Employee Benefits and Wellness Excellence May 2023

How Understanding FMLA Basics Can Help Employers Avoid Common Mistakes

Balancing work and health

- David Setzkorn, Senior Vice President and National Practice Leader, Hub International

Top Picks 10 16

Amidst Mass Layoffs, How HR Leaders Can Manage Continuation Of Benefits The Right Way

Prioritizing employee well-being during challenging times

- Anna Lyons, Chief Talent Officer, Alegeus

22

The Unexpected (Healthcare) Benefits Of

Data Analytics

Transforming healthcare decision-making and cost management

- Dr. Kryijztoff Novotnaj, Chief Clinical Informatics Officer, Hub International

29

4 Ways To Support And Address Mental Health In The Workplace

Empowering employers to foster a thriving workplace culture

- Michelle Ann Zoleta, Health & Safety Advice Manager, Peninsula Canada

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Benefits & Wellness Excellence - Monthly Interactive Learning Journal

This monthly interactive learning experience captures key metrics and actionable items and keeps you focused on your Benefits and Wellness planning goals and solutions.

Benefits and Wellness Virtual Events

Employee Benefits and Wellness Virtual Events ensure attendees stay compliant and up-to-date with the latest changes to employee benefits and wellness regulations. Each event varies on topics such as healthcare legislation and compliance related to employee benefits and workplace wellness programs including COBRA, FMLA, Medical Benefits, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Outsourcing Benefits, Retirement Benefits, Voluntary Benefits and Work-Life Programs. Wellness topics encompass injury prevention, battling obesity, disease prevention, how technology is affecting wellness. Each Virtual Event consists of up to 10 credit webcasts.

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HR.com webcasts deliver the latest Benefits and Wellness industry news, research trends, best practices and case studies directly to your desktop. Webcasts are available live online with a downloadable podcast and a copy of the slides (PDF) available before and after each webcast. Earn all of the required recertification credits for aPHR, PHR, SPHR, GPHR, and SHRM Certifications. HR.com’s onehour webcasts, in every HR specialty including Benefits and Wellness, are pre-approved for HRCI and SHRM credit (excluding Demo webcasts).

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Join more than 100,000 HR.com members with a similar interest and focus on Benefits or Wellness. Share content and download research reports, blogs, and articles, network, and “follow” peers and have them “follow” you in a social network platform to communicate regularly and stay on top of the latest updates. This well established Benefits and Wellness Communities are an invaluable resource for any HR professional or manager.

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Unveiling the Power of Employee Benefits and Wellness in 2023

Inthe ever-evolving landscape of employee benefits and wellness, organizations face new challenges and opportunities in promoting the well-being of their workforce. As we navigate the year 2023, it is crucial for employers to address the pressing issues that impact employees, ranging from pharmacy benefit coverage to leave policies, data analytics, layoffs, and mental health.

Check out the May edition of Employee Benefits & Wellness Excellence for insightful articles that focus on how employers can foster a culture of transparency, support, and holistic wellness, benefiting both employees and the organization as a whole.

Employers and brokers are facing a lack of transparency in pharmacy benefit coverage, leading to uncertainty about costs and value. Traditional pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) often utilize practices that increase plan costs, such as rebates and spread pricing. To empower employees and improve healthcare outcomes, organizations must realign incentives and adopt transparent pharmacy benefit solutions, according to Andrea Pickett (Chief Customer Officer, Prescryptive Health, Inc.) in her article, 3 Ways Employers And Brokers Can Drive Transparency.

In his article, How Understanding FMLA Basics Can Help Employers Avoid Common Mistakes, David Setzkorn (Senior Vice President and National Practice Leader, Hub International) outlines how navigating the intersection of company leave policies and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provisions can be challenging, leading to costly mistakes.

Employee Benefits & Wellness Excellence (ISSN 2564-1980)

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Internet Address: www.hr.com

The Unexpected (Healthcare) Benefits Of Data Analytics by Dr. Kryijztoff Novotnaj (Chief Clinical Informatics Officer, Hub International) highlights how organizations can utilize data analytics to find cost-effective health plans that meet employees' needs to combat soaring healthcare costs.

With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, there is no better time to recognize the importance of prioritizing and addressing mental health in the workplace. In today's dynamic and challenging work environment, the well-being of employees plays a pivotal role in their overall satisfaction and productivity. However, societal stigmas often hinder men from seeking help, resulting in tragic outcomes. To shed light on this issue, we bring you an exclusive interview with Sean Hayden, a veteran actor, and CEO of Haywood Productions, who experienced a personal mental health crisis and became an advocate for men's mental health. Alongside this insightful interview, we have included a couple of other articles focused on mental health. These articles provide valuable guidance on supporting and addressing mental health in the workplace, ultimately fostering a healthier and happier workforce.

We trust that the articles featured in this edition are useful and informative, and we appreciate any feedback or suggestions that you may have.

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In a world of unparalleled challenges (global pandemic, racial injustice, political rivalry, digital 4.0, emotional malaise), uncertainty reigns. Finding opportunity in this context requires harnessing uncertainty and harnessing starts with reliable, valid, timely, and useful information. The Excellence publications are a superb source of such information. The authors provide insights with impact that will guide thought and action.

