Category: Blog

Improve Communications in Your Company

October 4, 2024

Effective internal communication has gotten more important since the pandemic and remote work decentralized teams. Better internal communication engages employees, keeps teams aligned, prevents duplicate work and keeps time from being wasted in searching for information.

How can you supercharge communication no matter where everyone is working?

Demonstrate empathy. Managers need to show that they know employees have lives outside work. When employees know they are being heard, they feel valued, which can lead to more satisfied workers, lower turnover and less absenteeism.

Connect as people, not just workers. Ask your employees how their weekend was and how the kids are enjoying soccer. Small talk can be valuable in strengthening relationships when workers are remote and don’t have serendipitous meetings at the office. Face-to-face communication, even over a screen, often feels more empathetic than an email.

Keep your virtual door open. One approach to communication is to make it clear that employees can check in with you whenever they need to. Another is to block off a certain amount of time on your calendar for office hours every week, letting your team members know you’ll be available then. Either way, make sure everyone understands that even if they can’t wander into your office to talk, you’re available to listen to their concerns.

Empower employees to share feedback. Do your employees feel heard? Try establishing new channels for communication. Send an employee engagement survey at regular intervals. Follow up with “stay interviews” to learn why employees have remained at your company, what’s working well for them and what they’d like to improve. You can post open-ended questions for employees to respond to. Offer multiple outlets for anonymous feedback as a way for employees to provide constructive criticism so your firm can continue to learn and grow.

Respect cultural differences. Your workplace is likely home to a variety of cultures and viewpoints. To create an inclusive environment where everyone feels comfortable expressing themselves, be culturally sensitive and make sure your company policies reflect that sensitivity. Be transparent about efforts to improve inclusivity and give all employees opportunities to share thoughts on initiatives. This can be harder than it sounds, as even well-meaning managers can end up looking patronizing, so consider getting outside help.

Give feedback that’s clear and precise or don’t give it at all. Be as straightforward as you can. If you offer constructive criticism to an employee, provide examples and accompany the feedback with an action item.

Strategize an onboarding process for new employees. Put together a uniform employee training program that every new person completes. Make internal knowledge accessible via documentation and training videos. Make sure your employee directory is up to date and Q&A forums are packed with information. This allows new team members to find people and answers, while keeping effective communication flowing.

Use the right communication tools. Office chat tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams create communication channels and allow entire company chats. A chat tool saves time and increases productivity as employees connect with one another and receive real-time responses.

Workplace communication can have a big effect on revenue, productivity and employee satisfaction. You can spark conversations, educate employees and boost morale. Let employees know what your company is sharing with the public on social media. Help your workers learn how the company does things.

Pam Morton
Benefits by Design Insurance Services
415-524-8959 Larkspur, CA office
760-696-3573 Carlsbad, CA office
PamM@benefitsbydesignca.com
www.benefitsbydesignca.com
© 2024 Industry Newsletters

COBRA: What’s Your Responsibility?

July 31, 2024

COBRA applies to employers of 20 or more workers that offer health benefits. (Determining whether you have 20 or more employees is complicated; you may be able to group the working hours of multiple part-time employees to equal one full-time employee.) Additionally, you must have offered health insurance for more than 50% of your business days in the previous year.

If you fall into these categories, you must give employees the option of continuing employer-sponsored health coverage if they undergo any of the following:

  • Termination of employment, voluntary or involuntary (unless termination was the result of gross misconduct)
  • Reduction in hours (including from full time to part time)
  • Transition to a job with a different employer
  • Divorce or marital separation (the spouse may still be entitled to benefits through your employee)
  • Death
  • Qualification for Medicare
  • Change in status of covered dependents (that is, when they reach an age when they are no longer covered by a parent’s health plan)

To be covered by COBRA, the employee must have been part of your employer-sponsored health plan on the day before their qualifying event; they cannot have declined coverage, been ineligible for coverage or been covered by Medicare. Generally, the employee must give notice of the qualifying event to their employer within 30 days; they then have 45 days to send in their first monthly premium payment. If an employee declines COBRA coverage, or if the coverage is canceled in the future, it cannot be reinstated.

