Employer Reduce Wellness Benefits.
A new survey of benefits from the Society for Human Resource
Management found that employers are cooling toward certain wellness
benefits. Originally designed to cut employers' health costs,
benefits like on-site flu shots, 24-hour nurse hot lines, health
coaching and insurance-premium discounts for weight loss all have
declined over the past year, the study found. Just 37% of the
employers studied offered health coaching-counseling designed to
motivate employees to make healthy lifestyle choices. Last year,
nearly half of them offered that benefit. Fewer employers are making
seasonal flu vaccinations available at work, with 54% doing so, down
from 61% last year. (Wall Street Journal, 6/20)
Zenefits, the HR
tech startup embroiled in a regulatory compliance scandal, is making
another wave of staff cuts. The company said it will
eliminate 106 jobs, accounting for about 9 percent of staff. The San
Francisco-based startup, which makes corporate software and sells
health insurance to companies, will close its sales department in
Arizona and reorganize its operations group, called Ops. The cuts
come just a few months after Zenefits dismissed 250 people, about 17
percent of the workforce at the time. (Bloomberg, 6/14)
Employers offer HSA Incentives. Employers are increasingly matching
contributions to health savings accounts amid a proliferation of
high-deductible health care plans. "Because consumers do not
fully understand the value of an HSA, employers must educate
employees on the tax benefits," said John Park, chief strategy
officer for Alegeus. "To entice participation, we see more
employers contributing to these accounts, much like they do with a
401(k) match."
(Employee Benefit Adviser, 6/8)
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