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Excellence publications are my ‘go-to’ resource for contemporary and actionable information to improve leadership, engagement, results, and retention. Each edition offers rich and diverse perspectives for improving the employee experience and the workplace in general.

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I regularly read and contribute to Leadership Excellence and Talent Management Excellence. I use many of the articles I read to augment my own presentations and I often share the articles with my clients. They are always quick, right on target for the latest issues in my field, and appreciated by my clients. If you want to stay up to date on the latest HR trends, choose a few of the different issues from the Excellence series of publications.

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3 Ways Employers And Brokers Can Drive Transparency

Ask your PBM the right questions

By Andrea Pickett, Prescryptive Health, Inc.

It’s a common refrain among benefit managers about their pharmacy benefit coverage: They

don’t know why their pharmacy spend is what it is. And the utilization data and analytics

they receive from their Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) – if any –do not always provide confidence that their plan benefit is delivering the quality and value they’re paying for.

What we’re talking about here is transparency – or the lack of it. And while the Transparency in Coverage Rule and the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) probe into the major PBMs are good developments, some healthy skepticism is still warranted. Can these high-level initiatives make a difference for employers who offer benefits to their employees?

Rather than wait on the government to act, there’s something employers and their brokers can do right now, ahead of any actions that may come: Ask your PBM the right questions to drive transparency for your plan and its members.

How Does the PBM Make Money?

Traditional PBMs aren’t incentivized to be transparent because of how most of them make money: on the drug itself. It’s an open secret that PBMs make huge profits by negotiating “rebates” with drug manufacturers in the name of lowering the price of drugs. The truth is that these traditional PBMs run a “pay-to-play” game, excluding from the PBM’s formulary the drug manufacturers that don’t pay the rebates while driving plan costs higher by including higher priced drugs on the PBM’s formulary in exchange for a rebate.

Another common practice is “spread pricing,” where a PBM pays the dispensing pharmacy one price but then turns around and bills the plan sponsor and its members a higher price. Who keeps the spread? PBMs – with pharmacy owners, health plans, and healthcare consumers picking up the tab.

Plus, the biggest PBMs own their pharmacies – mail order and retail – and convince plan sponsors to adopt benefits plans that steer plan members to those PBM-owned pharmacies. This extracts value away from local pharmacies and communities, creating pharmacy deserts and even more stress on the healthcare system.

The only way to stop these practices and help fix the broken prescription industry is to realign incentives. A truly transparent PBM doesn’t make money on drugs but instead passes through all manufacturer rebates and pharmacy discounts while granting plan sponsors full audit rights to confirm that the PBM did not pocket any of the plan’s money. Benefits managers and their brokers and consultants can start by looking for transparent pharmacy benefit solutions that are not based on plan utilization but rather focus on member

engagement and a transparent per member per month (PMPM) fee.

Does the Promised “Transparency” Translate to Employees?

Many pharmacy benefit solutions market themselves as a “transparent PBM.” But the true test is whether employees (aka "plan members") benefit from price transparency. Healthcare consumers are ready for the transparency that PBMs don’t currently offer: In a recent study on pharmacy trends, 90% of consumers surveyed said they would appreciate knowing the price of medication before they arrive at the pharmacy.

Let’s face it. Prescribers have many choices of medications they can prescribe, but they don’t know their patient’s benefit design Most employees and dependents don’t know if the medication just prescribed for them is the best cost alternative under the terms of their benefit plan.

So ask: Will our employees know how much their medication will cost before they get to the pharmacy? Does the PBM provide an alert that informs our employees that there is a lower-cost alternative available under their benefit that they could discuss with their doctor? Does the PBM inform our employees if there is a coupon or other assistance available from drug manufacturers that will help reduce out-of-pocket expenses? A truly transparent pharmacy benefits solution centered on member empowerment can say “yes” to all these questions.

With more Americans on highdeductible health plans (HDHPs), consumers will continue to look for alternative ways to pay for their medications, including paying out-of-pocket, which can sometimes result in lower costs. Brokers and consultants should look for pharmacy benefits solutions that include the out-of-pocket cash price vs. the price with insurance so that employees can make the best choice for them, saving themselves and the employer money in the process.

With the rise of healthcare shopping and consumerism, consumers are demanding the same purchasing power and options in healthcare that they have in every other facet of their life, and employers and their brokers and consultants can deliver this member empowerment through a transparent consumer experience.

What Technology Has the PBM Adopted to Combat Prescription Abandonment and Related Medical Costs?

Technology is the key to changing how pharmacy benefits work. Just consider medication non-adherence, a huge problem in the U.S., responsible for an estimated annual $100 to $300 billion in unnecessary medical costs. Of the 81 million prescriptions abandoned at the pharmacy annually, half are due to cost. But here’s where employers and brokers can step in to change the story.

I hear from clients all the time that they encourage their employees to take advantage of new drug price transparency tools that can provide savings for both members and the plan sponsor. A pharmacy benefit program that incorporates member engagement mechanisms like proactive mobile text alerts can positively influence the risk of medication abandonment and non-adherence in a softer way than prior authorizations and other current methods of many PBMs.