Employers’ responsibilities

Under COBRA, the employer has certain responsibilities to inform employees of their rights under COBRA.

First, the employer must inform employees and their spouses of their rights to COBRA within 14 days of the beginning of their employment. The employer must also notify the qualifying individual of their rights to COBRA within 14 days of the event that qualifies them for the coverage.

Employers must also notify the health insurance company if an employee elects COBRA coverage; the notification must occur within 30 or 60 days, depending on the type of qualifying event.

Employers must also make the following documents available to employees:

  • A summary plan outlining COBRA rights provided under your group health plan. This information should include the available benefits under the health insurance plan, the rights of participants and beneficiaries under the plan, and a description of how the health plan works.
  • A COBRA general notice. This must be given to each employee and their spouse within the first 90 days of coverage. It should include the contact information of the plan administrator (or whomever the employee can speak to for more information), a general description of COBRA coverage, and a description of what qualified beneficiaries must do to notify the plan of qualifying events.

Be sure to keep a record of these notifications as evidence that the policy was followed. You may want to use HR software to track and archive compliance records or outsource the process to a PEO service provider. If you do not have a professional plan administrator, the Department of Labor provides a general notice template that employers may use to notify employees of their COBRA rights.

Coverage and costs

Depending on the employee’s qualifying event and circumstances, COBRA coverage will last at least 18 months, but it can continue for as long as three years (for reasons such as a disability that was incurred while the employee was already on COBRA).

COBRA requires that the employer offer the same health insurance coverage as other employees are entitled to. This benefit may include:

  • Inpatient or outpatient hospital treatments
  • Physician or ancillary care
  • Surgery or other types of major medical benefits
  • Prescription drugs
  • Dental and vision coverage

COBRA does not cover life insurance or disability benefits.

COBRA tends to be more expensive to the recipient because they are responsible for paying 100% of the health insurance premium. (Most employers cover a portion or all of health insurance.) COBRA recipients are additionally responsible for a 2% administrative charge, which offsets the cost of the employer’s administering the program. If an employee elects extended COBRA after becoming disabled while on COBRA, employers may be allowed to charge 150% of the health insurance premium.

COBRA-qualified individuals have 30 days after health insurance payments are due to send payment to their employer (or past employer). This means that the employer will generally be paying for coverage ahead of the recipient’s payment.

Individual states may also have COBRA-like laws, and some employers are subject to a state continuance-coverage law even if they’re exempt from federal law. Be sure to check with your state labor agency or your attorney to learn more.

Failing to comply with COBRA rules can lead to fines per covered employee along with the cost of any medical expenses incurred during the time the employee should have been covered.
COBRA is complicated to administer, but it gives peace of mind to employees and their families, especially if they have preexisting medical conditions or ongoing treatment needs.
You can count on Pamela Morton at Benefits by Design Insurance Services to use the 30+ years of experience she has both on the corporate side of health insurance and 7 years of experience as a Health Insurance Agency Owner and broker. Benefits by Design is paid by the insurance companies and does not charge their clients fees.

Pam Morton
Benefits by Design Insurance Services
415-524-8959 Larkspur, CA office
760-696-3573 Carlsbad, CA office
PamM@benefitsbydesignca.com
www.benefitsbydesignca.com
© 2024 Industry Newsletters

Are you turning 65 soon or retiring and need to know more about Medicare?

July 31, 2024

Are you turning 65 soon or retiring and need to know more about Medicare?

After enjoying your birthday cake, be wary of booby traps that could lead you into paying unexpectedly high health care premiums or out-of-pocket costs. Get savvy now to avoid any gaps in coverage or missing out on tax breaks. Worst of all, you do not want to get sucked into lifelong penalties that can build up and follow you over the long term.
Timing is everything

Failure to sign up on time is a common mistake. If you are not already receiving Social Security benefits (in which case you would be automatically enrolled in Medicare parts A and B), you can enroll during the period three months before and three months after your 65th birthday. Most do then sign up for Part A, as it is free anyway, although some prefer to delay signing up for Part B; for instance, if they are or their spouse is covered by a current employer.

