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Corporate wellness programs are the norm nowadays, with many organizations implementing activities and incentives to increase employee wellbeing and save money. And the EEOC recently issued guidelines around incentives and voluntary activities, providing employers with more clarity around offerings. But a wellness program is only as good as the people who use – and benefit – from it, whether that is employees who take on a healthier lifestyle or employers who reap the financial and productivity benefits of a healthier workforce.

Despite questions around the future of employer-sponsored healthcare, American workers still rate healthcare benefits as the most important consideration when choosing a new job. A recent survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (www.ebri.org) provides information about employees’ feelings toward current employer-sponsored healthcare offerings and what changes they would like to see in the future:

In late February 2015 the Independent Sector released its updates to the Principles for Good Governance and Ethical Practices, a set of 33 principles that guide self-governance for nonprofit organizations and foundations.  The 2015 edition is the first time these principles have been significantly updated since they were initially released in 2007. 

For most of us, sitting is just part of the job. We sit at our desks, we sit in meetings, we sit at lunch.  Then maybeafter work we finally get out of the office and move our bodies through exercise.  But even if we power through a grueling 60-minute workout, new research shows that it won’t cancel out all that sitting from earlier in the day – and it doesn’t guarantee our health. In fact, even those who meet the public health guidelines for exercise may have elevated health risks if they sit for too long.

Beginning in 2018, organizations that provide high-cost employer-sponsored healthcare to employees will be required to pay a non-deductible excise tax, dubbed the “Cadillac tax.”  Organizations that afford more than $10,200 per individual and $27,500 per family for employee healthcare will be taxed 40% of the overage amount (pre-tax employer contributions to HRAs, HSAa, FSAs, and MSAs are included). By 2018, the American Health Policy Institute predicts that 38% of large employers (with more than 1000 employees) will have to pay the tax, and 17% of all businesses in the US will be responsible for payment.

While healthcare coverage reporting isn’t mandatory for applicable large employee (ALE) members until 2016 (for the 2015 tax year), many organizations want to get a jump start on identifying exactly what that reporting will look like for future returns.  As such, the IRS has finalized forms 1094-C and 1095-C, which can be filed on a voluntary basis for 2014 tax returns.