Proactive SMS texts can be used to alert plan members about less expensive drug alternatives for their condition before they pick up their medication, saving them and the plan money. It’s another piece of information consumers are ready for; 73% of consumers surveyed in the same pharmacy study said they would be more likely to talk to their doctor about

lower-cost alternatives if they knew the price in advance.

Employers and Brokers Demand More from Your PBM

Even if all the legislative efforts to bring transparency to healthcare succeed, it may not be enough to change the lucrative PBM system. But employers and brokers have opportunities to make an impact. Demand real transparency from your PBM. Ask hard questions: how do they make money? how do they drive transparency for both the plan and its members? and how are they innovating to make healthcare work for everyone? And if they can’t – or won’t? Put them on notice and find a truly transparent pharmacy benefits solution for your plan and its members.

Andrea Pickett is the Chief Customer Officer at Prescryptive Health, Inc. She has over 23 years of experience working in the healthcare and pharma industries. Would

How Understanding FMLA Basics Can Help Employers Avoid Common Mistakes

Balancing work and health

By David Setzkorn, Hub International

It’s all too easy for human resource professionals to get the ins and outs of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) wrong.

Figuring out where company leave policies intersect with FMLA provisions – or not – can challenge human resources (HR) managers, general managers and employees. Mistakes are common and can be costly.

Take the 2019 Massachusetts Supreme Court decision finding an employer liable for $1.3 million in damages for a retaliatory termination of an employee after he took a trip to Mexico while on leave. The trip had been scheduled well in advance of the surgery, which had necessitated the leave, and his activities on vacation aligned with medical recommendations and FMLA leave requirements. The case was a warning against knee-jerk decisions in response to perceived FMLA abuses.

FMLA administrators have found that three particular areas are most troublesome to employers: notifications and communications between employers and employees, recertifications, and ensuring employees’ rights to leave under FMLA are protected.

Understand Eligibility Requirements, for Starters

HR and general managers should be trained in the provisos of the FMLA. That starts with knowing the four eligibility requirements for employers and employees. Additionally, understanding the common mistakes can go a long way toward avoiding them.

● Employer eligibility requirements: Eligible employers must have 50 or more employees working each day for at least 20 calendar weeks over the previous 12 months or current calendar year at the time a leave is requested. Employers on the cusp can move in and out of eligibility, so they should review this every time a potential leave request is made. Smaller employers that are owned or managed by a central company must use the integrated employer test to determine if they collectively share enough common interests to be considered one employer for eligibility purposes.

● Three rules for employee eligibility:

1 First, the individual must work a minimum of 12 calendar months, not consecutive, but over a seven-year time frame. This means accurate record-keeping for seasonal employees or those who are re-hired.

2. In the 12 months prior to making the leave request, an employee must work a minimum of 1,250 hours. Part- or full-time status is not relevant.

3. The work location must have 50 employees within a 75-mile radius. This has become more complicated with remote work trends. For remote workers, the rule shifts to the location where their work is assigned. For those without a fixed worksite, the rule is based on the location they report to. Remote managers? Where they report to or where work is assigned from site location determinants.

Avoid Most Common Mistakes

A lot of mistakes can be made in determining FMLA eligibility, but here are four of the greatest concerns:

1. Eligibility requirements – specifically the 50/75 rule – can’t be waived, altered, ignored or eliminated by the employer to be more generous or restrictive.

2. The FMLA clock does not restart for employees who leave or come back. Regulations say nothing about accounting for employment breaks. The rules

require employers to look at the 12 months preceding the leave request.

3. An employee’s status as a part-timer does not mean he or she is ineligible for FMLA.

4. It’s easy to mishandle eligibility requirements for temporary employees that are then hired as regular employees. In this instance, the joint-employer rule comes into play: their joint service hours and months accrued as a temp must be counted toward FMLA eligibility once they are hired.

The FMLA is a boon to workers as a way to balance the often-warring demands of work and health. But it’s also complex, making it a challenge for employers to administer correctly. Organizations will be well-served by instituting a sound FMLA policy that outlines everything from notice requirements and medical certification rules to how it aligns with company leave policies – and training managers regularly on the basics.

David Setzkorn is Senior Vice President and National Practice Leader for Absence Management at the global Top 5 insurance brokerage Hub International out of Arizona. He has over 10 years of experience working in the carrier space as a subject matter expert on Leave Administration. His experience includes consultation and development of Absence Management and ADA programs with clients from implementation, training and ongoing compliance with state and federal regulations as well as product and program development for carriers. He is a nationally recognized speaker working with organizations such as DMEC, IBI, SHRM and ISCEBS to deliver training and content regarding FMLA, ADAAA, Paid Family Medical Leave, and state and municipal leave programs.

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Breaking The Silence: A Call To Action For Men's Mental Health

Despite making up 49% of the population, men account for nearly 80% of all suicides in the United States. Every 13.7 minutes, a man takes his own life, according to Canada's Centre for Suicide Prevention. Depression and anxiety are present in at least 50% of these cases. The stigma surrounding men and mental health creates significant barriers to seeking help. Societal and self-stigmas often prevent men from speaking up or seeking treatment, leading to tragic consequences.