Procrastinators watch out. Delays may cost you coverage gaps or — eek — even a lifetime of late enrollment penalties at 10% of the prevailing Part B premium for every year you neglected to enroll.

If you are choosing original Medicare, which is the classic version, you should also select a Medigap private insurance policy during the same crucial time period. A Medigap policy, an adjunct for parts A and B, plugs in some large items that classic Medicare does not cover. Without it, patients would be on the hook for some copayments, coinsurance and deductibles. Purchasers are only entitled to buy a Medigap policy at specified times; if they miss them, it may be too late and “the train will leave the station.” Unlike other insurance, Medigap insurers could reject you or charge more based on underlying medical conditions, except during those periods when guarantees apply.

Part D, which covers prescription drug costs, has Draconian rules of its own for dawdlers. Even if you never take more than an aspirin, you need to sign on at 65 because for every 12 months you delay, the Part D monthly premium may go up 1% — for years. The only excuse is to demonstrate you have equivalent drug coverage elsewhere.

Comparing plans

Most people find the most challenging task is comparing all available plans and their respective benefits. You need to check them all out carefully. It is not enough to rely on what somebody else may be suggesting or doing, however much you trust their good sense. Each person has an individualized set of needs, reflecting their health, finances, location, travel patterns, preferences and current doctors. Do your homework, taking into account both premium and out-of-pocket expenses. Plans change year to year, so review them annually.

A main distinction is whether you opt for original Medicare (parts A and B) or a Medicare Advantage plan (Part C). Original Medicare may make sense if you prioritize flexibility and choice. It is more widely accepted than MA plans. Can you afford a Medigap supplement plan? Do you travel much? An MA plan may not cover you outside your geographic area, except in emergencies.
If you choose original Medicare, you will also need a Medigap plan. Which one? Plans are labeled by letter, each of which offers the same benefits, but costs may differ. Look out.
If you go for an MA plan, verify. Call your doctors, pharmacies and hospitals to ensure they accept it. Flashy TV advertisements often show Medicare cards and toll-free hotlines, but those are not federal numbers!

When choosing a Part D pharmaceutical insurer, check its formulary list of drugs to see whether yours are included, and remember, spouses often take different medications.

Get vaxed!

Medicare offers extra perks, such as flu shots and other preventive vaccinations, screenings and wellness visits (which were called physicals in the old days). Take advantage.

Stay organized, keeping records of all your medical expenses, receipts and insurance statements (useful for tax purposes too).

Does this seem like a lot? If you’re confused — and many are — discuss your options with a qualified expert.

You can count on Pamela Morton at Benefits by Design Insurance Services to use the 30+ years of experience she has both on the corporate side of health insurance and 7 years of experience as a Health Insurance Agency Owner and broker. Benefits by Design is paid by the insurance companies and does not charge their clients fees.

Pam Morton
Benefits by Design Insurance Services
415-524-8959 Larkspur, CA office
760-696-3573 Carlsbad, CA office
PamM@benefitsbydesignca.com
www.benefitsbydesignca.com
©2024 Industry Newsletters

Vacation

Creating Good Vacation Policies

July 31, 2024

Start with the idea that 30 days of leave are the bare minimum for staff. These days of leave include vacation days, sick days, holidays and other personal days.

Typically, U.S. employers grant 10 days of paid vacation time — two full weeks — per year to each full-time employee. Holidays, roughly 10 per year, are defined as national or state holidays that everyone takes off.

For private industry workers, paid vacation time is allocated by experience — the more time someone spends with a company, the more vacation days they’re given. On average, a person who has been with a company for one to five years receives 10 days. Employees who have been with the business for five to 10 years receive an average of 15 days for vacation. Employees who have worked at a business between 10 and 20 years receive, on average, 17 days, while a tenure of 20 or more years comes with an average of 20 vacation days.

