Last year about this time, we wrote of how far we had come collectively in the world of employee benefits roughly one year after the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We reveled at how we kept on keeping on, what we were able to accomplish in the face of unprecedented everything, and admirably pivot with every new challenge. Now, two years out, and with some additional resources in our benefits and public health toolkits, we look back and ahead with some of the same questions, new concerns, and the recurring question, what day is it?
The last year was filled with the rush of reactive planning for COBRA subsidies, health and dependent care FSA carryovers and mid-year changes, open-ended extensions of ERISA-related deadlines, the stop and start of the return to the office, and complicated decisions related to vaccination mandates and health plan surcharges for the unvaccinated.
Now, faced with the Great Resignation, labor shortages, a here to stay remote workforce, and a reimagining of “work,” with a geopolitical conflict and historical inflation thrown in for good measure, the work for benefits professionals remains much the same. How do we steady the ship, provide what employees need, stay compliant with changing legislation, regulation and enforcement, and attract and retain a workforce?
The good news is that we again have the opportunity to reevaluate the role of Employee Benefits and the value proposition it offers. This provides the ability to design the benefits...
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