Veteran actor Sean Hayden had firsthand experience with this crisis. Sean is the CEO of Haywood Productions and a veteran actor of two Broadway national tours and theatre productions on stages across the U.S. His personal mental health podcast story, Stage Combat: A Mental Health Story, is available free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q.

1. How can anyone, regardless of gender or profession, become an advocate for mental health, and where can they start their journey for help and support?

Sean: We can all advocate for mental health by telling our stories. One of the psychologists featured in our podcast series, Stage Combat: A Mental Health Story says that each time we tell our stories, we are taking a brick out of the wall of stigma.

I created Stage Combat: A Mental Health Story to tell my story because many people said to me after my mental health crisis, “I didn’t think this would happen to someone like you.” In my podcast, I dramatize, moment to moment, how my crisis happened. So people could say after listening, “Oh, a mental health crisis could happen to anyone.”

Exclusive Interview with Sean Hayden, veteran actor and CEO of Haywood Productions

Now, you don’t have to produce a two-season, twentyepisode podcast series like I did to tell your story. Simply sharing what you’ve been going through over coffee or dinner can go a long way for yourself and someone else. You never know: you might open the door for the listener also to share a story they desperately want to be heard.

And supporting those around us who are in crisis is an important way to be an advocate for mental health. Another psychologist on the podcast told me that a common response to seeing someone else’s mental health crisis is to ignore it. Otherwise, it opens up the possibility to the person observing the crisis that it could happen to them.

That brings us back full circle to telling our stories. The more we tell our stories, the more we are cognizant of the possibility that a mental health crisis could happen to any of us. And the more likely we will support others who are struggling.

For help and support, it is important to be open to seeking the help of a mental health professional to create a mental health treatment plan that is right for you. If you need guidance, consider reaching out to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for information, resource referrals, and support by calling the helpline at 1-800-950-6264 or by text to 62640. Anyone in crisis or contemplating self-harm should

contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.

2. What impact does societal pressure to conform to traditional masculinity norms have on men's mental health, and how can these norms be challenged?

Sean: Most boys and men in all cultures have grown up hearing some variation of the phrases “Man Up,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” and “Suck it Up.” This is the culture of toxic masculinity. These traditional masculinity norms constantly tell boys and men that they are not supposed to acknowledge their emotions. And if they do feel those emotions, find themselves in crisis or seek help, they will be publicly shamed.

Those same cultural barriers continue as men enter the workplace. Explicit and implicit messages are conveyed to men that if they are having mental health struggles, they are “weak.” They are not a good candidate for advancement within the workplace. So men are forced to hide and deny what they are going through.

We have to challenge these outdated norms. We need to normalize the conversation about mental health regarding men to reduce the stigma associated with mental health struggles. Men will then feel empowered to acknowledge their emotions and to seek help if they need it.

3. Can you share with us some of the challenges you faced during your mental health journey, and how did you overcome them?

Sean: Once I collapsed in my workplace, I was constantly fearful of collapsing again and was constantly short of breath and dizzy. Thereafter, I was diagnosed with a panic and anxiety disorder, which I didn’t have before I entered my workplace.

Once I left that job (and the podcast tells the intriguing story of how that happened), I faced a three-and-a-half-year mental health journey that took a team of medical professionals. I was no longer the same person that I was before I entered my former workplace. My panic and anxiety symptoms kept multiplying and mutating. Key to my recovery was very intense cognitive therapy. But the real turnaround for me was making the podcast. In dramatizing what happened to me, moment to moment, I more or less “recreated the crime scene.” And I believe that was significant to releasing the power of my trauma and looking to my future.

4. What steps do you think need to be taken to improve access to mental health resources and support for men in all sectors of society?

Sean: Again, I believe that normalization is key. That means speaking openly and often about mental health in our everyday conversations and our workplaces. “Mental health” in the workplace, in particular, needs to be more than something you just hear about in your health plan. Innovative human resources departments are surely able to regularly implement mental health into the workplace conversation. Mental health then goes from being something “extraneous” to being part of the “everyday.” That conversation needs to include the acknowledgment that a mental health crisis can happen to any of us. That it can happen to “someone like you.”

employee to say to themselves, “I think there’s some kind of resources available at work, but I wouldn’t even know where to start.” Because when you are in crisis, it can feel overwhelming to figure out what kind of help you need. With regular communication about those resources, the employee will be more likely to call upon them.

At its core, the story of Stage Combat: A Mental Health Story is about the need for human resources (HR) departments to validate and acknowledge an employee in crisis. The silence I faced in my workplace under the most difficult circumstances of my life not only damaged my mental health but made it worse. It’s time for HR departments to step up. Humanize your employees. Care and support their mental health.

5. What advice would you give to men who are struggling with their mental health but feel hesitant to seek help?

Sean: Guys, everyone has a mental health story. Just some stories are more intense than others. So you’re not alone. And men need to realize “mental health is health.” You would seek medical treatment if you were suffering heart troubles. Well, your mind is just as important as your heart. Give it the same priority as you would the rest of your body.

And I would just add, one guy to another, that you are not “less than a man” because you are struggling with your mental health. And whatever your notion of “being a man” is, think about this: You will be a better one by investing in yourself and your mental health. You will be a better father, spouse, partner, and member of your community.