When creating your vacation policy, you may want to establish rules based on answers to the following questions:

  • Should employees give you a certain number of days of notice before taking paid vacation?
  • Should employees be limited to a specific number of days off at one time?
  • Should there be a limit to how many employees can take the same day off?
  • Should employees be allowed to “cash in” a specific number of unused vacation days for money at the end of the year?
  • Should employees be restricted in the number of days they can carry over from year to year?

Holidays are treated differently than vacation days. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 79% of all private industry workers have paid holidays; 83% of workers in service occupations receive paid holidays; and 96% of management, business and financial occupations receive paid holidays.

Rethink PTO policy

Instead of giving separate allocations for vacation, sick and personal days, you may instead choose a paid time off policy. With a PTO policy, your employees have a fixed number of days that they can use for any personal reason.

Under a PTO policy, an employee might accrue four hours of PTO for every 40 hours worked (meaning one day is accrued every two weeks worked). The accrual rate may change the longer the employee is with the company. This policy motivates employees to work to earn their PTO and results in a sense of accomplishment when they do. But it also can encourage workers to come into the office when they are sick because they don’t want to “waste” their hard-earned PTO on illness but would prefer to save it for vacation. Similarly, the policy can feel discouraging to new employees, who start with zero days.

An alternative to this traditional PTO is an open or unlimited PTO policy. It allows employees to take as much PTO as they want; there’s no cap on PTO as long as work gets done and the policy isn’t abused. Unless the employee is taking several days off in a row, an open PTO policy doesn’t require that the employee provide a reason for taking the days. Such a policy shows that work–life balance is a priority for your company. Still, many employers worry that the policy will be taken advantage of.

One difference between PTO and traditional vacation/sick/holiday plans is how unused PTO is paid. When an employee quits or is laid off, you’re not required to pay out any unused PTO; this is different from the requirement under traditional plans to pay unused vacation days. If an employee doesn’t use all their PTO by the end of the year, you have to consider state law. Most states have a use-it-or-lose-it policy in place saying that employees need to take PTO days or forfeit them.

On average, paid leave accounts for $2.59 of the average cost of an employee per hour or 7% of a business’s total employee costs. It’s important to consider what you can afford when deciding which type of time-off policy is right for your business. Still, when a time-off policy is comprehensive, generous and flexible, employees feel valued and cared for, which increases their loyalty to your company and can increase productivity.

Are you looking for HR Advisors or Employee Benefits Advisors for your small business?

You can count on Pamela Morton at Benefits by Design Insurance Services to use the 30+ years of experience she has both on the corporate side of health insurance and 7 years of experience as a Health Insurance Agency Owner and broker. Benefits by Design is paid by the insurance companies and does not charge their clients fees.

Pam Morton
Benefits by Design Insurance Services
415-524-8959 Larkspur, CA office
760-696-3573 Carlsbad, CA office
PamM@benefitsbydesignca.com
www.benefitsbydesignca.com
© 2024 Industry Newsletters

Blocks That Spell the Word Personality

The Myers-Briggs Test: How Can You Use It?

February 6, 2023

If you’ve ever visited a career counselor, you may already be familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI. It was created by a mother-daughter team in the 1940s. Myers and Briggs were not psychologists, but they had read “Psychological Types” by Carl Jung, and they wanted to show how everyone could fit into one of the personality types that Jung had described.

The indicator divides people according to four binary factors, for a total of sixteen types. The MBTI website describes the factors thusly:

  • Introversion/Extroversion — Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or your own inner world?
  • Sensing/Intuition — Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning?
  • Thinking/Feeling — When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances?
  • Judging/Perceiving — In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options?

Looking at these factors, you can see why so many people take this test when they are in college, or when they are considering a career move. While many people spend their whole lives in careers that aren’t obvious matches for their personalities, you’re most likely to be happy and successful in a job that suits you. An introvert may be advised to seek out behind-the-scenes jobs, while extroverts are pushed towards public-facing roles. Judging types are good project managers, but they may struggle in jobs that require investigation or information-gathering.

