The employee benefits expert highlights the significant changes to compensation and benefits since 2020.
FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, October 17, 2022 — The COVID-19 pandemic
rapidly accelerated a shifting perspective on employee benefits fueled by
advances in medical technology, personal health tracking, and an increased
focus on mental health. Throughout his four decades focused on employee
benefits, Wellman
Shew has watched major transitions in plan offerings and
employer culture.
He expects even more flux as the traditional workplace model
evolves for more young professionals.
Five Benefit Changes
Biometric data
Health insurance coverage and retirement saving are long-term
cornerstones of employee benefit packages. For years, the main transitions
included premium increases or shifts in funding. More recently, an increase in
easily accessible, affordable biometric data is dramatically changing how
healthcare is delivered and preventative care is tackled.
From smartwatches providing health insurance companies with
analytic data — primarily for observational purposes at the present time — to
increased home testing for a variety of preventative care and routine needs,
the requirements of health insurance plans are changing. More incentivize
documented movement and positive health changes through reward programs and
provide increased coverage for lower-cost telehealth visits or by-mail
diagnostic testing when possible.
As more major healthcare providers shift to increased digital
healthcare delivery and results are better documented, Wellman Shew expects this shift to
continue and grow in the coming years.
Mental health coverage
Due to the explosion of telehealth services, including
counseling, more employers are providing at least a basic level of mental
health via a standard health plan.
Many are focused on offering a set amount of covered visits or
calls with a professional each year, but even more changes are likely to roll
out to the entire workforce as more major employers create a tipping point for
overall change. According to a Harvard Business Review survey on
benefits in 2021, 41% of respondents planned to expand mental health benefits
in 2021.
Care for children and
adults
One central stress area for working adults is the need for
caregiving for children and even older family members, such as aging parents. Wellman Shew explains employers
have attempted to tackle care needs in sporadic methods for years, including
offering daycare services or subsidizing payments.
With the increased demands placed on working parents during
the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers started analyzing care requirements more
uniformly, with many in the same Harvard Business Review survey exploring the
expansion of senior and childcare benefits.
Working remotely
Workplace flexibility is also considered a requirement for
many employees after being sent home for the first several months of the
pandemic. According to Wellman Shew, remote work is no longer viewed as a
luxury for employees or a situation to be endured by employers. The pandemic
showed many workers find working from home to be as productive as office life
without a harried commute or the concerns of managing family schedules around a
drive to and from the office.
With this shift, more flexible PTO policies and other
family-friendly initiatives have evolved, such as flexible working hours or a
focus on output, in industries where a strict timetable is not required.
Stable premiums
While health insurance costs continue to rise, many employers
have sought to stabilize employee paycheck withholdings by either negotiating
new plans, increasing the employer-covered portion of the plan, or contributing
to Health Savings Accounts for employees.
Wellman Shew points to a Medical
Group Management Association survey showing increased employer contribution
toward health insurance costs. While this survey focused on changes in the
healthcare industry alone, the shift holds across private employers striving to
remain competitive during a period of high employee turnover.
read more: Dr. Calvin Hirsch