Selection Sunday has just wrapped up. Brackets are officially out. March Madness has always been one of the few moments where everyone at work — finance, sales, HR, leadership — is talking about the same thing. And this year we thought: why not make it a little more meaningful for the HR and employer community?
So we launched the Mployer $1M Bracket Challenge and we want to give it to you.
It’s simple. Join our private ESPN group, submit your bracket, and follow along with weekly leaderboard updates.
If someone, somehow picks a perfect bracket, Mployer will contribute $1 million toward that person’s company employee benefits.
And if no one nails perfection, the best overall bracket still wins $1,000.
This isn’t meant to be serious. It’s meant to be fun. But it does highlight something that is very real for employers right now.
Employee benefits costs keep climbing. Across the U.S., employer health costs continue to rise faster than inflation and wages. The average cost of employer-sponsored health insurance now exceeds $17,000 per employee per year according to recent employer surveys. (Mercer)
Family coverage is even more dramatic. The average annual premium for employer-sponsored family coverage reached nearly $27,000 in 2025, with employers covering the majority of that cost. (KFF Files)
And the trend isn’t slowing down. Many employers are projecting health plan cost increases of roughly 8%+ in the coming year, some of the steepest growth seen in more than a decade. (Mercer)
For HR leaders and benefit teams, that reality shows up every year during renewal season.
How do you keep offering competitive benefits?
How do you protect employees from rising out-of-pocket costs?
How do you design plans that actually support your people strategy while managing budgets that keep expanding?
That’s the problem Mployer exists to help solve.
Our goal is to create more transparency for employers into their benefit plans so they can lower costs and design plans that better support their people strategy.
But sometimes it’s also good to step back and do something that simply brings the employer community together.
That’s what this bracket challenge is about.
It’s a chance for HR leaders, benefits teams, and employers across the country to join the same pool, follow the same leaderboard, and root for their picks together during one of the most fun sports tournaments of the year.
And who knows, maybe someone in HR finally cracks the code and picks the perfect bracket.
If that happens, we’ll happily write the $1M contribution toward their company’s employee benefits.
Until then, we’ll be watching the leaderboard every day with everyone else.
If you’re an employer, join the challenge and submit your bracket.
One bracket per person. Unlimited participation per company.
We are hoping your bracket is the one that prevails!
.jpg)
Inside Mployer’s Benefits Award Methodology
Employee benefits have never mattered more.
In a labor market shaped by rising healthcare costs, changing workforce expectations, and increased transparency, employers are under pressure to offer programs that truly support their people.
That’s exactly why the Mployer Benefits Award exists.
The award isn’t based on opinions, sponsorships, or self-reported marketing claims. It’s built on independent data, consistent scoring, and a clear definition of what “great benefits” actually look like in today’s market.
This post pulls back the curtain on:
How Mployer Determines Top-Tier Benefits
At the core of the Benefit Award is a simple principle: great benefits should be measurable.
Mployer evaluates employer-sponsored health plans using the largest, independent dataset available that reflects real plan design, cost structures, and coverage value across the market. Instead of relying on surveys or subjective rankings, the methodology compares each employer’s offering directly against relevant peers.
This allows Mployer to answer critical questions like:
Employers who earn Gold or Platinum recognition aren’t just “good for their size.”
They are delivering objectively strong value within their competitive landscape.
Behind the Scenes: From Data to Recognition
Behind every Mployer Benefits Award is a structured, data-driven evaluation designed to turn complex benefit information into clear, trustworthy recognition.
The process begins with real plan data by analyzing cost structures, coverage value, and employer investment across a large independent market dataset. Each employer’s benefits are then compared against relevant peers to determine how their offering truly performs in context, not just in isolation.
From there, Mployer applies a standardized scoring model that translates plan performance into an objective, comparable result. This ensures that recognition reflects measurable value delivered to employees, rather than marketing claims or subjective interpretation.
The final award levels are intentionally simple:
What makes this approach unique is its consistency. Every employer is evaluated using the same methodology, the same benchmarks, and the same independent data foundation.
The outcome is recognition employers, employees, and partners can trust because it’s earned through performance, not participation.
Why Independent Validation Matters
For years, employers have had limited ways to prove the strength of their benefits.
Most recognition programs are:
Mployer’s Benefits Award is different because it is independently calculated using real market data.
The Business Impact for Employers
Independent validation isn’t just about recognition, it delivers real strategic value.
Candidates increasingly ask: “How good are our benefits really?”
An objective award provides instant credibility and differentiation in a competitive hiring market.
Recognition signals that an employer’s benefits strategy is working, which strengthens relationships with advisors, carriers, and leadership stakeholders.
Healthcare spending is one of the largest line items for employers.
Independent scoring confirms whether that investment is translating into meaningful value for employees.
Raising the Standard for Employee Benefits
The broader mission behind the Mployer Benefits Award is simple: bring transparency and accountability to the benefits market.
When employers can clearly see how their plans compare, the entire system improves.
Better benchmarking leads to:
Recognition is just the visible result of a much bigger goal: making high-quality benefits the norm, not the exception.
See Where Your Benefits Stand
Whether an employer earns Gold, Platinum, or is still improving, the most important outcome is clarity. Because once you can measure benefits objectively, you can make them better.
Upload you plan documents to get your free benefit rating here: https://portal.mployeradvisor.com/employerprocess
We’re excited to share the latest updates to Insights and Insights+ for 2026. Each year, we take partner feedback and turn it into meaningful improvements to our benchmarking tools, and this year is no exception.
This year’s enhancements reflect exactly what you’ve been asking for: more granular benchmarking options, expanded coverage across emerging benefit areas, and deeper comparisons that strengthen your client conversations. These aren’t just new features; they’re tools designed to help you win more business, advise with greater confidence, and support every recommendation with the most accurate data available.
We’re proud of these new enhancements, and we’re just getting started. There’s much more coming throughout the year as we continue investing in making Insights and Insights+ the most powerful benchmarking resources available.
Here’s what’s new:
.jpg)
As Mployer continues to grow, our visual presence needs to grow with it. For 2026, we redesigned our award badges to better reflect the credibility and trust behind the recognition they represent. The new designs use Platinum and Gold to add hierarchy and clearly differentiate rankings at a glance, making them easier to understand and more effective in real-world use. The result is a cleaner, more premium look that reinforces the value of the data and insights behind every badge.
The new badge design is part of a broader effort to create a more cohesive Mployer brand. As our platform, reports, and Insights+ offerings continue to evolve, it’s important that every touchpoint feels connected and intentional. These badges now align more closely with our overall visual system, reinforcing recognition and trust wherever Mployer appears.
While the look of the badges has evolved, the foundation behind them has not. The methodology, data quality, and standards used to determine each award remain exactly the same, and the definitions of “Great” and “Top” categories are unchanged. The redesign simply brings the visual expression of the award in line with the rigor and credibility that have always defined Mployer recognition.
Every Mployer award is rooted in independent, data-driven benchmarking.
We evaluate an employer’s full benefits investment, not just medical coverage. That includes:
Each plan is benchmarked against a custom cohort of similar employers, matched by:
From there, plans are force-ranked to determine where they truly sit in the market - no surveys, no opinions, no pay bias.
This allows us to answer a simple but powerful question:
How strong are your benefits compared to employers like you?
With the badge update, we wanted the visual system to match how people already think about excellence.