And I think communicating, as part of the everyday conversation, the availability of workplace mental health resources is key. Otherwise, it’s easy for an

Amidst Mass Layoffs, How HR Leaders Can Manage Continuation Of Benefits The Right Way

Prioritizing employee well-being during challenging times

By Anna Lyons, Alegeus

More than 185,000 employees in the technology industry have been laid off since the start of 2023. And layoffs are hitting many, if not all, sectors, with some

organizations reducing staff by thousands, marking difficult times for everyone impacted. Organizations must release employees during hard times

with the same attention and consideration as they welcome new employees during better times.

While organizations are looking to reduce costs, they must ensure that employees being let go are treated with respect and care, making sure benefit continuations are managed the right way.

How an employer manages layoffs and continuation of benefits now can impact its hiring down the road, so treating this process with thoughtfulness toward the employee is crucial. Employers don’t want to be lumped into the group that lays off employees via mass Zoom calls or automated voicemails or sends severance pay without prior notice. To maintain a strong employer reputation,

Human resources (HR) leaders should ensure they are taking a comprehensive and conscientious approach that includes timely and empathetic notice of termination and clear direction on how benefits will be handled. Once employees have been notified, employers can start managing severance pay, continued healthcare coverage, and other rollover benefits. Beyond policy requirements, employers can go a step further in their reputation management by offering services such as career counseling, job search assistance, resume workshops, and financial guidance.

One of the most important aspects of managing layoffs the right way is by providing an effective COBRA benefits process. The federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) requires employers with

20 or more employees to continue offering group health insurance to employees and dependents at the time of a qualifying event. Qualifying events include the death of the covered employee, a covered employee’s termination of employment, the covered employee becoming entitled to Medicare, and a spouse’s divorce or legal separation from the covered employee.

COBRA health insurance supports those impacted by the qualifying event by allowing them to continue with the same physician and health plan. This helps to limit stress following a layoff by removing the need to adjust the beneficiary’s entire healthcare network. According to a recent Alegeus survey of 1,096 American adults, nearly half (47%) would be willing to pay a higher premium to stay on their current health plan.

For employers, COBRA has long been a time-consuming and complicated process. According to the same Alegeus survey, 41% of employees are not familiar with COBRA as a continuation of health coverage, and 33% feel that their employer is responsible for explaining the coverage to them. Employers bear some responsibility, as COBRA has communication requirements (although many employees are unaware of these requirements).

To avoid penalties or fines for miscommunicating COBRA benefits, HR leaders should seek guidance from third-party administrators and utilize benefit management platforms to present

a consolidated, simplified solution to close administrative gaps and increase beneficiary satisfaction.

By utilizing these solutions, HR leaders can bridge the gap in benefits education by preparing and distributing qualifying event notifications, tracking applicable time frames for COBRA continuants, and directly billing continuants. Additionally, it will help manage notifications for the cessation of benefits, termination of coverage, opening and closing of open enrollment, and plan or premium rate changes.

As there’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to layoffs, leveraging a combination of third-party administrators and benefits management solutions will ease the burden on HR leaders managing this process. HR leaders, in turn, will be better able to treat impacted employees with the dignity and respect they deserve while preserving the company’s reputation as a good employer even when times are tough.

Anna Lyons is the Chief Talent Officer at Alegeus

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5 Tips To Talk To Your Boss About Your Mental Health

Starting the conversation

By Martin Preston, Delamere

According to new data, over half (58%) of workers are said to have experienced physical or mental stress as a result of their job over the past two years, while a recent survey found that nearly two-thirds (60%) of employees were experiencing at least mild levels of anxiety.

Health experts have warned that if these mental health issues are left untreated, they can impact our day-to-day lives, including the ability to do our jobs.

Check out five ways to open up the conversation about mental health with your employer:

1. Find the Right Time and Place to Talk

When approaching the conversation of mental health with your employer, one thing that will help is finding the right time to talk. Taking to your boss on a day when they seem overwhelmed might result in you not getting the best response, so make sure to schedule a call or an in-person conversation with them ahead of time.

As well as the right time, it's also important to find an appropriate place to have the conversation. Find a place that will allow you to talk in a professional and calm way and is a quiet space in your workplace. If somewhere suitable isn’t available, you could also suggest meeting outside the office or even going for a walk.

2. Plan What You Are Going to Say Ahead of Your Meeting

Before speaking to your manager, one of the best ways you can prepare is by planning what you want to discuss ahead of time. This will not only calm any nerves you might be having ahead of the conversation but will also ensure that you are only sharing what is needed to frame how your mental health is impacting your work.

Points you can prepare in advance could include identifying tasks within your current role and workload that are making you stressed, reminding your boss of your achievements so that they remember you are more than capable, and explaining what factors might need to change in order to help you.

3. Decide Who To Speak To

If you decide to open up to your employer about your mental health, consider who you will feel most comfortable having the conversation with.

If you have a good relationship with one of your managers, it might be helpful talking to them about what you are going through. However, if you find that they aren’t very approachable, consider speaking to someone within your HR department that will be able to help you.

