We are in to November and for some, beards are getting scraggly. No-Shave November, also widely recognized as Movember, is a unique annual event that encourages men to forgo shaving during the month of November to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues, particularly cancer. The initiative emphasizes on cancers that commonly affect men, such as prostate and testicular cancer, and also highlights mental health and suicide prevention. As an employer, participating in and supporting No-Shave November can be a meaningful way to engage with your workforce and contribute to a significant cause, but it requires a thoughtful and inclusive approach.

Understanding the Cause

No-Shave November is rooted in the concept of using the money typically spent on shaving and grooming to donate towards cancer research and education. It also serves as a visual reminder and conversation starter about men's health issues, especially cancer. Prostate cancer, for instance, is one of the most common types of cancer among men and early detection is crucial for successful treatment. By participating, employees can indirectly support the cause and spread awareness.

Approaching No-Shave November as an Employer

1. Encourage Participation, But Keep It Inclusive

As an employer, it's important to encourage participation in a way that is inclusive and respectful of all employees. Participation in No-Shave November should be completely voluntary. It's important to acknowledge that not everyone can or wants to grow facial hair, and there should be no pressure to participate.

2. Educate and Inform

Use this opportunity to educate your workforce about men's health issues. Organize seminars, workshops, or distribute informational materials that talk about cancer prevention, symptoms, and treatments. Awareness is a critical part of the campaign.

3. Fundraising and Donations

You can support the cause financially by matching employee donations or organizing fundraising events. This could be a powerful way to show your company's commitment to men's health and social responsibility.

4. Flexibility in Grooming Standards

If your company has a strict dress code, consider relaxing grooming standards during November. However, it’s essential to maintain professionalism. If employees are in customer-facing roles, it’s vital to balance the spirit of No-Shave November with the expectations of your clientele. A well-groomed appearance can still be maintained while growing facial hair.

5. Alternative Ways to Participate

Provide alternative ways for employees to show their support, especially for those who can't or choose not to grow facial hair. This could include wearing a specific color or ribbon, participating in a charity run or walk, or volunteering at health clinics.

6. Respect and Sensitivity

Be sensitive to those in your organization who may be battling cancer or have lost someone to the disease. No-Shave

November can be a poignant reminder of personal experiences, and it's crucial to approach the subject with empathy and respect.

7. Foster an Environment of Openness

Encourage conversations about men’s health in the workplace. Creating an environment where employees feel comfortable discussing health issues can be beneficial for everyone. This can also help in destigmatizing health-related discussions, particularly those involving mental health and cancer.

8. Balance and Professionalism

While participating in No-Shave November, it’s important to strike a balance between supporting a good cause and maintaining a professional image, especially in client-facing roles. Ensure that your employees understand the importance of looking presentable and professional, even while they are growing out their facial hair.

9. Supportive Policies

Consider implementing supportive workplace policies such as flexible hours for medical appointments or providing additional health resources. This shows that your commitment to men's health extends beyond November.

10. Celebrate the Effort

At the end of the month, recognize and celebrate the efforts of your employees. This could be through a company-wide email, a special event, or even a photo session of those who participated. This not only serves as a morale booster but also reaffirms your company’s commitment to health and social causes.

11. Continual Engagement

Use No-Shave November as a stepping stone for ongoing engagement in health and wellness initiatives throughout the year. This could include regular health screenings, wellness programs, or supporting other health-related causes.

Wrapping it up

No-Shave November offers a unique opportunity for employers to engage with their employees on a meaningful level, raising awareness and funds for men’s health issues. However, it’s crucial to approach it with inclusivity, flexibility, and sensitivity. By creating a supportive environment, encouraging participation in various forms, and balancing the need for professionalism, employers can make No-Shave November a positive, impactful experience for everyone involved, while contributing to an important cause.