That’s why we now use:
Here’s what that means in practice.
Gold: Great Benefits (Market-Leading and Market-Competitive)
A Gold badge signifies that an employer’s benefits are materially above market.
These organizations:
Platinum: Top Benefits
Platinum is reserved for the very top of the market.
Employers earning a Platinum badge:
Benefits are hard to explain, and even harder for employees and candidates to compare.
Our updated badges are designed to:
The redesign prioritizes clarity and legibility across all of these environments, ensuring the badge reads quickly and holds its credibility whether it’s seen on a website, in a LinkedIn post, or embedded in a presentation.
Hiring has never been cheap. But for many organizations today, it has quietly become far more expensive than traditional recruiting metrics suggest.
Most companies track time-to-fill and cost-per-hire. These metrics are familiar, easy to report, and widely benchmarked. What they don’t capture is the full organizational cost of an open or recently filled role — and how benefit perception, retention, and productivity are deeply tied to that number.
When recruiting effort, productivity loss, onboarding time, and early turnover risk are fully considered, the true cost of hiring for professional roles often reaches $80,000 to $90,000 per hire. For many HR and finance leaders, that figure is surprising. The reality is that most hiring models are incomplete by design.
Why Traditional Cost-Per-Hire Models Underestimate Hiring Costs
Cost-per-hire calculations typically focus on direct expenses. Recruiter fees, job advertising, background checks, and onboarding costs are straightforward to track and easy to justify in a budget review.
The problem is that these line items represent only a fraction of the total impact.
The largest drivers of hiring cost tend to be indirect and dispersed across the organization. Extended vacancies delay output. Teams redistribute work, creating burnout and inefficiency. Managers spend time filling gaps instead of driving strategic initiatives. New hires take months to reach full productivity. And roles filled under pressure carry a higher likelihood of early turnover.
When these factors are included, organizations frequently underestimate the true cost of hiring by 30 to 50 percent. The impact rarely appears as a single expense line. Instead, it shows up as slower execution, missed growth opportunities, and persistent retention challenges.
Time-to-Fill Is a Compounding Business Cost
Time-to-fill is often treated as a static recruiting metric — something to optimize, but not something that actively accumulates cost. In reality, every day a role remains open increases organizational drag.
Across industries, typical time-to-fill ranges look like this:
During that time, work doesn’t disappear. Output is delayed or redistributed. Overtime increases. Manager attention shifts away from growth initiatives. Team velocity slows. These effects compound quietly, making vacancies far more expensive than they appear on paper.
Once a role is filled, the cost accumulation doesn’t stop. Onboarding and ramp-up often extend the total time-to-productivity window to 90 to 180 days. Until that point, teams continue to operate below capacity.
This is how a role with a $120,000 salary can translate into an $80,000 or greater organizational cost, even before factoring in turnover risk.
Early Turnover Magnifies Hiring Costs
Turnover inside the first 12 months is one of the most expensive and least visible hiring failures. The costs are rarely isolated or formally reported, yet the impact is significant.
When an employee leaves early, the organization absorbs:
Early turnover effectively doubles many of the hidden costs associated with hiring. It also creates skepticism around recruiting effectiveness, even when the underlying issue isn’t talent quality.
In many cases, the root cause isn’t compensation or role mismatch. It’s misaligned expectations and poor understanding of total rewards.
Benefits Play a Bigger Role in Retention Than Most Companies Realize
Benefits consistently rank as the second most important reason employees stay with or leave an employer, yet they are one of the most misunderstood components of total compensation.
Research shows that employees undervalue their benefits by nearly 50 percent. When employees don’t understand the value of what they receive, even strong benefit plans fail to influence retention, recruiting conversations, or offer acceptance decisions.
This disconnect has tangible consequences. Employees who underestimate their benefits are more likely to explore external opportunities. Candidates hesitate during offer negotiations. Hiring cycles lengthen. Time-to-fill increases.
None of this requires increasing benefit spend. It requires credible context.
.png)
Why Total Compensation Statements Rarely Change Behavior
Most organizations rely on total compensation statements to communicate benefits value. While well-intentioned, these statements often fail to change perception or behavior.
The reason is simple: information alone does not create credibility.
Employees are not asking how much their employer spends. They are asking whether their benefits are competitive compared to peers. Without external context, internal summaries and dollar totals feel abstract and unconvincing.
Effective benefits communication requires three elements:
Without these, even objectively competitive plans are perceived as average, or worse.
The Problem With Most Benefits Benchmarking
Many employers attempt to solve this gap with benchmarking. Unfortunately, most benchmarking tools introduce new problems.
Broker-aligned benchmarks reflect the book of business they support. Carrier-driven data emphasizes product placement. Self-reported surveys lack consistency and comparability. As a result, employers struggle to trust the results or use them confidently in internal conversations.
When benchmarking lacks independence, it fails to provide the credibility employees and leaders are seeking.
Independent Benefits Benchmarking: A Clearer Way Forward
Independent benefits benchmarking changes the conversation. Instead of focusing on plan design alone, it answers a more relevant question:
How does our benefits package actually compare to employers like us?
Mployer provides the only independent benefits benchmarking in the U.S., free from broker or carrier influence. Organizations use it to identify retention risk, improve benefit perception without increasing spend, support recruiting narratives, and assess eligibility for the Mployer Benefit Award.
The results are often eye-opening, particularly for companies that believe their benefits are “about average.” In many cases, the data reveals hidden strengths that simply weren’t being communicated effectively.
What This Means for HR, Total Rewards, and Finance Leaders
Rising hiring costs, extended time-to-fill, and persistent turnover are rarely isolated problems. They are symptoms of broader gaps in how organizations position, communicate, and validate their total rewards strategy.
Benefits are not just an expense line. They are a lever for retention, recruiting efficiency, and productivity — when employees understand their value and trust the comparison.
A short benchmarking conversation can help clarify where your benefits truly stand, how employees likely perceive them, and whether your organization qualifies for independent benchmarking and the Mployer Benefit Award.
Competing for Talent in a Constrained Market
The labor market remains highly competitive, particularly for skilled and high-performing roles. Despite some macroeconomic cooling, the structural shortage of qualified talent persists: nearly three-quarters of employers continue to report difficulty filling key positions. At the same time, employee expectations have evolved — flexibility, security, and well-being now weigh as heavily as base compensation in determining employer preference.
For most organizations, benefits represent one of the largest investments in the total rewards portfolio. Yet in practice, those investments are often under-leveraged in the recruiting process. Health coverage, retirement plans, paid time off, and wellness programs frequently appear as a brief bullet point in job descriptions or are mentioned only when an offer is extended. By that stage, the opportunity to differentiate has largely passed.
Mployer’s recent survey of more than 700 companies across 17 industries found that employers who clearly communicate the value of their benefits — and substantiate that value through credible data or recognition — are nine times more likely to be selected by candidates and to convert accepted offers. Transparency and validation drive both higher-quality applicant flow and stronger offer acceptance rates.
Transparency Converts Interest Into Action
In a competitive market, candidates are no longer applying indiscriminately. They evaluate prospective employers through publicly available information, reviews, and visible signals of value. When benefit information is vague, candidates interpret that as a risk. “Competitive benefits” have become shorthand for “average,” and uncertainty creates hesitation.