4. Consider That Your Boss May be More Receptive Than You Think

Though talking about your mental health with your employer may feel like an uncomfortable situation, they may actually be more understanding than you anticipate them to be.

Mental health is a very common illness that a lot of people, unfortunately, suffer from in the workplace. So when you start the conversation, the chances are your boss or employer will have already had direct experience dealing with it or even experienced it themselves.

5. Focus on Your Productivity and Ability to Work

To get the most out of your conversation with your employer, think beforehand about how your mental health is impacting your productivity and ability to work.

If you go into the meeting with this already prepared, the chances are you will have greater success coming up with solutions on how your employer can support you and what you need to get better. Whether it's more flexible working hours or a lighter workload.

Source Credit: https://delamere.com/ blog/2023-wellness-report

Martin Preston is the Founder and Chief Executive at Delamere

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The Unexpected (Healthcare) Benefits Of Data Analytics

Transforming healthcare decision-making and cost management

By Dr. Kryijztoff Novotnaj, DNP, MPH, CPHIMS, Hub International

Soaring healthcare costs are not new. But combined with inflation, rising interest rates, and an uncertain economy, the importance of getting the biggest bang for your buck is on everyone’s mind this year.

It may seem impossible to secure appropriate healthcare for your

organization on last year’s budget. Yet with the right data to support you, every organization can find a health plan to cover all of its employees’ needs – and also identify and eliminate the little extras that add to the budget but offer little to no value.

Using Your Data

Data is just a bunch of facts – until you start to analyze it. Through data analysis, organizations can find patterns that lead to meaningful interpretation, as well as better decision-making.

Many organizations understand that data and analytics are important for their business. The fact is, many of them even already have access to data – they just don’t know what to do with it. They may not have the background to pick out the connected pieces, or they may not understand what a flagged data point indicates. They may simply be paralyzed by the sheer volume of data, unable to move forward.

Yet all that data is a waste if it just sits on your company server. Once you begin to work with it, you will quickly realize that data analytics:

● Supports better decisionmaking. Analyzing health plans and other metadata sources (i.e., human resources information system (HRIS) data, public health, or other business intelligence) around employee benefits usage can lead human resources (HR) teams to understand why certain programs have been more successful than others. Looking at the type of prescription drugs employees are using can give clues to the severity of underlying health risks. Sometimes the data reveals that a comprehensive well-being initiative may provide the necessary resources to help plan members thrive and optimize their health. More importantly, the data may lead HR professionals in qualifying

the viability of self-funding or self-insured programs

● Increases cost transparency. The data can inform the nature and the cost of introducing a third-party program. It can show the cost of the intervention and the cost of “doing nothing,” in terms of additional healthcare spending and potential utilization. This helps organizations determine the real cost in either scenario so they can make the right choice for their employees.

● Curbs healthcare spending. All too often, payments are made in error, and there is no way to recover. But through machine learning, outliers can be tagged with an alert. These alerts draw attention to deviations in payments, billing processes, and expected discounts. This helps organizations ensure they are paying the right amount at the appropriate time.

Seeking Out Support

One study found that only one-quarter of organizations consider themselves data-driven The rest rely on a gut feeling, or sometimes they would like to use data, but they think it’s too expensive to access or the tools are too hard to use.

And yet the data is too valuable to ignore.

For many small- and medium-sized organizations,

learning how to analyze the data and draw conclusions is almost a mountain to climb. HR teams are stretched thin. They simply don’t have the resources to make it happen.

Many of these organizations benefit from working with a consulting practice. The right consulting practice will provide your organization with a strategic advantage. Not only can it provide background and expertise in healthcare, as well as experience with forecasting, clinical risk, and predictive modeling, but it also has medical experts waiting in the wings. And all of this leads to better healthcare programs for your employees – at an appropriate cost.

International. Kryz has over 20 years of experience in employee benefits, healthcare and wellness. He previously held roles in executive clinical consulting and health informatics for regional and national consulting firms. Kryz has led several key initiatives around analytic reporting using clinical methodology that has assisted employers with understanding their population’s health/illness burden.

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Dr. Kryijztoff (Kryz) Novotnaj, DNP, MPH, CPHIMS, is the Chief Clinical Informatics Officer (CCIO) at Hub

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Why Employee Benefits Should Be Holistic And Personalized

A new commitment to employee wellness

By Rob Whalen, PTO Exchange

The past few years have been jarring for employees around the world. They’ve experienced a pandemic, economic turbulence, and a series of fundamental changes in how and where they work. It’s no surprise that employees are asking for more robust support from their companies, putting the responsibility on human resources (HR) teams for determining exactly what employees’ needs are and how to meet them in a way that benefits everyone.

Companies need to focus on employee well-being in a personalized and holistic way. Each employee has unique concerns and priorities, which is why HR teams are increasingly avoiding one-size-fits-all benefits packages in favor of addressing each individual’s needs. Many generic benefits are underused because they aren’t a reflection of what employees value. This doesn’t just mean companies are receiving a lower return on investment (ROI) on their human capital expenditures; it also means employees feel like their voices aren’t being heard.

The demand for personalized benefits is consistent with the broader shift toward flexibility in the workplace. HR teams are prioritizing a healthier work-life balance, remote work options, and flexible benefits because these are the best ways to show employees that the company supports them as individuals rather than numbers on a balance sheet.

