Week 6 – Employee Benefits

Week 6 – Employee Benefits
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Week 6 – Employee Benefits
The issue of employee benefits is one of the most discussed things in employee relations literature. Employee benefits are meant to offer a secure future for the employees and often come by as a result of a strong relationship between business, government and the employees. In recent days, employee benefits have been focused on not only offering the employees certain benefits but also in ensuring that the employer contains costs while doing so. This phenomenon has brought about certain trends that dictate the issue of employee benefits. This paper examines the current trends in employment benefits, the cost containment measures as well as the legal implications.
One of the current trends in employee benefits is the focus on wellness programs. This trend has been brought about by the realization that healthy employees are productive employees and hence the reason why over 80% of organizations offer a sort of wellness programs for their employees. These programs adopt different forms on the basis of what the employer feels to be the greatest benefit for the employee. Most organizations now have certain types of incentive to encourage employees to adopt a healthy lifestyle something that in turn has an effect on healthcare costs (Dolan, 2016)
Another trend in employee benefits is financial wellness. Financial health is considered to bring about emotional and physical health and so a high number of employers now have resources that aid their employees to manage and invest their money in an effective manner. This can be done on the Internet or one-on-one financial advising, as well as seminars that teach the employees on how to invest for their future. Having employees who are financially literate is important for the organization as it ensures that the employees turn all their focus on completing their duties and this makes them more productive (Garber, Goldman, & Jena, 2007).
Another emerging trend in relation to employee benefits is hi...