Conversely, when an organization provides a clear, quantified, and credible overview of its benefits, the dynamic changes immediately. Candidates are more willing to engage early, stay active through the interview process, and make faster, more confident decisions.
.png)
The Missed Opportunity: The Awkward Offer Conversation
In many recruiting processes today, the discussion around benefits occurs only after a verbal or written offer is made. The exchange is familiar: the candidate receives the offer, reviews the salary, and then pauses at the benefits section — uncertain whether what’s being offered is “good” or “below market.”
Recruiters often find themselves attempting to explain why the plan is competitive, citing anecdotal points about employer contributions or coverage levels. But without comparative data, the explanation sounds defensive, not differentiating. The candidate may nod politely but remain unconvinced — or worse, use the ambiguity to negotiate or delay.
At that stage, the opportunity to use benefits as a selling point has already been lost. The employer is reacting rather than leading.
In contrast, organizations that proactively communicate the strength of their benefits — in quantitative and comparative terms — enter offer discussions from a position of confidence. The candidate already understands the total value being provided and perceives the offer as comprehensive, not partial.
This is the distinction between defending your benefits and leveraging them. One undermines momentum; the other accelerates decisions.
Making Benefits a Strategic Differentiator
Leading employers are now approaching benefits communication as a core component of their talent strategy — not an HR formality. Several best practices have emerged:
These practices shorten time-to-hire, increase offer acceptance rates, and strengthen employer brand equity in measurable ways.
From Hidden Cost to Competitive Advantage
For many organizations, benefits are treated primarily as a cost center — a compliance requirement and a necessary expense. In reality, they are one of the most powerful levers available for talent attraction and retention.
When the value of those benefits is communicated with clarity, evidence, and confidence, the perception shifts. The benefits package becomes part of the employer’s market narrative — a tangible signal of how the company invests in its people.
In a tight labor market, that clarity doesn’t just help you attract candidates; it helps you close them.
How Mployer Enables Employers to Compete
Mployer helps organizations turn their benefits into a verified strategic advantage. We independently evaluate and rate employee benefit plans, comparing them across thousands of employers nationwide.
Participating organizations receive a clear assessment of how their benefits stack up against peers, along with recognition materials and benchmarking insights that can be shared directly with candidates. These assets — digital badges, comparison visuals, and concise summaries — give recruiting teams the ability to communicate benefit value credibly and consistently.
Employers across the country are already using Mployer’s data-driven validation to increase applicant volume, improve offer acceptance rates, and reinforce their reputation as employers of choice.
If you’d like to see how your benefits compare, we offer a free initial benchmark report to qualified employers. Join thousands of organizations already leveraging independent proof to strengthen their talent strategy — and move from explaining your benefits to winning with them.
In today’s hyper-competitive labor market, the fight for high-end talent has become a defining business challenge. Organizations invest significant resources into hiring and developing high- performing employees—only to lose them to competitors offering slightly higher pay or better benefits. The cost of voluntary turnover is not only financial; it disrupts operations, damages customer relationships, and erodes company culture.This white paper explores how offering market-competitive benefits—and communicating them effectively—dramatically reduces voluntary turnover. Backed by Mployer’s proprietary benchmarking and benefit rating data, we’ll show how employers that promote their benefits will experience on average 27% lower voluntary turnover each year and potentially up to 51% lower annual turnover compared to peers.
The Cost of Losing Great Talent
Every HR leader and CFO understands the financial cost of turnover—but few quantify its full scope. When an employee leaves voluntarily, costs include:
• Recruiting and onboarding new talent (often 30–50% of annual salary)
• Lost productivity during ramp-up and training
• Knowledge drain, as institutional know-how walks out the door
• Team disruption and morale impacts
• Customer relationship risks when account-facing employees depart
For specialized or customer-integrated roles, this loss compounds. A trained employee with both technical knowledge and deep integration into your teams and clients is a valuable asset—one not easily replaced. Studies show total turnover costs can exceed 1.5x–2x the employee’s annual salary for mid-level positions.
The Talent War: Competing Beyond Compensation
Across industries, the labor market remains tight. Wage competition has intensified, especially in sectors where every dollar per hour matters—manufacturing, wholesale trade, and financial services among them. Employees are increasingly willing to move for small pay increases, unless they clearly understand the total value of their benefits package.This is where benefit perception and communication become critical. When employees can see and understand the full value of what you provide—healthcare coverage, retirement matching, paid leave, mental health support—they’re less likely to be swayed by modest salary increases elsewhere. In short, benefits visibility equals retention power.
The Data: Better Benefits, Better Retention
Mployer Advisor’s analysis found that companies with highly rated benefits and effective benefits communication experience an average of 27% lower voluntary turnover than their peers. That’s a significant impact—one that directly translates into stronger productivity, reduced recruiting costs, and better workforce stability.How We Measured It: To understand how benefits quality and communication influence retention, Mployer Advisor conducted a cross-industry analysis using a blended methodology:
• Sample Group: Thousands of U.S. employers across key industries were evaluated, each with at least 50 full-time employees.
• Benefit Quality Scoring: Companies were benchmarked using Mployer’s proprietary benefit rating system, which integrates multiple data sources—including public ratings, plan benchmarking data, and employee feedback metrics.
• Communication Effectiveness: We measured not just the quality of benefits offered, but how clearly and frequently those benefits were communicated to employees through internal channels, digital materials, and recognition programs.
• Turnover Tracking: Over a 12-month period, we compared voluntary turnover rates among high-rated employers versus industry averages, focusing on trained, professional employees who had completed at least one year of tenure.The outcome was consistent and striking across every major sector: employers who both provide strong benefits and communicate them effectively retain significantly more of their trained workforce.
What this means in Practice - Let's put these numbers into context:
• Example 1: Mid-Sized Manufacturing Firm (200 Employees) Suppose a manufacturing company employs 200 workers with an annual average salary of $60,000 and a typical voluntary turnover rate of 20%. That’s 40 employees leaving each year. Replacing and retraining them at a conservative cost of 1.5× salary would total $3.6 million annually. With improved benefits communication and recognition, this firm could reduce its turnover by 44%—down to 22 separations a year—saving over $1.6 million annually in direct and indirect costs.
• Example 2: Growth-Stage Tech Company (50 Employees) A 50-person software firm might see a 25% voluntary turnover rate in a competitive labor market. Replacing those 12–13 employees could cost roughly $25,000 each in lost productivity and recruiting, totaling $300,000 per year. By improving benefits visibility and achieving results similar to the 27% national average reduction, the company could retain an additional 3–4 key employees annually—saving $75,000–$100,000 and preserving critical institutional knowledge.
The data and the dollars tell the same story: when employees both receive and recognize valuable benefits, they stay longer. Employers who treat benefits as a strategic investment—not just a line-item cost—achieve stronger retention, higher engagement, and measurable savings year over year.
Why Communication Matters as Much as the Benefits Themselves
Even the most generous benefits package fails to deliver ROI if employees don’t fully understand it. HR leaders often underestimate how little employees know about their coverage and perks. A recent survey found that:
• 46% of employees cannot accurately describe their health plan’s core benefits.
• Only 35% believe their employer communicates benefits “very effectively.”
• Yet 68% say that well-communicated benefits would increase their loyalty to the company.
Communicating benefits is no longer a once-a-year open enrollment exercise. It’s a year-round engagement effort that connects the dots between employee well-being and company investment.