This will increase employee engagement and productivity while reducing turnover, giving employees an advantage in finding and retaining talent in a tight labor market.

Providing Holistic Support for Employee Well-Being

There are significant gaps between companies’ perceptions of employee well-being and reality. A 2023 Metlife study found that 85 percent of employers believe their employees are mentally healthy, but less than two-thirds of employees agree. Other gulfs are even wider – 83 percent of employers think their employees are financially healthy, but just 55 percent say the same. These alarming discrepancies remind companies that they should be doing much more to meet the full range of employees’ needs.

Many of these needs are interconnected. For example, the proportion of employees who cited financial concerns as a cause of mental health issues surged from 31 percent in 2022 to 48 percent in 2023. A 2022 survey found that almost 70 percent of Millennials and Gen Z workers in the U.S. say stress about personal finances has negatively affected their productivity. Seventy-nine percent of all working Americans believe employers should be more aware of employees’ financial struggles, while 69 percent said their performance would improve if they had access to more financial wellness benefits.

There are many ways for HR teams to support employees holistically, such as offering professional development and training opportunities, maintaining an open dialogue about their goals and concerns, providing remote work options, and building a supportive workplace culture. However, the most concrete form of holistic and personalized support is the implementation of a comprehensive and flexible benefits package.

Why Flexible Benefits Have Never Been More Important

A benefit only matters if employees use it, and the evidence suggests that this frequently isn’t the case. Only 61 percent of employees say their companies offer benefits that meet their personal and household needs, which demonstrates a lack of individual engagement with employees. It isn’t possible to support diverse and multigenerational workforces with static benefits packages that treat employees as if they’re interchangeable with one another. HR teams have to make these packages flexible and personal.

Seventy percent of employees say they’re interested in customizable benefits such as convertible paid time off (PTO), which allows them to redirect the value of unused vacation time toward other financial priorities. These priorities include charitable donations, emergency cash, health savings accounts (HSAs), and retirement contributions. Almost three-quarters of employees say they don’t use all their allotted vacation time, so it makes sense that 83 percent would be interested in convertible PTO, while 90 percent say this type of benefit would make them more likely to stay with an employer. At a time when there are around two open jobs for every candidate actively pursuing work, this retention boost is critical.

Flexible benefits show a commitment to each employee’s well-being. Instead of making unfounded assumptions about which benefits will do the best, companies should give employees a broad range of options and have transparent, ongoing discussions with them about how to improve their financial health.

A New Commitment to Employee Wellness

As employee expectations and demands evolve, HR teams have been considering innovative new ways to reward workers. Beyond the fact that traditional benefits like PTO are often unused, almost half of American workers admit that they work at least an hour per day on vacation, while almost a quarter work three hours per day. Considering the fact that 58 percent of American workers say their mental health challenges are primarily attributable to their jobs, it isn’t a good sign that so many keep working even when they should be relaxing.

This is yet another reason to explore alternative benefits that employees will fully leverage. Take life planning accounts (LPAs), for instance – LPAs are notional and fully customizable spending accounts that employees can use for everything from financial planning services to reimbursements for gym memberships. LPAs limit costs for companies because there are no compliance requirements or forms to be filed, and they can be deployed in whatever ways make the most sense (with

pre-specified eligibility, funding levels, and so on). That said, HR teams need to make employee engagement a central part of the setup process, as LPAs have to be built around their unique goals and concerns.

Employee wellness has to be measured across many dimensions: physical, social, mental, and financial This is why benefits packages are no longer limited to a few conventional options – they need to address the full array of needs and objectives of increasingly diverse workforces. By providing the flexible and holistic support employees want and deserve, HR teams will make their workforces more engaged, productive, and loyal.

Rob Whalen is the Co-Founder and CEO at PTO Exchange

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4 Ways To Support And Address Mental Health In The Workplace

Empowering employers to foster a thriving workplace culture

By Michelle Ann Zoleta, Peninsula Canada

Mental health has been top of mind for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across the country. One in five Canadians lives with mental health challenges, according to Mental Health Research Canada. Employers will see the effects of this on their business in various ways, such as an increase in absenteeism, low staff morale, and decreased productivity.

Based on a survey conducted by Peninsula Canada, 43% of employees have noticed that people are talking more openly about their mental health in the workplace. However, there’s still so much more to be done. Check out how employers can support and address mental health in the workplace.

1. Open and Clear Communication

One of the main causes of stress in the workplace is a heavy workload. Burnout has been a topic that has been top of mind for some time now, as it has become very common within workplaces. Employers can do their part by having routine meetings for check-ins, communicating in advance when change is coming, and providing support when needed. This will help employees manage their time and workload more effectively and create a more engaged culture that better supports employee wellbeing.

2. Mental Health Resources

Providing mental health resources in the workplace plays a crucial role in supporting the overall well-being of employees. Investing in resources can provide support for any employees struggling with mental health issues to get the assistance they need. Employers should evaluate their company benefits as there are various areas that should be considered from a mental health perspective. For example, does your policy include mental health coverage, time off policies, or an Employee Assistance Program? It’s important to note that not every business offers such

benefits or has an employee assistance program. Employers can share external resources with employees to ensure they get the support they need.

