employee_benefits

Eatontown – November 05, 2026 -- Crum & Forster's Accident & Health Division has entered the employee benefits market with annual travel protection sold as a voluntary, payroll-deducted benefit, launched through a partnership with insurance program administrator ViaSafely.

bswift platform and brokers carry the first distribution

The product is first available through bswift's benefits administration platform for employers that choose to offer it. It is also distributed through participating employee benefits brokers. Employees can elect coverage for themselves and their families at a fixed cost deducted from payroll. Marketplace offerings can keep the product available outside the traditional annual open enrollment window.

Wayne, Pa. – November 05, 2026 -- HUSK, a preventative wellness technology company serving self-funded and fully insured employers and health insurers, has launched HUSK Wellness, an ecosystem that combines five benefits and gives employers reporting on whether wellness spend reduces healthcare costs.

HUSK Wellness bundles five benefits into one personalized employee journey

The platform covers Challenge, Rewards, Marketplace, Nutrition and Mental Health. Each employee's journey is shaped by employer goals and driven by employee choice. Onboarding is led by Poppie, HUSK's wellness assistant, which learns each employee's goals, interests and preferences and builds a path across all five benefits.

Bornheim – November 04, 2026 -- German employers that limit their company pension plans to the statutory 15% employer subsidy offer staff no edge over competing employers, according to consultant Reiner Huthmacher of Huthmacher Consulting GmbH. He identifies five design errors that blunt the retention effect of occupational pensions (bAV).

Minimum subsidy of 15% creates no competitive advantage

Employers must add 15% to employee salary conversions under certain conditions, namely when the company saves social security contributions through the conversion. Collective agreements may deviate from this rule. A voluntary subsidy of 25%, for example, can create a stronger incentive. Part of the cost may be offset by saved employer social security contributions, with the amount depending on salary and plan design, so companies should calculate what is economically viable.

McLean, Va. – October 29, 2026 -- Hilton (NYSE: HLT) has been named the No. 1 Best Workplace for Women in the U.S. by Fortune and Great Place to Work for the eighth consecutive year, extending its run on the list to 11 straight years.

Hilton wins seven No. 1 rankings outside the U.S.

Over the past year, Hilton was also recognized as a Best Workplace for Women in 20 other countries and regions. It took the top spot in Argentina, Colombia, France, Germany, Japan, Uruguay and the Middle East.

Laura Fuentes, Hilton's chief human resources officer and head of Hilton Supply Management, said the ranking reflects a culture in which women are "empowered to speak up, lead boldly" and strengthen the company and its communities.

Caregiving benefit has saved employees about 44,000 hours

Hilton backs the ranking with a set of third-party benefit programs:

NEW YORK – October 29, 2026 -- Andel, a direct-to-employer medication marketplace, has agreed a collaboration with Novo to offer Wegovy, including the once-daily Wegovy pill and Wegovy HD, to its employer network. Both products launched earlier in 2026.

Employers set their own contribution toward obesity treatment

Under the model, employers decide how much to contribute toward each employee's treatment. This lowers out-of-pocket costs for staff while employers keep control of spending. Andel manages the process from prescription verification to delivery through its app.

Andel pitches the offering at employers facing rising medication expenses and sells it as a route outside traditional pharmacy benefits. Large companies, small businesses and startups can all choose a contribution level that fits their budgets. Employees receive manufacturer-direct pricing across Andel's medication platform.

CANTON, Mass. – October 22, 2026 -- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a Point32Health company, has introduced triple-plan bundles for small employers in Massachusetts and Maine, along with a new EPO product for small businesses in New Hampshire and Maine, as part of its 2027 offerings.

Small group bundles extend large-employer features to companies with fewer than 50 staff

The bundles are aimed at employers with fewer than 50 employees in Massachusetts and Maine. They carry comprehensive access, choice and value-added services that Harvard Pilgrim previously reserved for its larger employer clients.

Each bundle includes competitive plan designs, new tiered network products, expanded decision support tools and a no-fee Health Savings Account (HSA). By grouping three plans together, the insurer aims to simplify employers' coverage decisions while giving employees a range of 2027 options.

Montgomery – October 16, 2026 -- Employees routinely miss valuable workplace benefits because employers limit communication to onboarding and annual enrollment, according to a HelloNation article featuring Stacia Robinson of BeneChoice Companies LLC.

Enrollment-only communication leaves employees with details they forget before needing them

Health insurance, retirement plans, wellness initiatives, mental health support, flexible spending accounts and professional development programs can improve employees' financial well-being, the article states. Many workers overlook them because the information is unfamiliar, hard to understand or seems unrelated to immediate priorities.

Rolling Meadows, Ill. – October 15, 2026 -- Only 28% of US employees believe their current retirement savings strategy will meet their goals, even though 85% of employers offer retirement benefits, according to Gallagher's 2026 US Financial Benchmarks Report.

The report draws on responses from 3,717 US organizations that took part in Gallagher's Benefits Strategy & Benchmarking Survey from January through March 2026. It also uses employee findings from the 2026 Financial Health Assessment, which covers 981 participants.

Employers shift retirement focus from plan access to participant outcomes

Among employees aged 55 and older, 30% name retirement planning as their biggest financial stressor. Employers are responding with plan design: 57% use auto-enrollment and 33% use auto-escalation. SECURE 2.0 now makes both features mandatory for most new retirement plans.

El Segundo, Calif. – October 07, 2026 -- Building a workplace financial wellness program from scratch costs between $21 million and $38 million and takes more than a decade, according to a new white paper from Financial Finesse's Financial Wellness Think TankTM.

Outside vendors now dominate program sourcing, EBRI data shows

Among employers with a financial wellness strategy or one in development, 87% used outside help to build it, per the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). The share relying on a dedicated financial wellness vendor climbed from 47% in 2020 to 66% in 2025, based on EBRI's 2025 Financial Wellbeing Employer Survey of benefits decision makers at companies with 500 or more employees (n=406).

Waconia, Minnesota – October 01, 2026 -- Cabinetworks Group, the largest privately owned cabinet manufacturer in the U.S., has opened its third free on-site health clinic in two years at its Waconia, Minnesota manufacturing plant and office.

Clinic offers zero-cost care to team members, spouses and dependents

The 1,500-square-foot facility includes three exam rooms and a laboratory, mirroring sister clinics already operating in Middlefield, Ohio and Independence, Oregon. The clinic is staffed by board-certified medical professionals from Medcor, providing primary care, wellness exams, treatment of minor injuries, chronic condition monitoring for blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol, vaccinations including flu, Tdap and Hepatitis A, rapid testing for strep, flu and COVID, and blood draws.