Turning Benefits into a Competitive Advantage
This is where the Mployer Benefit Recognition Program makes the difference.
Through our Employer Benefit Award and recognition system, Mployer provides third-party validation that your benefits are not only competitive—but also worthy of public recognition.
Participating employers receive:
• An unbiased benefits rating benchmarked against industry peers
• A benefit summary report highlighting your strongest advantages
• Award badges and recognition toolkit providing third-party credibility for your website, social media, and recruitment materials
• Ready-to-use social media templates to promote your benefits on LinkedIn and beyond
• A visually striking award poster to display on-site, sparking employee conversations about the value of your benefits
By leveraging Mployer’s independent credibility, employers transform their benefits from a hidden cost center into a visible differentiator—enhancing recruitment, retention, and brand perception simultaneously.
Retention Starts with Recognition
In an era defined by labor shortages and rising turnover costs, the companies that win will be those that treat employee benefits not as an expense, but as a strategic investment.
The data tells the story: organizations that both offer competitive benefits and communicate them effectively enjoy up to half the turnover rates of their peers. Recognition, transparency, and consistent messaging are key to helping employees see the true value of what you provide.
Your workforce is your most valuable asset. Make sure they know how much they’re worth.
Learn more or see if your company qualifies for an Employer Benefit Award by visiting Mployer.
The modern labor market is defined by choice. In this competitive landscape, the time it takes to fill a critical position—your Time to Fill (TTF)—has become a painful metric. TTF measures the days between when a job is posted and when an offer is accepted, and every extra day costs your business. These are not just abstract numbers; they are tangible losses: decreased productivity from overburdened teams, halted projects, missed revenue targets, and increased recruiting fees (Source 1).
The solution to a high TTF doesn't lie solely in higher base salaries or aggressive sourcing. It lies in your benefits package.
Exceptional benefits are no longer a perk; they are the most efficient talent acquisition strategy to drastically reduce TTF. By treating your benefits package as a competitive differentiator, you can accelerate candidates through the hiring pipeline faster, saving thousands in the process.
The Attraction Phase: Benefits as a Candidate Magnet
In the crowded digital space, a candidate's first interaction with your company is often filtering for what matters most to their life. This is where your benefits package first accelerates the process.
Filter Efficiency and Signal Quality
Candidates actively use benefit offerings as a primary search filter on major job boards. By offering superior benefits, your role gains instant visibility among highly qualified candidates who are explicitly looking for employer support.
Furthermore, a robust benefits package serves as a powerful signal quality indicator. It immediately tells a prospective hire that your company is stable, healthy, and genuinely employee-first. This signals a positive company culture, immediately making your job more attractive than competitors offering standard, minimal coverage.
High-Value Benefits That Reduce Hesitation
Focusing on benefits that address major life stressors can dramatically shorten a candidate’s initial hesitation and application decision. High-perceived-value benefits like generous Paternity and Maternity Leave policies, comprehensive Mental Health Coverage, and practical Flexible Work Arrangements (Hybrid/Remote) instantly elevate your offer. These concrete; life-changing benefits are far more persuasive than a generic promise of a "competitive salary."
The Conversion Phase: Benefits as a Negotiation Accelerator
Once you find a great candidate, the negotiation phase is where Time to Fill often stalls. Strong benefits act as rocket fuel, accelerating the offer acceptance and minimizing costly, time-consuming back-and-forth.
Reducing Offer Time
When an offer is extended, a truly compelling benefits package often results in candidates accepting the first offer. They don't feel the need for lengthy counter-offers focused solely on base salary because the total value is already overwhelming.
A clear, well-articulated benefits statement in the offer letter minimizes follow-up questions, builds trust, and speeds up the decision-making process. The certainty and value provided by the benefits act as an irresistible closing tool.
Framing the Total Compensation Advantage
To fully leverage this advantage, your HR team must be trained to frame the discussion around Total Compensation Value. Show candidates how elements like a 100% 401(k) match, fully-funded health insurance options, or student loan repayment programs can easily surpass a perceived $5,000 difference in base salary.
When candidates are weighing multiple offers, the company that provides the most security, flexibility, and value outside of the paycheck will significantly shorten the candidate's decision time, often securing the top talent before competitors can react.
The Long-Term Ripple Effect on TTF
The benefits ROI doesn't stop once the offer is signed. A strategic benefits package initiates a powerful, long-term ripple effect that fundamentally lowers your overall vacancy rate and future TTF.
Boosted Employee Referrals
Happy employees are your best and fastest source of talent. When staff are genuinely satisfied with their compensation and benefits (especially high-value items like Sabbatical programs or generous PTO), they become powerful advocates. This satisfaction increases the likelihood of employees referring high-quality candidates, who are typically onboarded faster because of the pre-vetted nature of the relationship. Referral hires are consistently the fastest and cheapest source of talent for any organization.
Lower Turnover Rate
Ultimately, a high TTF is often symptomatic of high employee turnover. Strong benefits increase employee retention, meaning you have fewer open jobs to fill in the first place. Since TTF is calculated using both the vacancy rate and the duration of those vacancies, better benefits effectively tackle both components simultaneously.
Quantifying the Benefits: TTF vs. Public Perception
The impact of your benefits is no longer limited to the candidates you interview; it's public. When candidates research a company, they immediately consult public review platforms like Glassdoor. These platforms link candidate sentiment directly to your hiring efficiency.
Mployer’s recent analysis of 300 companies and over 2,000 open roles during a 120-day period revealed a critical connection between public sentiment and hiring speed. We compared organizations with exceptionally high Glassdoor benefit ratings (a key proxy for positive external perception) against those with mid-to-lower ratings. The result was a dramatic acceleration in the hiring funnel: for companies with top-tier benefit ratings, the average Time to Fill (TTF) was just 19 days, compared to 27 days for their counterparts—a significant 32% reduction in hiring time. While this trend was most pronounced among smaller organizations (like local businesses to mid-market firms), large global corporations (including Samsung, Morgan Stanley, and GE) demonstrated the same efficiency gain, affirming the universal impact of a strong benefit-based Employer Value Proposition.
Companies with an "Excellent" or "Above Average" benefit rating (4.0+ stars on Glassdoor, for example) consistently report a Time to Fill that is 15-20% shorter than industry peers with "Average" or "Poor" benefit ratings (Source 2). This efficiency is driven by the immediate credibility and trust built before the candidate even submits an application. A strong public rating reduces the need for the candidate to perform extensive due diligence, further accelerating the initial application phase.
Enhanced Employer Brand
A consistently excellent benefits package strengthens your overall Employer Value Proposition (EVP). This enhanced brand, which is now supported by public data, naturally improves all future recruiting efforts by attracting passive candidates who have been watching your company’s reputation grow.
Conclusion: The Investment That Pays for Itself
The takeaway is clear: investing in market-leading benefits doesn't cost money; it saves money by drastically reducing the tangible costs associated with lengthy vacancies, high recruiting fees, and low productivity.
Benefits act as an accelerant across all three critical phases of hiring: they Attract more candidates, convert them faster, and ensure their Retention, fueling a steady stream of future referral hires.
Action Item: Review your current benefits package through the lens of a prospective, top-tier candidate. Where can you add immediate, high-impact value? The race for talent is won by the company that makes the quickest, most compelling offer—and that starts with great benefits.
