Work / Life Issues

College is expensive. Here’s how you can help

03/20/2024

Employees who paid off their student loans long ago are now helping their kids through college, and some are taking out second mortgages to do it. You can ease some of this burden by establishing a tax-free scholarship program for employees’ kids. A private letter ruling shows the way.

Recruiting: Offer work-from-home option, tout opportunities to advance

01/29/2024

It’s tough to attract the best new hires if you can’t pay as much as larger employers can. However, you may have a couple competitive advantages big companies can’t offer: the option for employees to work remotely full-time and the promise of promotion opportunities.

Provide child-care, elder-care benefits to attract and keep the employees you need

01/22/2024

One obvious tactic to attract and retain caregivers is to offer benefits that help them care for their children and older relatives. Adding either or both to your benefit plan may mark you as a desirable employer. Here are some options.

DOL offers mental-health assistance, compliance resources for employers

01/08/2024

Worker stress rose to record levels during the pandemic—and has remained high ever since, according to Gallup Poll surveys. In fact, Gallup says 52% of employees report they have experienced “a lot of stress” in the previous 24 hours. Employers are responding, with 63% of HR professionals surveyed by Willis Towers Watson last fall saying they planned to enhance benefits addressing employee mental health in 2024.

Family health insurance is no longer affordable through small employers

12/20/2023

Workers at small firms—those with fewer than 200 employees—would need to pay $8,334 on average toward the annual premiums for family coverage. But an employee’s share of premiums is often much more expensive—a quarter of covered workers at small firms must pay $12,000 or more annually.

Poll: How employers can improve worker well-being

11/27/2023

Time—not money, not benefits—is the measure most critical to employee well-being, according to a new Gallup poll.

These 8 great holiday perks can reduce employee stress

11/27/2023

You can help ease employee stress this holiday season by adding a few low-cost timesavers to your holiday bonus package. Small holiday kindnesses on the part of the company can pay off in a big way for the organization all year. Here are a few ways your organization can help holiday-harried employees stay productive at work.

How employers can best support grieving caregivers

11/21/2023

Over 40 million Americans care for an unwell relative over the age of 50, a responsibility that can take up as much as 50 hours each week. Those responsibilities can have a significant impact on their work, affecting schedules, energy levels and overall sense of well-being.

Looming child-care crisis could affect your employees

10/30/2023

Many of your employees may soon begin scrambling to find child care for their kids—if they’re not already struggling. That’s because as many as 70,000 child-care providers nationwide could be forced to close after $24 billion in American Rescue Plan federal funding ran out Sept. 30. Thousands of day cares have shut their doors since then.

Employees worry their pay isn’t keeping up with inflation…

10/16/2023

Over the last year, the impact of inflation and economic uncertainty has increased the financial stress employees feel. Only 42% of those polled rated their financial wellness as good or excellent, the lowest rate since 2010.