Nashville, Tenn.– October 26, 2023 – Mployer, the leading independent platform for employers to research, review, and evaluate insurance brokers has named over 500 winners across more than 50 regions as part of its third annual “Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards” for 2023. Mployer's Top Employee Benefits Consultant Award Program evaluates brokers based on breadth and depth of experience across employer industries, sizes, insurance products, and employer reviews. We recognize esteemed brokers that demonstrate market-leading competencies and a proven track record of success among employers, insurance providers, and peers.

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Our team is proud to recognize this group of 2023 top-rated insurance advisors as part of our third annual Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards,” said Brian Freeman, the Founder and CEO of Mployer. “Employer-sponsored healthcare and benefits cover over 150M Americans. Who an employer selects as their benefits advisor has more impact on employee cost and satisfaction with their healthcare than who an employer chooses as the insurance carrier. We have rated these brokerages utilizing sophisticated, industry-first algorithms, and we applaud the winners’ demonstrated commitment to service, quality, and positive employer feedback.”

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Mployer determined the winners of the third annual “Top Employee Benefits Consultant Award” by analyzing each brokerage based on historical data, online reviews, their M Score rating, and demonstrated business experience.

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The New York, NY area job market is competitive in the U.S. Northeast, employing more than 10 million people. Offering competitive employee benefits is a critical factor in hiring top talent for the region’s employers. Finding and partnering with a highly rated insurance consultant is imperative to retaining talent in any market.    

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The recipients of the 2023 “Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards” for the New York, New York area are as follows:  

• Alliant Insurance Services
• Aon Risk Services  
• Ascela Partners - New York, NY
• Ascela Partners - Westchester  
• Ashton Benefits
• Brio Benefit Consulting  ‍
• Brown & Brown Insurance - Roseland, NJ ‍
• Cambridge Insurance Advisors - Morristown, NJ ‍
• Cambridge Insurance Advisors - New York, NY ‍
• EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants  ‍
• Gallagher Insurance, Risk Management & Consulting ‍
• HUB International - New York, NY ‍
• HUB International Northeast - Woodbury, NY ‍
• Marsh McLennan Agency  ‍
• Mercer  ‍
• NFP Corporate Services ‍
• Savoy Associates  ‍
• The Benefits Evaluation Group ‍
• USI Insurance Services  ‍
• WTW

The above winners are a snapshot of Mployer's matrices and proprietary M Score on June 15, 2023. To view a full list of consultants in the New York City area, visit MployerAdvisor.com.  

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About Mployer:  

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Mployer is changing the way employers search, evaluate, and select insurance advisors. The intuitive platform connects employers and employees to great benefits and insurance plans by providing employers with actionable data to easily evaluate and select the best advisor for a company’s specific needs. Most brokerages have a profile on Mployer, which provides independent ratings of insurance advisors to support employers. Insurance brokers cannot pay to influence their Mployer rating. Only highly rated brokerages are allowed to advertise on the platform. To learn more about Mployer, visit https://mployeradvisor.com and follow us on LinkedIn.  

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Disclaimer: Rankings are dynamic, and this report may not reflect the rankings currently listed on Mployer's website. Because Mployer research is ongoing, interested companies that want to join next year’s list are encouraged to claim their free profile on Mployer.

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Media Contact:  

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Anthony Waters

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[email protected]

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Two recent peer reviewed studies have come to the same conclusion - the workers compensation patients that they assessed were having worse post-surgical outcomes than non-workers compensation patients who underwent the same procedures. 

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Even though the workers compensation patients in the study were younger and in some ways healthier on average than the non-workers compensation group, in the year that followed their surgical operation, the workers compensation patients had lower return-to-work rates and reported a greater degree of pain and disability as well.

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To be clear, these studies were published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Neurosurgery focusing on the spine and involved nearly 10 years of data from a large number of hospital systems, encompassing almost 40 thousand patients who underwent surgeries on a particular area of their lower spinal columns. 

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That said, there doesn’t seem to be a readily apparent cause that links these spinal injuries/procedures to the comparatively bad outcomes experienced by workers comp patients relative to the non-workers comp counterparts who had the same medical issue and received the same type of care to correct it. While the workers compensation group had greater proportions of patients who smoke and who are obese, whether or not a patient had workers comp status or not seems to have a greater correlation to these negative post-operation experiences.

