Clarity Benefit Solutions helps brokers stay on top of 2018’s benefit trends.
What’s hot and what’s not? We took a close look at employee benefit trends to see which are likely to be popular next year. Not surprisingly, financial wellness programs become more popular, while health-based wellness programs maintain their attractiveness, and health benefits merge with retirement planning. Here’s more on what we found:
1. Financial Wellness Programs
In response to employee challenges, employers are looking beyond retirement assistance programs. Benefits will begin to focus on helping employees with budgeting, debt management, and saving to buy a home. For example, the Denver-based Regional Transportation District implemented a money management program and connected their workers to a step-by-step guide to paying off debt.
2. Student Loan Assistance
While still a struggle for smaller companies and workplaces with high employee turnover, large employers, especially those in the finance and tech industries, are helping their employees pay off student loans. Innovative solutions will be popular among younger employees. Employers may want to consider contributing to employee retirement accounts, an amount that matches what their employees pay toward student loans each month.
3. Better Current Healthcare Plans and New Uses for HSAs
To stay competitive, employers are opting to improve their existing health plans. Many have chosen to augment their current plans with health reimbursement accounts and medical expense reimbursement accounts. Employers are also opting to use health savings accounts as a way to help employees save for healthcare costs incurred in retirement.
4. Workplace Wellness Initiatives
Programs focusing on physical wellness (weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.) will continue to be popular. However, as an increasing percentage of the workforce is forced to care for aging parents and children, it will become important for employers to provide incentives for workers to use their vacation time to take care of their mental and emotional health. This trend goes hand-in-hand with growing employee interest in flexible work schedules and paid leaves of absence. Companies may also want to look into a commuter benefits plan as rising transportation costs are increasing employee stress.
Preparing for Benefit Trends
Employee benefit trends provide useful insights. Don’t hesitate to rely on your benefits administrator’s resources to learn more. Our excellent customer service representatives have over 5 years of benefit experience and can help you prepare your clients for the future of employee benefits.