To gain a competitive edge and identify your specific TTF acceleration points, benchmark your offerings today. See how your benefits stack up against industry peers through a free, unbiased rating: Visit https://mployeradvisor.com/employer-rating
Sources
The H1-B visa program, designed to bring skilled foreign workers to the U.S. for "specialty occupations," is undergoing significant changes that demand your attention. The H1-B visa process is a multi-step, multi-cost journey. Before the recent changes, the primary costs were for filing fees, which typically ranged from $2,000 to $5,000, depending on the size of the employer and the specific application type [1]. The process begins with an employer submitting an electronic registration for a foreign worker during a specific period each March. If selected in the annual lottery, the employer then files the full H1-B petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The annual cap is 85,000 visas, but demand consistently outstrips supply, with hundreds of thousands of applicants vying for a spot each year (USCIS, 2025). Historically, the program has seen a sharp increase in registrations, but a new beneficiary-centric lottery system implemented in recent years has helped curb duplicate applications, leading to a notable drop in eligible registrations for the most recent fiscal years.
The information technology (IT) industry is by far the biggest user of the H1-B visa, accounting for over 65% of visa holders (Image 2) [2]. This trend has been consistent, with major tech companies and IT consulting firms like Amazon, Tata Consultancy Services, Microsoft, Meta, and Google topping the list of H1-B sponsors. These companies primarily use the visa to fill roles for software engineers, data analysts, AI researchers, and other tech specialists. However, other industries like finance, healthcare, and higher education also rely heavily on the visa to fill specialized positions.
The landscape of H1-B hiring has been dramatically reshaped by two major legislative actions. In a significant move, a new proclamation was issued on September 19, 2025, which, as of September 21, 2025, requires a one-time $100,000 payment for most new H1-B petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries who are outside the United States [3]. This substantial fee, a dramatic increase from previous costs, is aimed at discouraging the hiring of lower-skilled, lower-paid foreign workers and instead, incentivizing companies to hire the "best and brightest." For HR, this signals a major shift from a volume-based lottery strategy to a more meritocratic, high-cost model. The proclamation is currently slated to last for 12 months, but it may be extended or subject to further clarification from government agencies [4].
For current H1-B visa holders, and those with petitions filed before September 21, 2025, this new fee does not apply [5]. Existing visa holders can continue to travel and re-enter the country as they normally would, and visa renewals are not subject to the new fee. However, some legal experts advise against unnecessary international travel for those whose petitions were filed after the effective date, due to the lack of clear guidance on how the new fee would be applied upon re-entry.
Separate, but related, proposed legislation is currently moving through the rulemaking process. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing a rule to replace the current random H1-B lottery system with a weighted selection process that would favor higher-skilled and higher-paid applicants. This proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2025, opening a 30-day public comment period that ends on October 24, 2025 [6]. After the comment period, DHS will review the feedback and may issue a final rule. If finalized in time, this new system could be in effect for the next H1-B cap season beginning in March 2026.
The new $100,000 fee and proposed changes are not without opposition. Many legal experts and industry leaders argue that the proclamation exceeds the President's authority by instituting a fee that is not tied to administrative costs, as fees typically are. Legal challenges are almost certain, and courts could potentially strike down the fee [7]. Furthermore, there is public and political pressure to repeal the measure, as critics argue it will drive talent and jobs overseas, harm U.S. competitiveness, and effectively dismantle the H1-B program for all but the largest corporations. While it is unclear if these efforts will succeed, HR professionals should stay informed on the evolving legal landscape, as a successful legal challenge could reverse these recent changes.
The H1-B program is no longer a volume game of chance but a calculated, high-stakes investment; a fundamental shift in the American talent strategy. For HR professionals, this means moving beyond reactive compliance and embracing a proactive, strategic role. You must become a key partner in workforce planning, advising leadership on how to balance global talent needs with the new financial realities. The path forward requires a focus on quality over quantity, meticulous legal vigilance, and a clear, well-communicated strategy for both current and future employees.
Here are some key considerations as you begin to prepare the way forward for your own workforce:
1. Strategic Workforce Planning. The new $100,000 fee for new H1-B petitions filed for beneficiaries abroad makes sponsoring international talent a high-stakes, high-cost decision. Begin reevaluating your talent pipeline, prioritizing critical roles that require highly specialized skills, and considering if the investment is justified for each position. You'll need to work closely with department heads to identify essential roles that cannot be filled by the domestic workforce.
2. Budgetary and Financial Adjustments. The new fee is a dramatic increase from prior costs, which were typically under $5,000. For companies that rely on a large number of H1-B hires, this could add millions of dollars to the annual budget. HR and finance departments need to collaborate to re-budget for future international hires and plan for the potential financial impact.
3. Shifting to a Meritocratic System. The proposed weighted lottery system will favor higher-skilled, higher-paid applicants. This change moves the H1-B program away from a random chance and toward a system that rewards higher salaries. HR should be prepared for this by ensuring compensation for sponsored roles is competitive and aligns with the highest wage tiers to increase the chances of selection.
4. Navigating Uncertainty and Legal Challenges. The new fee and proposed changes are facing significant legal challenges. The situation is fluid, and further guidance from government agencies is expected. HR professionals need to stay informed by consulting with immigration counsel and legal experts regularly. It is also critical to advise current H1-B employees on the potential risks of international travel, as the new rules are still being clarified and could impact their re-entry.
The challenge is significant, but for those who adapt, the H1-B program will remain a powerful tool for securing the elite, specialized talent that drives innovation and growth.
[1] NNU Immigration. (2025). H1B Visa Cost & Fees 2025. Retrieved from https://www.nnuimmigration.com/h1b-visa-cost/
[2] American Immigration Council. (2025). Trump's $100,000 Fee for H-1B Visas: What You Need to Know. Retrieved from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/trump-100000-fee-h1b-visa/
[3] The White House. (2025). Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Suspends the Entry of Certain Alien Nonimmigrant Workers. Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/
[4] Holland & Knight. (2025). Summary of Presidential Proclamation: Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers. Retrieved from https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2025/09/summary-of-presidential-proclamation-restriction-on-entry-of-certain [5] USCIS. (2025). H-1B FAQ. Retrieved from https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/h-1b-faq
[6] Fragomen. (2025). United States: DHS Proposes Wage Level-Based Weighted System of H-1B Cap Allocation. Retrieved from https://www.fragomen.com/insights/united-states-dhs-proposes-wage-level-based-weighted-system-of-h-1b-cap-allocation.html
[7] The Guardian. (2025). Trump signs proclamation imposing annual $100,000 fee on H-1B visas. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/09/19/trump-h1b-visa-100000-fee
(An easy to understand guide)
Prescription drug costs have surged dramatically in recent years, placing increasing strain on employer-sponsored health plans. Between 2000 and 2020, retail prescription drug spending in the U.S. nearly doubled (a 91% increase) and continues to climb—outpacing most other healthcare cost categories. The rise stems from two primary factors: expensive new specialty therapies (like weight-loss and biologic treatments) and the opaque role of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) in setting prices. What makes matters worse is that Americans pay dramatically more than people in other high-income nations—U.S. drug prices average 2.78 times higher than in 33 comparable countries, and brand-name drugs can cost more than four times as much. This steep cost trajectory and global overpayment emphasize why understanding and managing PBMs has become essential for employers aiming to control healthcare spend and protect employees.