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The studies did suggest, however, that there could be a number of other factors that may very well have contributed to this phenomenon, including socioeconomic disparities between the workers comp and non-workers comp groups. Differing ranges of average injury severity between the groups could be influencing the results too.

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Further, and perhaps most notably, there may also be differing incentives between workers comp and non-workers comp patients in assessing the severity of their injury and resulting disability in terms of maximizing disability payments and other related benefits that may become available as on-the-job injuries worsen. 

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The authors note that additional study is necessary to evaluate the various factors that are causing these disparities in post-surgical responses between workers comp and non-workers comp groups in order to determine which factors are most responsible. Once the main causes are identified, they can then potentially be better addressed in order to minimize their negative impact, which is especially important in light of the additional treatment expenses incurred by workers comp patients on average, as well as the decreased quality of life and increased likelihood of developing pain-management-related addictions as well. 

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You can read more about this topic here.

One of the latest benefits that has been growing in popularity among some of the top companies in the world is employers providing employees with special access to college admissions counselors. 

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The increasing prevalence of college admissions counseling benefits also coincides with the general rising popularity of education-related employee benefits, with a growing number of employers already offering tuition assistance and/or student loan repayment help and guidance. 

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Some companies that have added college admission counseling services to their employee benefits package offerings include JPMorgan Chase, American Express, Mastercard, and Johnson & Johnson.

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While the practice of adding college admissions coaching has a longer history as a perk among hedge fund employees and other executives in the financial sector, the offering has seen much broader adoption in other industries in recent years as its effectiveness in attracting proactive, creative, and forward-thinking employees has been on display.

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Further, given the high stakes and highly competitive college admissions environment, and given how the sometimes overwhelming nature of the application process can become somewhat all-consuming for applicants and their parents alike, offering benefits that can help both streamline that process and reduce the accompanying stress  can be a significant benefit to business productivity as well.

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While critics of college admissions coaching as an employee benefit rightly point to the fact that these offerings can worsen inequalities that already exist in the college admissions process, including inequitable distribution of limited college admission coaching resources as is, the effectiveness of this kind of counseling and its scarcity both increase the value of their value as an employee perk.

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Currently, most families in the US depend on the advice and advocacy of the college counselors provided by the public high school system, who only spend about 22% of their work hours on college admissions advising according to the National Association of College Admissions Advising. Given the available time and resources and in light of an already overwhelming case load, it has become essentially impossible for college counselors to provide personalized attention to every student. 

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It’s also worth noting that one of the main reasons that personalized attention and the guidance of admissions counselors is at such a premium in the current admissions environment is the complexity of the admissions process itself. The colleges and universities themselves could take significant action to minimize the advantage that access to college counselors provides to applicants and close the outcome gap between the haves and have-nots simply by streamlining their own admissions requirements and updating their user interface to meet the abilities and expectations of their applicants without the assistance of third-party, professional help.

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Often even more complex than the admissions process is the process of obtaining scholarships and financial aid. Finding applicable scholarships and/or other forms of financial assistance and then applying for those opportunities in such a way as to have a realistic chance of obtaining them is another area that admissions counselors can be crucial in navigating, which further exacerbates the inequality gap and places these forms of financial help further out of reach for those who need them most. 

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Until more colleges and universities take those steps, however, the value of college admissions counseling services as an employee benefit will likely continue to grow as more and more companies and their employees take advantage of the opportunity.

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You can read more about this topic here.

There are many regulatory and other duties that a 401(k) custodian must perform for a retirement plan that they manage. These requirements make hiring the right custodian a crucial decision that can impact the success and effectiveness of your company's retirement plan. A custodian is responsible for holding and safeguarding the plan assets, ensuring compliance with regulations, and providing essential administrative services.

