An attractive benefits program is vital for your recruiting and retention efforts, but it is also a significant expense. To ensure you are providing a package that is both competitive and economical, you need to know how your offerings compare to others in your industry. Benchmark data can provide valuable insight for evaluating your benefits package, including:

• Where your weaknesses are
• Where your strengths are and how to maintain them
• Which areas you can improve
• Strategies for improvement
• New or different ways to do things

May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month. Every year, The Council for Disability Awareness joins forces with others in the insurance industry to raise awareness about the importance of income protection.
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Even the most optimistic person will concede that the world won’t be returning to exactly how it was before the coronavirus pandemic. This pandemic has impacted nearly every aspect of life in the United States and beyond: Jobs have been lost, stocks have plummeted and no one is sure when a new “normal” will arrive.
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The recently enacted $2 trillion stimulus law aimed at providing financial assistance during the coronavirus outbreak also includes a key change on how health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts can be used. 
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As the coronavirus continues to spread, more people are being asked to self-isolate and many employers are scrambling to put systems in place to allow their employees to telecommute. 

Companies that are not set up for telecommuting arrangements have legitimate concerns about productivity, communications, and even the possibility of workers' comp claims stemming from home hazards that may not be typical in the workplace.
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But there are steps you can take to make sure that you keep your employees engaged and on task.

Generally speaking, employers are looking to lower their rising health care costs and improve their employees’ overall health. When HR professionals look toward the future, they are evaluating strategies to help manage both short- and long-term costs.

Employers are facing pressure to keep health care costs low for themselves and their employees, particularly in today’s tight labor market. As employers try to attract and retain top talent, they’ve had to get creative, and this is reflected in the following employee benefits trends.  
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Unpredictable job and investment markets make it difficult to determine how much life insurance to buy. The standard formulas for buying coverage to match a specific percentage of income are often inadequate and fail to take individual circumstances into account. 
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Whether you’re reviewing the dental options for your employer-sponsored health plan or looking at the options available on the market, you may encounter the acronyms DMO and PPO (also known as a PDN), as well as indemnity plan, in your research.
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Want to improve your retirement savings? Strive to participate in your company retirement plan - and stay in it. A study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and the Investment Company Institute (ICI) found that workers who were consistent about participating in a single company's 401(k) plan were more successful at accumulating retirement assets than those who were inconsistent.
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Middle-class families - those with incomes of between roughly $50,000 and $100,000 per year - are becoming increasingly reliant on workplace benefits in case of a disability or critical illness.

Simple health insurance is insufficient to carry the load. The loss of a breadwinner's or caregiver's financial contribution through death or disability is often devastating.
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