When an employer designs its health plan, it either chooses a PBM directly or selects a carrier that already has a PBM embedded in its plan. From there, the PBM takes control of the prescription drug benefit. They build the formulary—the list of drugs that are covered—and negotiate with manufacturers to decide which drugs make the list. By narrowing coverage to certain products, PBMs gain leverage to demand better deals. They also restrict which pharmacies are in-network, again concentrating volume to maximize bargaining power.
This means PBMs effectively set the market, costs, and tiers employees experience: whether a drug falls into Tier 1 with a $10 copay or Tier 4 with a 25% coinsurance is dictated by the PBM’s design. On the back end, PBMs collect rebates from drug makers. A rebate is essentially a kickback payment from the manufacturer to the PBM, offered in exchange for favorable placement of a drug on the formulary or higher expected utilization. For example, if two similar drugs treat the same condition, the manufacturer willing to pay a higher rebate is more likely to have their drug chosen. Some portion of these rebates is passed back to the employer to lower plan costs, but a significant share is often kept by the PBM—one of the biggest transparency concerns in the system
Most employer health plans organize prescription coverage into tiers, which determine both access and cost-sharing for employees.
For employers, understanding how tiers and cost-sharing are structured is critical, since they directly affect both plan expenses and employee affordability.
While high-cost drugs represent only a small fraction of total prescriptions, their impact on employer health plans is staggering. Specialty medications—such as those for cancer, hemophilia, and autoimmune disorders—account for less than 2% of prescriptions but drive close to 50% of all drug spending. Their costs have grown at double-digit rates year over year, fueled by new biologics, gene therapies, and infusion-based treatments that can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. According to Sun Life’s High-Cost Claims Report, in many catastrophic claim categories like hemophilia or leukemia, prescription drugs make up more than 90% of the total cost of care. For employers, this means a single claimant on a specialty drug can dramatically shift overall plan spend, making pharmacy benefits one of the most volatile and financially significant areas to manage.
Carriers cover most FDA-approved specialty drugs but tightly manage access and cost. They use formularies to decide which drugs are included (and on what tier), require prior authorization or step therapy before approving treatment, and often restrict dispensing to their own specialty pharmacy networks. Coverage is generally limited to drugs deemed medically necessary, while experimental or non-formulary drugs are excluded unless appealed. For employees, this can mean higher coinsurance, delays in approval, and fewer choices on where prescriptions can be filled.
This consolidation means that for many employers, pharmacy benefits are automatically bundled with one of these large PBMs, leaving little room for visibility or flexibility.
The remaining 25% is made up of disruptors offering more transparent models. Players like SmithRx (pass-through pricing with detailed reporting), MedOne (independent PBM with customizable formularies and full rebate pass-through), and Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs (a direct-to-consumer model selling drugs at cost plus a small margin) are challenging the status quo. For employers, knowing which PBM their carrier relies on—and whether a carve-out to one of these disruptors is possible—can be a critical step in controlling pharmacy costs.
In recent years, lawmakers have increasingly targeted the opaque practices of PBMs, introducing multiple federal bills like the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act (S. 127, 2023) and the PBM Transparency Act of 2025 (S. 526). These aim to ban spread pricing, require full rebate pass-through, and mandate detailed reporting—but none have passed into law yet. Similarly, a 2025 House bill dubbed the PBM Reform Act proposes greater transparency around Medicare Part D contracts and delinking PBM compensation from drug prices, but it remains pending in committee.
At the state level, all 50 states have enacted some degree of PBM regulation. Few states have gone further: for example, Iowa is considering a law imposing minimum pharmacy dispensing fees, and Arkansas passed legislation curbing PBMs’ ownership of pharmacies—though that law has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge
In short: there's plenty of activity at both federal and state levels—but no sweeping reforms have become law yet, leaving employers to manage PBM challenges proactively on their own.
Prescription drug costs are no longer a side issue—they’re a central driver of employer healthcare spend. The combination of high-cost specialty therapies and the opaque role PBMs play in setting formularies, controlling access, and managing rebates makes this one of the most complex and consequential areas of benefit management. For employers, the path forward starts with awareness: knowing which PBM you’re tied to, how rebates flow, which drugs are shaping your spend, and what levers you have to push for transparency or carve out alternatives.
While legislation at the federal and state levels may eventually bring more clarity and accountability to the PBM market, employers cannot afford to wait. By asking sharper questions, exploring disruptive PBM models, and partnering with brokers who understand this space, employers can take meaningful steps today to control costs and support employees more effectively.
Bottom line: Prescription drug costs are only going up. Employers that engage now—by digging into the details and holding PBMs and carriers accountable—will be best positioned to protect both their budgets and their people.
Does Your 401(k) Plan Stack Up? Why Retirement Benefits Are the Quiet Power Player in Talent Strategy
Key Takeaways
Ask a benefits leader if their 401(k) plan is competitive and you’ll hear a confident “yes.” But ask based on what and the answers become fuzzier.
Most employers assess retirement benefits by match rate or overall offering (“we have one, so we’re good”). But match percentage is just the tip of the iceberg. The truth is, retirement plan competitiveness is shaped by a complex set of variables, many of which fly under the radar for a lot of employees.
From vesting schedules and administrative fees to plan flexibility and participation rates, the design of your 401(k) can quietly impact:
And yet, few employers are equipped to quantify how their plan performs relative to the market.
Until now.
Mployer’s Insights+ platform is the only system that allows you to benchmark your retirement benefits with meaningful accuracy and market alignment.
Unlike outdated surveys or generic industry reports, Insights+ uses a 25,000+ plan dataset and proprietary scoring methodology to rate your retirement plan against your peers - by size, industry, and region.
We analyze not just what you offer, but how it performs across four core categories:
The result? A retirement plan competitiveness score that gives you the confidence and clarity to know exactly where you stand.
Let’s look at two hypothetical employers:
Company A looks generous on paper, but if employees don’t stay long enough to vest, or the plan underperforms after fees, the realized value is far lower.
Insights+ makes these trade-offs visible, quantifiable, and actionable.
According to the 2025 Mployer dataset:
Participation rates reflect this disparity:
Retirement plans aren’t just a compliance checkbox - they’re a competitive differentiator. Mployer research shows:
That perception gap creates missed opportunities to recruit, engage, and retain the people you want most.
Benchmarking your retirement plan is easier than you think.
With Insights+, you’ll receive:
Whether you’re evaluating your broker’s recommendation, planning open enrollment, or preparing for a comp review, this is the data advantage you’ve been missing.
In a labor market where top talent has options, strong retirement benefits can tip the scale in your favor - but only if you can prove it.
Mployer Insights+ helps you:
Don’t settle for assumptions. Benchmark with precision.
Ready to find out how your plan stacks up? Visit Mployer to get started.
Editor's Note: This report is based on survey data from May 2025 that was published in June 2025. This is the most recent data available. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
The unemployment rate has been remarkably steady for the past year, fluctuating between 4.0% and 4.2% during that term, although there are some significant warning signs that the labor market has softened.
Meanwhile, US employers added 139 thousand jobs, which is on par with the approximate 149 thousand net jobs added over the last 12 months on average, albeit down more than 20% from last month’s initially reported figure of 177 thousand.
While the number of people who have been jobless for 5 weeks or less increased by 264 thousand to reach about 2.5 million, a comparable amount of people (216 thousand) dropped from the ranks of the long-term unemployed - which includes people looking for a job who have been without a job for 27 weeks or more.
