, magic won’t help you save for retirement. But, planning, saving, thinking outside of the box, doing a lot of research and speaking with an expert just might.

Your retirement savings goes beyond a market dip

Have something to add? Email info@bestmoneymoves.com.

Financial Wellness Is About More Than Just Retirement Planning Advice

Financial Wellness Is About More Than Just Retirement Planning Advice

by | Feb 5, 2018 | Blog

Financial wellness has become table stakes for employers. But while many employers believe they’ve ticked the financial wellness box by providing employees with a 401(k) and retirement planning advice, that’s only a tiny piece of the help employees need.

That’s not to say comprehensive retirement planning isn’t vital to your employees’ overall financial wellness. It is. But if your employees are typical, they likely struggle with paying down debt, significant medical expenses or other financial hardships, which means they may not always have the option to set aside funds for retirement. Their financial stress goes beyond wondering whether they have, or they can, save enough for retirement.

What percentage of employees struggle with other causes of financial stress? Plenty. Forty-nine percent of employees say that if their workplace benefits included financial planning programs in addition to existing retirement savings assistance, their productivity in the workplace would significantly increase, according to the 2017 Retirement Confidence Survey conducted by the Employee Benefits Research Institute.

In addition to allowing auto-deductions for retirement savings, best practice financial wellness programs offer a wide range of preventative and curative options for your employees’ financial stress, with both long and short-term solutions for tackling tough financial issues such as debt, elder care, identity theft and more.

Other studies have concluded that financially secure employees are more motivated and focused at work. In order to help your team reach this level of financial wellness, consider providing a financial wellness program that offers a broad range of services, including:

  1. An easy-to-use budgeting system
    There’s nothing like seeing whether you’re cash-flow positive (or not). Seeing a clear view of your income and expenses along with an evaluation of your spending habits helps employees take a long hard look at the choices they’re making today and how they can make different choices going forward. Simple, yet effective tools that help employees identify the root causes of their financial stress can help eliminate financial insecurity and increase overall financial wellness.
  2. Resources for managing debt
    More than half of the workforce is financially stressed, according to a PwC study on financial wellness. And, among millennial employees that number rises to 64 percent. Debt is a big driver of financial insecurity and figuring how to pay down or manage debt can be incredibly tricky, especially if employees have multiple types of debt, with more than one creditor. When choosing a financial wellness platform, pick one that assists employees with calculating the total sum of what they owe while also tracking interest rates and repayment habits. Understanding what is owed helps employees recognize how much their existing debt will cost them in the long run and what their best options are for consolidation and repayment.
  3. Help to set savings goals
    You can’t reach a goal if you don’t set one. Financial wellness programs should allow employees to set individualized goals, based on personal circumstances regarding income, lifestyle, basic expenses, individual interests and family size. A qualified financial wellness program should offer assistance with assigning realistic time frames to accomplish each financial goal. The ability to visually track personalized savings timelines encourages commitment to the savings plan and ongoing smart spending habits.
  4. Comprehensive, personalized answers to individual concerns or questions
    Financial wellness isn’t just about creating a tight budget, or just about reducing debt. Financial wellness is integrated with all areas of life. Whether directly associated with financial planning or not, financial wellness deeply impacts an employee’s sense of overall well-being. All of life’s big decisions and events carry lasting effects on an employee’s bank account and overall financial wellness. Ensure that you provide a comprehensive financial wellness provider that can address – and resolve – your employee’s individual financial stressors.

Your employees are most likely experiencing financial stress. While retirement planning benefits are important, they don’t come close to capturing the full needs of your workforce. Provide your employees with access to a financial wellness platform that addresses their own financial stressors, not someone else’s.

Don’t forget: when your workforce is less financially-stressed and more financially-stable, it’s better for everyone.

The Student Debt Crisis is Growing and Affecting Your Workforce. What Can You Do?

The Student Debt Crisis is Growing and Affecting Your Workforce. What Can You Do?

by | Jan 30, 2018 | Blog

In this week’s Best Money Moves roundup, we take a look at news stories and new research studies that may impact employee benefits and HR issues. We hope you find this news roundup helpful, and we’d love your feedback.

America has a student loan debt crisis. Employers are paying the price.

Over 44 million Americans are carrying a total of $1.48 trillion in student loans and chances are your employees (and possibly even you) are among those affected. Employees facing significant student loan debt are more likely to defer saving for retirement, buying a home, getting married and having children. (And they’re spending between 12 and 15 work hours each month fretting about their finances.)

They’re also more likely to seek out additional employment to cover their expenses. As a result, their concentration, productivity and overall physical health suffers – as does your company’s bottom line.

Meanwhile, the financial cost of higher education is only increasing with time, matriculating well-educated, inexperienced and deeply indebted graduates into the workforce.

Empowering your employees with financial know-how is the key to reducing financial stress, managing their student loan debt and creating financial wellness.  

Make no mistake: student debt affects your employees’ ability to plan for the future and build productive and meaningful relationships. For employers, providing access to financial wellness through financial literacy and financial planning benefits programs means you’ll be able to attract and hold on to talented employees.

The cost of a higher education shouldn’t cost your company a good work force and it shouldn’t hold your employees back from planning their future. Read this week’s story to learn about 10 things you need to know about your employee’s student loan debt.

Employee Student Loan Debt: 10 Things You Need To Know (Part I)

How does a dynamic team stay on the same page? Between remote workers, local employees, freelancers and executives, Quartz has found that “virtual coffee breaks,” annual summits and transparency through a 1,000+ page handbook keeps everyone in their company looped in to cultural norms and work processes.

Can transparent communication guidelines actually connect your team?

Are you trying to grow your female IT workforce? Women make up a smaller share of both the private and public IT workforce. Five female federal executives offer advice on how women can succeed in public sector IT, despite making up a smaller share of the labor pool. See how the tide is changing.

5 Tips to Stop Backslide of Women in Government Tech

Corporate tax savings have arrived! What are America’s largest corporations doing with their millions in slashed taxes and instant savings? Here is a list of S&P 500 companies that have announced bonuses, wage increases and other special investments for their employees based on their new lower tax rate.  

Tax savings allows greater investment in employees

It’s never too late to start a late-stage retirement plan. Don’t wake up in a cold panic anymore! Yes, you should have already begun your retirement savings plan – your retirement looms closer every single day. But if you haven’t started already, isn’t it too late? It’s not.

9 immediate steps to take today, to begin your retirement savings.

Cost is no longer the driving force when it comes to benefit platforms. What are the many factors taking priority over cost? Ease of use for benefits administrators and their employees as well as the ability to integrate new benefits technology with existing HR information systems – and that’s not all…

Employers are choosing user experience over cost.

Are you living in a Smart City? In March, the Smart Cities Council 2018 Readiness Challenge Grants will announce 5 winners from a list of 9 regional finalists. They’ll access workshops, products and services to bolster initiatives in infrastructure, open data platforms, Internet of Things (IoT), public Wi-Fi, sustainability and more.

What would you do with a Readiness Challenge Grant?

Is your city in one of the top six US office markets? 2017’s commercial property market experienced a lag in tenants, while office space availability has remained steady since 2016. Tenants at the end of 2017 occupied 21 million square feet more office space than they did at the beginning of the year.

How will economic diversity and population flow affect the office market for 2018?

Have something to add? Email info@bestmoneymoves.com.