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Each of these makes a 401(k) plan custodian an essential part of the team that works to ensure that your plan is set up to best suit the needs of participants. To help you choose the right one for your plan’s unique needs, this article will cover 8 common mistakes to avoid when hiring a 401(k) plan custodian.

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Not Conducting Adequate Research  

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One of the most significant mistakes made by employers is not conducting thorough research on potential 401(k) custodians. Many simply seek out well-known financial institutions without fully exploring the other options that may be available to them, without even knowing if they will be the best fit.

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Take the time to research and compare multiple custodians, considering factors such as their reputation, experience, service offerings, fees, and client reviews. An informed decision can lead to a more suitable custodian for your plan, especially for a small business that may be low on the priority list for a large financial firm.  

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Failing to Understand Service Offerings  

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401(k) custodians may offer a range of service options, from basic recordkeeping to more comprehensive plan administration and investment management. It's essential to understand the scope of services provided by each custodian and assess whether they align with your company's needs. Choosing a custodian that offers tailored solutions can significantly benefit plan participants and streamline plan management.

Overlooking Fee Structures  

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The fees charged by 401(k) custodians can vary significantly and have a direct impact on the plan's overall costs and participant outcomes. Some custodians may have hidden fees or complex fee structures that can be challenging to understand. Look for transparent and competitive fee arrangements, and ensure you have a clear understanding of all costs involved.  

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If you later find that the custodian you chose has hidden fees that change your cost/benefit analysis, it may be worth your effort to find a new one.

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Ignoring Compliance and Regulatory Requirements  

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401(k) plans are subject to various legal and regulatory requirements, including those set forth by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Choosing a custodian that is experienced in retirement plan administration and compliance is critical. Failure to comply with regulations can result in costly penalties and liabilities for your company, even if done at the hands of your custodian. This makes it imperative to do your due diligence and find one who is dependable and has a history of meeting their requirements.

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Not Considering Technology and User Experience  

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A user-friendly and technologically advanced platform can greatly enhance the participant experience and encourage engagement with the retirement plan. Look for a custodian that offers a modern, intuitive, and accessible online interface for both employers and employees. A seamless user experience can lead to increased participation and better plan outcomes.  

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Failing to Review Custodian's Reputation and Track Record  

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A custodian's reputation and track record are indicative of their performance and commitment to client satisfaction. Consider reviewing client testimonials, case studies, and independent ratings to gauge the custodian's reliability and level of service. A custodian with a positive reputation and proven results is more likely to be a trustworthy and valuable partner.  

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You may want to ask potential custodians for the contact information of their current or former clients. If they balk at the suggestion, that may be seen as a red flag that prevents you from getting firsthand testimonials of their performance.

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Overlooking Customer Support and Accessibility  

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Efficient and responsive customer support is essential when managing a retirement plan. Consider how accessible the custodian's support team is and how they handle inquiries and issues. Timely and helpful customer support can resolve problems quickly and ensure a positive experience for both employers and participants.  

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Disregarding Fiduciary Services

Some custodians offer fiduciary services, which means they assume some or all of the fiduciary responsibilities for the plan. Engaging a custodian that acts as a fiduciary can provide an additional layer of protection for plan sponsors, as the custodian will share the responsibility of acting in the best interests of plan participants.  

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The Bottom Line  

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A 401(k) custodian has a major role to play in the administration and regulatory compliance of your plan. Choosing the right one that is the best fit for your plan is an important step in the process of building a plan for your employees, and should not be taken lightly.

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Avoiding the common mistakes outlined above when hiring a 401(k) custodian is essential to establishing a successful and well-managed retirement plan. Conduct thorough research, understand the custodian's services and fee structures, ensure compliance with regulations, and prioritize customer support and user experience. A well-chosen 401(k) custodian can play a vital role in enhancing the retirement readiness of your employees and providing peace of mind for plan sponsors.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is a federal law that was enacted in 1974 to protect the rights and interests of employees who participate in most employer-sponsored retirement plans, including 401(k) plans. ERISA sets forth regulations and standards that govern the operation, administration, and fiduciary responsibilities of these plans.