What may be more telling regarding the evolving labor market conditions, however, is the decrease in both employment-population ratio (which dropped 0.3% down to 59.7%) and labor force participation rate (which fell by 0.2% down to 62.4%), both of which indicate that more people are leaving the workforce.
Of the net 139 thousand jobs added last month, the healthcare industry saw the largest uptick, with 62 thousand net new jobs, followed by the leisure and hospitality industry which added 48 thousand net jobs - nearly 2.5x the monthly average of 20 thousand net jobs recorded over the last year.
The social assistance industry also had a net positive increase in payroll figures, adding about 16 thousand jobs all of which were in the individual and family services subset, but most of the rest of the industries saw no meaningful change in employment numbers - except temporary workers and federal government workers, the latter of which declined by 22 thousand as more of the DOGE workforce cuts began to appear in the data. In total, the federal workforce is down almost 60 thousand jobs in 2025.
The manufacturing sector and retail employees saw relatively minor declines in employment figures, as well.
Despite the potential softening of the labor market, average hourly wages increased by an average of 15 cents last month, climbing to $36.24 per hour. Average hourly earnings are up almost 4% over the last 12 months.
The average number of hours worked weekly across the US, however, held steady at 34.3 hours for the third month in a row.
The waiting game continues in the labor market, which showed decent gains but also indicated that people are losing confidence in their ability to find a new job in the event that they lose their old one.
Beyond the reductions to the federal workforce, people working temporary jobs saw the next largest decrease, and although that reduction was not particularly significant, fewer temp workers perhaps indicates that employers are being more cautious with their payroll expenditures.
Continued uncertainty surrounding tariffs and federal budgets may be contributing to caution among business leaders, but the 139 thousand net jobs is marginally better than the 130 thousand jobs that economists were forecasting, so perhaps those uncertainties are essentially baked into the workforce calculation equations for the time being at least.
In effect, the lack of clarity about economic conditions going forward is likely causing employers to be patient when it comes to both hiring new workers and letting existing workers go.
Incidentally, this jobs report will likely lead the Federal Reserve to exercise patience and caution when it comes to lowering the interest rate, as well.
In short, the latest data largely indicates ‘business as usual’ for the immediate future, but with the tariff extension pause for most affected countries scheduled to wrap up in just under a month and with additional uncertainties emerging on the domestic front with regard to immigration enforcement actions and the resulting public response, ‘business as usual’ may be (or may not be) relatively short-lived.
Check out the Mployer blog here.
Each month, Mployer collects and presents some of the most relevant and most pressing recent changes in law, compliance, and policy in areas related to employee benefits, health care, and human resources.
As of May 20, 2025, the online filing system for Federal EE0-1 Data Submission is now open for submission. Private employers with 100 or more employees and federal contractors that meet certain criteria must submit the relevant data by June 24, 2025, which is less time to submit than in previous years. You can read more here.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services released a new I-9 form on April 2, 2025. Some of the updates include replacing the word “non-citizen” with “alien” and the word “sex” has replaced “gender.”
The previous I-9 forms - released on August 1, 2023 - remain valid until their listed expiration dates, in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
You can find the new forms here.
Colorado: Beginning July 1, 2025, Colorado employers that collect biometric data (e.g. fingerprints, retina scans, etc.) from employees and/or job candidates must follow the expanded guidelines laid out in the Colorado Privacy Act, which include implementing a written policy addressing biometric collection protocol and obtaining consent for the collection of biometric data. You can read more here.
Also Beginning July 1, 2025, employees taking continuous leave under the Family and Medical Leave Insurance program must be employed for 180 days prior to taking leave in accordance with the program, but employees taking intermittent leave, that job protection begins as soon as an employee hits their 180th day on the job, even if leave has already begun at that point. You can read more here.
As of May 16, 2025, Colorado has clarified that protected gender expression in the workplace includes chosen names and pronouns and that continuing to use a person’s birth name and pronouns against their wishes is an act of discrimination. You can read more here.
As of February 1, 2026 Colorado employers that use artificial intelligence to evaluate employees and job applicants are required to take proactive measures to ensure that those platforms are not enabling discriminatory practices. You can read more here.
Georgia: Employers in Georgia must begin phasing out below-minimum wage payments for employees with disabilities, with no new subminimum wage employment agreements beginning July 1, 2025 even for those employers with valid authorization certificates from the Department of Labor. Existing subminimum wage agreements must be equal or greater to half of the federal minimum wage by July 1, 2026 and must equal or exceed federal minimum wage standards by July 1, 2027. You can read more here.
New York: As of May 8, 2025, NY employers with more than 3 employees must conspicuously post their lactation room accommodation policies and guidelines as well as the relevant state requirements both somewhere accessible by all employees and on the organization's intranet if applicable
As of March 22, 2025, all New York employers regardless of size are prohibited from requiring job applicants or employees from providing a copy of their criminal history report that was obtained via the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
As of March 2, 2025, all New York employers are prohibited from requiring job applicants to provide a copy of their criminal history record, which closes a loophole employers had been exploiting to obtain such records despite restrictions regulating their access to those records.
Beginning June 2, 2025, employers with 10 or more retail employees must have in place a written policy and training program for violence prevention measures and retail employers with 500 or more employees must install and/or maintain silent response buttons to alert authorities about emergencies. This legislation was originally slated to take effect March 4, 2025, But was amended to clarify employer responsibilities.
Further, as of January 1, 2025, New York employers are required to provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during a 52 week period. Also, as of the new year, the characteristics to which equal protection was extended via the New York State Human Rights Law and the resulting protections are formally enshrined in the New York State Constitution. Those characteristics include: age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, pregnancy, and anything else related to reproductive healthcare.
Oklahoma: Beginning November 1, 2025, Oklahoma is increasing the allowable tip credit - more info to come as it becomes available. You can read more here.
Oregon: Beginning July 1, 2025, Minimum wage increases across Oregon - climbing to $16.30 per hour in the Portland metro area, $15.05 per hour in standard counties, and $14.05 per hour in non-urban counties. You can read more about the increase schedule here and determine which counties fall into which categories here.
Beginning September 29, 2025, Oregon employers will be prohibited from asking candidates for certain age-related information like date of birth or graduation dates prior to and unless certain conditions are met. You can read more here.
Beginning January 1, 2026, Oregon employees will be permitted to utilize sick leave for certain types of blood donations and Oregon employers will be required to provide employees certain information about earnings and deductions on their pay stubs - more information to come as it becomes available. You can read more here and here, respectively.
As of January 1, 2025, Paid Leave Oregon provides leave for employees completing necessary legal steps associated with adopting and/or fostering children.
Tennessee: As of April 11, 2025, employers in Tennessee are required to pay out all owed earnings in the event of an employee’s death. Previously, Tennessee employers could cap those payments at $10,000. You can read more here.
Washington: Beginning June 27, 2025, employees in Washington state will be permitted to use sick leave in order to address immigration-related issues. You can read more here.
The Washington state legislature has also updated several laws governing when minors are allowed to work, employee protections, health care worker rest breaks, and workplace safety measures in certain industries. You can find those bills here, here, here, and here, respectively.
Beginning July 27, 2025, Washington employers with at least 50 full-time employees will be required to provide 60 days written notice in advance of layoffs or business closures that result in the loss of employment for at least 50 full-time employees. You can read more here.
