HR Insights

With costs rising for health and wellness programming, employers want to make sure they're getting the most bang for their buck.

When you're dealing with corporate wellness, a strong ROI is recognized in longterm positive behavioral change.

But how can this be measured?

Headlight Data analyzed wage changes within American cities between 2013 and 2014.

Among cities with at least 1,000,000 citizens, wages grew significantly in some municipalities, but grew only marginally or even declined in others.

"I thought health insurance was health insurance," says a woman profiled after incurring $19,000 following a broken wrist that her employer health insurance did not cover.

Like many who have switched insurance providers during ACA transition, this story shows how a misunderstanding of convoluted information can result in poor coverage.

The Affordable Care Act, President Obama's sweeping healthcare policy that has transformed employee healthcare policies, has survived its latest battle.

The Supreme Court has ruled, 6-3, that controversial state-level subsidy language is not enough to force partial revocation of the national legislation.

A company's employees can be thought of as A, B, and C players. The A's are the overachievers, the C's are the clockwatchers, and the B's are somewhere in the middle.

B's may represent 60% or more of a company's workforce. While a manager may be tempted to spend the most time with the A's, it's the B's that may get the most benefit (and in turn benefit the company the most) through personalized talent development.

Following Sir Richard Branson's announcement that all new Virgin Group fathers will have 12 months of paid leave, it's time to see where other nations stack up.

TIME gives us a world map that shows where new dads can expect paid paternal leave.

Spoiler Alert: Expect to see North American fathers hard at work following the birth of their children.

Anxiety and depression are common in the workplace.

The stigma of mental illness is wearing away, and employers are willing to work to help their employees achieve a healthy state of mind.

Legal experts advise these employees to speak to HR sooner than later, and to take an active part in solutions.

Nobody likes to fire people. But sometimes there is no other option.

To help you make the tough choice, HBR has several questions to ask yourself:

1. Is the employee fulfilling their job description?
2. Can I get a better employee for the same price?
3. If this employee resigned today, would I fight to keep them?

If the answer to any of these questions is "No", it may be time to have that conversation.

A Rand Corp. study shows how to get employees to participate in wellness programs.

The most effective method is by providing comprehensive plans, covering health screening, lifestyle improvement, and disease management.

The alternative is to offer a limited plan, but give employees a bunch of incentives.

Employees show that they need at least $100 in incentives to approach the participation rates surrounding quality wellness plans.

Versatile doctors save their patients an average 35% each year.

In an era of specialists and referrals, the comprehensive family doctor is finding new relevance.

80% of American physicians are now specialists.

But the economic savings that can come from versatile, quality Primary Care seem like a no-brainer.