So, is finding a great candidate as easy as giving applicants a test? Not so fast. The MBTI was never meant to be scientific, and throughout the years, plenty of psychologists have criticized it as imprecise. Even Carl Jung, on whose theories the indicator was based, disagreed with the idea that people broke down into easy binaries; he thought of personality as more of a spectrum. This is probably why many people who take the test twice get different results. Asked to decide between two options when they really fall in between, they choose randomly. However, if all you want to do is narrow down your job search, the MBTI is a good place to start. If the suggested careers sound all wrong for you, then don’t go into those careers.

With that in mind, it’s easy to see why it’s a bad idea to predicate hiring or promotion decisions on a personality test. You may miss out on perfectly qualified candidates because of the way they answered a question. And it’s legally dubious — forcing employees or applicants to take a personality test may violate privacy laws.

A completely foolproof way to divide people up by personality would make life a lot easier for managers and job seekers alike. Alas, the Myers-Briggs test is not that. It should only be treated as a rough guide to a career path.

Benefits by Design Insurance Services is a full-service health insurance and employee benefits broker, offering creative benefits coverage solutions for your business or family. We can offer the best health insurance benefits in California. Contact us for more information We are located in the San Francisco Bay Area and in San Diego and provide the expert advice for group and individual health insurance, Medicare, Medicare Part D, life, and travel insurance decisions.

At Benefits by Design, we can offer the best health insurance benefits in California. Contact us for more information.

Copyright 2023 Industry Newsletters

Benefits by Design Insurance Services is a full-service health insurance and employee benefits broker, offering creative benefits coverage solutions for your business or family. We can offer the best health insurance benefits in California. Contact us for more information We are in the San Francisco Bay Area and in San Diego and provide the expert advice for group and individual health insurance, Medicare, Medicare Part D, life, and travel insurance decisions.

Contact us for more information.

admin@benefitsbydesignca.com
(415)-524-8959 Larkspur, CA office
(760) 696-3573 San Diego, CA office

5 Must-Haves for Your Employee Recognition Program

January 6, 2023

According to a recent Gallup survey, it has been shown that approximately “36% of U.S. employees are engaged in their work and workplace.” This conclusion was drawn as a result of data pertaining to the first six months of 2021 in the United States. Worldwide, on a literal global scale, this percentage drops down to only 20% of people who are actively engaged or involved in the work they perform.

In an effort to amplify employees’ desire to be involved and actually engage in their places of employment, many employers have implemented recognition programs. More specifically, a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management showed that approximately 80% of employers have recognition programs that are designed to help said employers express appreciation and gratitude toward their employees and the hard work they do.

These programs are important, and their effects cannot be overlooked. Just take a look at the wise words of Dr. Bob Nelson, who is recognized as a leading authority on the power of employee recognition. In his words, “People may take a job for more money, but they often leave it for more recognition.”

The bottom line and main takeaway here are that a solid recognition program in your workplace will absolutely pay for itself. But how do you know that your employee recognition program will be successful? As long as you ensure that your recognition program adheres to the five characteristics below, your employees should feel the benefits of an effective program in no time.
 
1. Appropriately funded

Employee recognition programs can be enacted in many ways, and the best part of all is that they do not necessarily require you to invest company finances. If monetary incentives are something you, as an employer, would like to incorporate into your employee recognition program, you certainly can, but make sure you have the funding to do so before making any promises.

For businesses that either do not have the funds to do so or would prefer not to focus on rewarding employees with monetary benefits, you can always opt for verbal or written forms of praise instead. That said, recognition programs are often most effective when the rewards that are extended come in different forms.

A combination of monetary perks, such as gifts or bonuses, and free rewards, like words of affirmation or acts of service, can work wonders. The price tags aside, it is important that you can allocate the necessary funds that the type of program you want to implement requires.

Make sure you do so with enough time to prepare as well. Include the funding as its own category when you set out to budget for the upcoming year. Doing so can help ensure that plenty of resources will be available to meet your program’s needs. 