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It is imperative that any employer who offers a retirement plan to their employees ensures that they have a team in place that complies with ERISA regulations and filing requirements. This law was put into place to protect retirement plan participants, and significant penalties may be levied if a plan falls out of compliance.

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In the article below, we will explore how ERISA impacts 401(k) plans and the key aspects that employers, plan administrators, and participants should be aware of. 

What is ERISA? 

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ERISA stands for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a federal law that establishes minimum standards for private-sector retirement plans. Its primary goal is to safeguard the retirement savings of employees by ensuring plan transparency, fiduciary responsibilities, and accountability. ERISA covers various types of retirement plans, including pension plans, profit-sharing plans, and 401(k) plans. 

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How Does ERISA Work? 

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ERISA sets forth comprehensive rules and regulations to protect participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans. It establishes guidelines for plan reporting, disclosure, and fiduciary responsibilities. ERISA also establishes the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a government agency that provides insurance protection for certain defined benefit pension plans. 

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Under ERISA, employers are required to provide participants with important information about their retirement plans, such as plan features, funding status, investment options, and fee disclosures. Employers must also meet specific fiduciary obligations, which involve acting in the best interests of plan participants and beneficiaries. 

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The Relationship Between ERISA and 401(k) Plans 

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ERISA applies to most 401(k) plans offered by private employers. The plans that do fall under its guidelines are subject to ERISA's provisions, including reporting and disclosure requirements, fiduciary responsibilities, and plan administration guidelines. ERISA helps ensure that employers and plan fiduciaries act prudently and in the best interests of the plan participants. These guidelines may seem like a headache to some, but they are in place purely to protect the employees who take part in employer-sponsored plans.  

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401(k) Plan Fiduciary Duties Under ERISA Law 

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ERISA imposes fiduciary duties on those who manage and control the operation of 401(k) plans. Fiduciaries are required to act solely in the interest of the plan participants and beneficiaries, following the highest standards of care, loyalty, and prudence. They must diversify plan investments to minimize the risk of large losses, ensure that plan expenses are reasonable, and provide participants with accurate and complete information about the plan. 

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Fiduciaries are also responsible for selecting and monitoring investment options offered in the plan. They should act with diligence and expertise when choosing investment options, considering factors such as risk and return, diversification, and the needs and preferences of plan participants. 401(k) plans are not “one size fits all,” so the fiduciary must ensure that a plan is built in accordance with its participants’ needs.  

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What Types of 401(k) Plans Are Not Covered by ERISA? 

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While most 401(k) plans are subject to ERISA, there are certain types of plans that are exempt. Plans sponsored by governmental entities, such as state and local governments, are generally not covered by ERISA. Similarly, plans established and maintained by churches or religious organizations are also exempt from ERISA regulations. 

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How to Know Whether Your 401(k) Plan is Covered by ERISA 

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To determine whether your 401(k) plan is covered by ERISA, you can start by reviewing the plan documents provided by your employer. ERISA-covered plans are typically required to provide participants with a summary plan description (SPD), which outlines key features of the plan and includes information on ERISA coverage.

Additionally, if your plan includes employer contributions or is administered by a third-party administrator, it is more likely to be subject to ERISA regulations. It's important to note that ERISA provides certain rights and protections to plan participants, so understanding whether your plan is covered can help you assess your legal rights and access important information about your retirement benefits. 

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The Bottom Line 

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ERISA plays a vital role in regulating and protecting participants in most employer-sponsored 401(k) plans. It establishes guidelines for plan administration, fiduciary duties, reporting and disclosure requirements, and provides a framework for ensuring the financial security of employees' retirement savings.

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By understanding the impact of ERISA on 401(k) plans, both employers and participants can make informed decisions and take advantage of the protections and benefits afforded by this important legislation. A retirement plan is meant to provide a benefit to employees and help secure their financial future. When ERISA guidelines are viewed through the lens of helping to protect the employees and their benefits, their need becomes much easier to understand.