3. Mental Health Policy

Policies provide consistency, guidance, and clarity on how an organization operates. Having a mental health policy in the workplace will help to set a clear process to follow when an employee discloses a mental health issue or requires an accommodation. Include your mental health policy in your employee handbook and share it with your staff to make it accessible.

4. Encourage Well-Being

Supporting the overall well-being of staff will help to increase employee morale and productivity. There are multiple ways employers can promote well-being. Some examples include demonstrating a work-life balance, reminding staff to take their designated time off, walking meetings, and encouraging staff to use their benefits. It’s important that staff know that their employer values their well-being as much as their productivity.

Michelle Ann Zoleta is Health & Safety Advice Manager at Peninsula Canada . She also coaches the health & safety advisory team on addressing difficult inquiries from clients in the eight provinces where Peninsula operates. Michelle is passionate about ensuring all Peninsula clients get the professional advice and assistance they are seeking to comply with the health and safety laws of their respective provinces.

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Breaking The Age Barrier: Unveiling Age Discrimination And Unlocking The Value Of Older Employees

Challenging stereotypes, embracing diversity, and enhancing workplace inclusion

By Laura Neuffer, CoreHealth Technologies

Recentdata from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) shows that two-thirds of individuals between the ages of 45 to 74 have experienced age-related discrimination. Twenty percent of workers 50 or above said they were passed over for a job because of their age. And ten percent were fired because of their age. Some readers may view these numbers as surprising, while others may consider them as literally a fact of life. The reasons and ages behind those points of view are quite telling as well.

When asked to identify groups that foster age discrimination, respondents mention healthcare professionals, government agencies, younger people, and employers. The first two are most likely to form an opinion based simply on chronological age. Younger people may view older coworkers as an impediment to their career path. But employers represent the most widely-held, and possibly the most stereotypical, perceptions of older employees.

Older workers are often seen by many employers as being more expensive (pension and healthcare contributions, salary expectations), and less productive (physical stamina and mental acuity) than their younger co-workers. They’re often viewed as less adaptable, less physically capable, less trainable, less technologically competent, and more resistant to change.

Research Proves Otherwise

For one, older people are younger these days. Many health-related issues are being pushed into the late 60s and 70s age bracket. Improved diet, frequent and more beneficial exercise, and a more positive attitude play a major role.

Some researchers have found several favorable assumptions attributed to older workers as well. They were often seen as more reliable, loyal, and possessing a stronger work ethic. But by far, more negative stereotypes were the most common.

The burgeoning (until recently) tech industry has exacerbated the ageism issue, as the average age for developers is 20-29, while the average age of an internet professional is 34.6 years. Many tech people are quite willing to credit Mark Zuckerberg with saying that “Younger people are smarter.” Yet the average age of a successful startup founder is 45 (Harvard Business Review). Steve Jobs launched the iPhone at the age of 52. Warren Buffett is 92. Madonna is 64.

Yes, the media glorifies youth, and it has for many years. Because western society’s pro-youth bias was built and sustained by the size and influence of one demographic group, the Baby Boomers. Many sociologists credit the Boomers with outsized economic influence and driving dramatic social change. Ironically, that group is now becoming a victim of their demographic success.

The retirement industry convinces the younger audience that people over the age of 65 want to retire.

Wisdom vs. Intelligence

In the workplace environment, older workers can be seen as a resource of much-needed support for younger employees and the benefits of diversity within the organization. Multigenerational workforces have been proven to be more productive, often the result of older employees being more likely to demonstrate empathy for younger employees, making them ideal mentors - unique and willing contributors to their development.

Organizations are currently experiencing major labor market challenges, including unusually high job vacancies. Employers are having to increase their scope and appeal to potential employees, including those closer to the end of their careers. One important way to become attractive to this more discerning generation is through excellent workplace health and wellness programs.

Current workplace health and wellness programs have been designed with the typical working-age population – those aged 15 to 64 years – in mind. Unfortunately, this brings about inequities in the support offered to older employees as they typically are not considered in health & welfare (H&W) strategies. Integrating an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) lens encourages organizations to be more cognizant of the considerations that must be put in place to accommodate this demographic.

Employers can support older employees in their workforce by:

● Modifying the work environment (i.e., physical environment, tech support, etc.)

● Offering H&W solutions/benefits that consider risks and conditions prevalent in older adults (i.e., supporting cognition, eyesight, fall prevention, etc.)

● Increasing flexibility of work hours to allow accommodation for caregiving

● Increasing remote work to benefit immunocompromised employees

● Offering flexible hours that allow older adults to access personal care without fear of repercussions

All of the above considerations are extremely important, but at the end of the day, what matters is shifting the workforce attitude toward the inclusion of older employees in the workplace. The value that their wisdom can bring to a work environment is far superior to something that can be simply “googled” or answered by ChatGPT.

Laura Neuffer, M.S., has more than 10 years of experience in corporate wellness. She now works at Carebook Technologies to help create technology and programming that is used in worksite wellness programs around the world. Laura is also a registered yoga instructor and a former university adjunct professor of communications.

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