2. Reflective of company values

The employee recognition program that you put together should clearly reflect the values and objectives of your company. For instance, if your business is all about teamwork, rewards for collaborating with fellow co-workers is a reasonable reward to extend to employees.

Ultimately, recognizing employees for performing duties or embodying characteristics that do not align with the values of your company could result in confusion, inconsistencies and failure to uphold company values across the board.

3. Commensurate to the achievement

Recognition rewards should measure up to the achievement being rewarded. The amount of effort that your employees exert must be adequately compensated, even if it is not done so in a monetary way.

For instance, according to the SHRM, “a recognition system will falter if employees feel that their work is trivialized or even insulted by inconsequential incentives or insincere gestures of appreciation.” In line with this way of thinking, an employee who has been with the company for years and ends up executing a two-year project efficiently should receive a far more significant reward than that of a newer employee who brings a cup of coffee to his or her manager without being asked to do so.

4. Meaningful

If the rewards that employees receive as part of recognition programs are not meaningful to said employees, they will be far less effective, if at all. Consider offering rewards that are personally tailored to your employees’ birthdays, employment anniversaries, life milestones, accomplishments or other accolades that are specific to your employees and their lives.

Speak directly with your employees to find out which types of rewards matter most to them. From there, seek to incorporate their preferences in ways that will make them feel appreciated while staying within the company’s budget, whatever that may be.

5. Timely and current

Make an effort to extend recognition rewards to your employees as close in time as possible to when the achievement was accomplished. For the sake of consistency and convenience, certain employers will always recognize employees on the same day every week.

However, the SHRM has mentioned that it is often better to recognize employees shortly after they have performed well instead of waiting for a future date. Basically, the sooner you reward an employee who engages in behavior you appreciate, the more appreciated your employee will feel.
  
That said, rewarding employees in such a quick manner may not be possible for every situation, depending on the type of reward you are planning to extend. If that’s the case, just use your best judgment and proceed from there.  
Along with the five characteristics listed above, your employee recognition program should be both easy for administration to navigate and simple for employees to understand.
 
If you would like some guidance on Employee Benefits, call Pam Morton at EVCO Insurance Services at 760-696-3573 or pam@evcoinsuranceservices.com. Pam offers a complimentary review of your current benefit offerings.

Traveling? Stay Fit with These 5 Tips

January 2, 2023

No one would argue with you if you skipped a day of your exercise routine or had a cheat meal. Everyone knows how busy you are, but is that a good enough excuse for you? If you’re really serious about staying fit, traveling shouldn’t stop you. Granted, it’s not always easy.

If you’re traveling for business, you can hardly skip the cocktail hour mixer or the catered dinner with your colleagues. What you can do is make smarter food and drink choices while still sticking to your diet and workout routine even when you are traveling.

1. Eat breakfast and drink water
 
If you don’t eat a good breakfast or you let yourself get dehydrated, you are not going to feel like working out. And even if you do muster the strength to drag yourself to the gym, it will be ten times harder than if you’d had a balanced breakfast and drank water throughout the day.
 
Make sure you get a healthy breakfast, even if it’s the hotel’s continental breakfast. Make sure you fit in all your basic food groups to give yourself the energy you need to make it through the day. If you don’t have a water bottle, purchase one that you can carry with you all day long.
 
2. New rule – “I will use the stairs when going up or down three flights or less.”
 
Just by taking the stairs, you can get a good 30-minute workout in every day. When you are traveling and your hotel room is on the 30th floor, taking the stairs is not an option. But if your meeting is on the second floor, it will take an extra 10 seconds to skip the elevator and hoof it up and down those stairs.
 
3. Stock your hotel room mini-fridge with real food
 
You will have an easier time staying on track with your diet if you have healthy food options at your disposal. Stop at the grocery store to pick up some sliced turkey or roast beef and bread. Grab some veggies and stock your hotel room fridge with foods that fit in with your diet plan.
 
4. New rule – “I will walk if the destination is five blocks or less (in a safe neighborhood…during the day).”
 
If you are staying at a hotel that is just a few blocks from your conference center, why not walk it? It will get your heart rate up, plus you’ll get to explore a new place while taking in some fresh air.
 
