As an HR representative of a US company, you are all interested in using employee benefits as a tool to attract, retain, and grow good employees. Wearing your company hat, you are concerned about the rising costs of benefits for the last number of years. Wearing your personal hat, controlling rising costs is also an issue because you also get benefits from the companies you work for. Now the highest priority for employer provided benefits programs should be to protect the employee from significant financial hardship due to illness, disability, or death.
Big pick items like LTD, life, hospital, out of country, drugs for acute conditions, need to be protected with a compromise on other more affordable and predictable benefits such as vision, routine dental, and orthodontics. Employers should also look to increase the flexibility and tax preferred compensation.
A recent study alluded to by Coleman Peterson (a retired Executive VP from Wal-Mart Stores) at our recent Employers of Excellence Conference in Phoenix, listed the top five HR concerns of employers and employees. I have borrowed from the results below.
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