Make sure you walk briskly, no sauntering. And as you walk, tighten your muscles and flex your feet so that you get some muscle toning in too. 
 
5. Shorten your usual workout routine to 15 minutes (and do it in the A.M.)
 
Vacation is not the time to spend two hours at the gym and if you’re traveling for work, you probably don’t have that kind of time. Instead, abbreviate your workout with these easy exercises you can do in your room:

  • Lunges – Alternate legs lunging for one minute. Walk in place for 30 seconds and repeat three more times
  • Bicep Curls – Your work bag, briefcase or carry-on make good weights for bicep curls. Curl for one minute. Shake your arms out and stretch them. Repeat three more times.
  • Standing Leg Lifts – Hold onto the edge of a table or the dresser if need be. Stand up straight and alternate lifting your legs waist high. Walk in place for 30 seconds and repeat three more times.
  • Push-Ups – You can do knee push-ups or plank push-ups but get 15 – 25 in to give yourself a good core and upper body workout.

Don’t forget to stretch before and after your workout. If once isn’t enough, do this again before you go to bed.
 
Be sure to share any other ways to stay on track with your diet and exercise plan while you’re traveling.

If you are interested in purchasing Travel insurance for trips, you can contact Pam Morton at Benefits by Design Insurance Services at 760-696-3573 or admin@benefitsbydesignca.com.

Employee Wellness vs. Employee Well-Being

December 10, 2022

As a way of encouraging engagement and productivity in the workplace, a lot of employers will offer wellness benefits to their employees. In March 2021, analytics and advisory company Gallup reported that approximately 85% of large employers give their employees the opportunity to enroll in wellness programs.

Additionally, the Society for Human Resource Management, or SHRM, published an Employee Benefits Survey in 2022 that revealed the importance of offering wellness benefits to your employees.

Here are percentages that reflect how many employers decided that wellness benefits are either very or extremely important:

  • In 2019, 36%.
  • In 2020 and 2021, collectively, 62%.
  • In 2022, 46%.

While employers continue to prioritize the wellness of their employees, another term that is commonly tossed around at the same time is employee well-being. As mentioned previously, while wellness and well-being are similar terms, the concepts of each are identifiably different.

What is wellness?

According to Gallup, the concept of “wellness describes a healthy lifestyle beyond acute illness.” It pertains to the physical health of individuals; it means they can reach their goals without having to endure pain or discomfort in the process. Even though the definition of wellness will vary based on your stage in life, the term mainly refers to preferable health-related states, such as eating well, working out regularly and getting enough sleep.

The concept of health can refer to the physical, mental or emotional state of any given individual. That said, the general consensus is that wellness is a term that is concerned with the physical body.

Because of this, workplace wellness programs often place a primary focus on assessing health, preventing disease, changing lifestyles in a positive manner, losing weight and managing physical health overall.

By providing employees with the option to enroll in wellness programs if they so desire, employers can work toward reducing engagement in unhealthy or detrimental behaviors that ultimately result in chronic and costly health conditions. Such health conditions could adversely impact the productivity of employees as well as the overall bottom line of business operations.

What is well-being?

According to Gallup, the idea of “well-being  encompasses the broader holistic dimensions of a well-lived life.”

Per Gallup’s well-regarded research, the following aspects of well-being contribute to a beneficial and excellent life:

  • Career-wise: You enjoy what you do on a professional level every day.
  • Socially: You have connections with people, and your friendships are meaningful.
  • Financially: You are capable of managing your own money well.
  • Physically: You are physically capable of exerting energy and accomplishing tasks that require you to move your body.
  • Community-wise: You are not only comfortable in your neighborhood but you also enjoy where you currently live.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC, has stated that not a single definition for well-being is the be-all and end-all way of defining the term. Even so, research has shown that the well-being of an individual is connected to the following aspects:

  • Social life.
  • Economic status.
  • Physical state.
  • Emotional frame of mind.
  • Psychological mindset.
  • Developmental abilities and activity levels.
  • Outlook on work and extracurricular activities.
  • Life satisfaction.

In the words of the CDC, the general consensus is that “well-being includes the presence of positive emotions and moods (e.g., contentment, happiness), the absence of negative emotions (e.g., depression, anxiety), satisfaction with life, fulfillment and positive functioning.”

Studies have shown that ever since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted and altered everyone’s lives as they once knew them, more and more employers have begun prioritizing the well-being of their employees by extending the opportunities that their mental health options include.

The bottom line

Wellness is a vital element of an individual’s well-being, but even so, it is merely a small percentage of well-being as a whole. While wellness focuses specifically on physical health, well-being is more concerned with the totality of an individual, meaning it applies not only to an individual’s body but also to his or her mind.

By knowing the difference between wellness and well-being, you can make far more informed decisions in regard to your workforce’s wellness and well-being benefits alike.

If you would like some guidance on Employee Benefits, call Pam Morton at EVCO Insurance Services at 760-696-3573 or pam@evcoinsuranceservices.com. Pam offers a complimentary review of your current benefit offerings.

15 Anti Inflammatory Foods and Why You Should Eat Them

November 30, 2022

What if there was a way to reduce your risks of getting cancer or diabetes by almost 25 percent? Actually, there is! According to many studies and one conducted by Harvard, certain foods can reduce inflammation that leads to those diseases.

Even more than obesity, inflammation is a major cause of diseases like cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease. If you can reduce inflammation with a change in diet by adding these 15 anti-inflammatory foods, why wouldn’t you? It’s easier than you think!

The Good News: Anti-Inflammatory Foods Can Protect You from Cancer and Diabetes
 
Swelling is good when you have an acute injury. It is your body’s way of protecting your tissues and keeping your blood from spilling out. However, when you are not in mortal danger, inflammation itself can become the danger.
 
The good news is that you don’t need a prescription to combat inflammation. In fact, by simply incorporating more anti-inflammatory foods into your diet, you can do more than reduce inflammation. That reduction also decreases your risks of developing diseases like cancer, heart disease and type II diabetes.
 
The Bad News: Some of Your Favorite Foods Cause Inflammation 
 
The bad news is, the foods that you love the most are probably not on the list of 15 anti-inflammatory foods. In fact, a lot of your favorites are actually causing inflammation in your body. Do you like hamburgers, fries, bread, steak, margarine, pasta and soda? All of those foods cause inflammation.
 
Add to that list sausage, cupcakes and fried foods in general. No wonder Americans have a heart disease and obesity problem. Over time, prolonged inflammation increases your chances of developing arthritis, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and cancer. Not to mention these foods also contribute to obesity.
 
Even people who are not overweight but suffer from sustained inflammation suffer the same results, leading researchers to conclude that inflammation is more of a factor than obesity as a cause of disease.
 
Eat a Mediterranean Diet and You’ve Got It!

Don’t lose hope, though – everything in moderation. You can have a burger and fries from time to time. You can have all of those things, just much less of them. Instead, you need to incorporate these 15 anti-inflammatory foods into your diet:

  1. Almonds
  2. Blueberries
  3. Cherries
  4. Collard Greens
  5. Kale
  6. Mackerel
  7. Olive oi
  8. Oranges
  9. Salmon
  10. Sardines
  11. Spinach
  12. Strawberries
  13. Tomatoes
  14. Tuna
  15. Walnuts

Face it, the idea of eating mackerel and salmon four or five times a week is not appealing. Subbing these things in to replace burgers and fries may seem crazy but there is an easy and delicious way to do it.
 
The Greeks actually figured this out centuries ago. Eating a Mediterranean diet ensures that you are getting all of these 15 anti-inflammatory foods. Individually they may not sound very appetizing, but Mediterranean cuisine blends these ingredients together beautifully.
 
Don’t know anything about Mediterranean cuisine? We’ve got you covered. Here are dozens of mouth-watering Mediterranean dishes from Betty Crocker that will have you craving these foods tonight.

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