Also beginning July 27, 2025, Washington employers will no longer be able to require that employees have driver’s licenses unless driving is part of the job function and/or central to a legitimate business purpose, and Washington employers must provide current and former employees (for up to 3 years following their term of employment) with copies of their personnel files at no cost within 21 days of receiving the request. You can read more here and here, respectively.
The Washington state legislature also made updates to job posting disclosure requirements here that take effect on July 27, 2025, as well.
Beginning January 1, 2026, the Washington state Paid Family Medical Leave Act will be expanded to include smaller employers. You can read more here.
As of May 1, 2025, minimum wage in the city of Bellingham, Washington increased to $18.66 per hour. You can read more here.
Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that state laws that protect job candidates and workers from arrest-record discrimination also apply to non-criminal offenses like civil violations. You can read more here.
On March 14, President Trump rescinded Executive Order 14026 - which Biden signed in 2021 and raised the minimum wage for federal contractors from $10.10 per hour to $15 per hour with mechanisms contained within the order to continue increasing this wage minimum over time.
On January 1, 2025, in accordance with EO 14026, the minimum wage for federal contractors increased to $17.75 per hour, but now that Trump has rescinded EO 14026, it is unclear what the current minimum wage for federal contractors is.
You can read more here.
If your organization is using the alternative method for distributing 1095-B and 1095-C forms in accordance with the Paperwork Burden Reduction Act, your website must be in compliance from the first business day of March through at least October 15th. You can find guidance from the IRS about how to properly follow compliance protocols here.
On February 21, 2025, a federal judge put a stay on Trump’s Executive Order limiting the ability of federal agencies and federal contractors to operate Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs. The court questioned whether the order violated free speech rights and potentially illegally restricted otherwise legal actions taken by private entities. You can find the decision here.
From February 1st to April 30th, non-exempt (low hazard) employers who had at least 11 employees at some point in 2024 must post in a conspicuous place a copy of OSHA Form 300A, Summary of Work-Related Illness and Injury, certified by a company executive.
For non-exempt employers that had 250 or more employees at some point last year and employers with 20 or more employees in specified high risk industries, OSHA requires electronic submissions, which are due by March 2nd, 2025.
You can find the electronic submission platform here.
As of January 13, 2025, the extension period for certain renewal Employee Authorization Document (EAD) applications filed on May 4, 2022 or later has been formalized at 540 days.
You can read more here.
As of January 1, 2025, the IRS mileage reimbursement rate for road miles driven for business purposes increased by 3 cents per mile from 67 to 70 cents per mile driven.
In response to a Federal Court of Appeals Decision that vacated the so-called 80/20/30 rule that was instituted in 2021, the Department of Labor officially reverted to the previous tip credit rule.
You can read more here.
As of January 1, 2025, the threshold for what qualifies as affordable coverage is now 9.02%, which means that an employee’s required contribution to the plan can be no more than 9.02% of their salary in order for the plan to be considered affordable and to avoid potentially paying the penalty.
You can read more about the affordability threshold here.
You can read more here.
You can find the complete IRS 2025 benefit contribution limit list here.
You can find guidance for ERISA 403(b) plan eligibility requirements for long-term, part-time employees according to the updated standards from the Secure ACT 2.0 here.
Hiring and retaining talent continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing employers today. With rising salary expectations and increasing turnover rates, organizations are under pressure to find sustainable, high-impact ways to attract and keep top talent.
One of the clearest and most controllable drivers of success? Employee benefits. And just as importantly, how those benefits are perceived by employees.
Our recent data from over 700 companies and 10,000 employees in 2024 and early 2025 confirms this: benefits are the second-most important factor influencing employee satisfaction, just behind compensation.
In fact, 76% of employees cite benefits including medical, leave, retirement, and financial programs as a top reason they choose to join or stay with a company. That’s ahead of their boss, company culture, leadership, and even mission.
In short: benefits are not secondary, they’re strategic.
Over the past few years, benefit expectations have shifted dramatically. The pandemic changed how employees think about health, family time, flexibility, and mental well-being. Rising out-of-pocket medical costs, the growth of remote and hybrid work, and a greater awareness of employer-provided financial security have made benefits one of the most discussed aspects of compensation - not just in exit interviews, but in Glassdoor reviews, LinkedIn posts, and team chats.
Simply offering a health plan isn’t enough anymore. Today’s workforce expects benefits that are modern, inclusive, and meaningful. Employees also expect employers to communicate clearly about what’s being offered.
That’s why we analyzed how employee-perceived benefit quality correlates with performance on key HR metrics. The companies that perform best? They don’t just offer strong benefits, they ensure employees know and value them.
Companies with highly rated benefits fill roles 32% faster on average. That’s not a small number when each open role represents lost productivity, added stress on teams, and missed business opportunities.
One mid-sized tech company we worked with had a senior data role open for 90 days. At an estimated $1,000/day in opportunity cost and internal time, that single opening cost them over $90,000, and that figure doesn’t take delayed product launches into account. After updating how they presented their benefits and gathering employee feedback to showcase online, they cut their average time-to-fill to under 60 days for similar roles. That’s a $30K+ impact per hire.
When job seekers understand the value of your benefits, they’re more likely to apply and say yes to offers, which can reduce your hiring cycle by days or even weeks.
Turnover is expensive, especially when it’s your best people walking out the door. Companies with top-rated benefits by employees saw 21% lower annual voluntary turnover. That’s a powerful retention lever. When employees feel supported through comprehensive health plans, generous parental leave, mental health resources, and financial wellness programs, they’re less likely to leave, even when other offers come their way.
A 21% reduction in voluntary turnover on a 100-person team could mean keeping 10–15 more experienced employees each year. That’s not just savings, that’s momentum.
In competitive markets, benefits are a differentiator - but only when they’re visible. Candidates are 9x more likely to choose companies that clearly showcase strong benefits. Whether on Glassdoor, your careers page, or through employee word-of-mouth, clear communication around benefits drives candidate behavior.
Think of it this way: two companies offer similar pay. One has three bullet points on benefits. The other shows employee ratings, gives specific plan details, and includes testimonials. The choice becomes obvious.
People don’t just want good benefits, they want to feel confident in what they’re getting, before they make a move.
There’s a strong link between benefits and employee loyalty. Among employees who rated their benefits as “excellent,” 75% also rated their loyalty to the company as “high.” That’s not a coincidence, it’s a signal. Benefits contribute directly to how connected, appreciated, and committed employees feel.
Loyalty is about more than tenure, it’s about energy, advocacy, and long-term value. Benefits help build that loyalty day by day.
In our analysis, the companies with the strongest HR outcomes weren’t necessarily the ones with the most expensive benefits, but the ones with well-designed, well-communicated offerings that employees consistently rated highly.
Highly rated benefits often include:
What they all share is clarity and consistency, both in what’s offered and in how it’s experienced.
The data is clear: companies that offer and communicate great benefits perform better across key HR and people metrics.
Faster hiring. Lower turnover. Stronger engagement.
And the connective thread through it all? Employees knowing their benefits matter and feeling the value in their day-to-day experience.
Benefits shouldn’t be treated as background noise. They’re central to the employee experience and one of the few investments that directly influence both recruiting and retention outcomes.
Want to understand how your benefits are perceived? Or see how you compare to other employers in your market?
We’d be happy to show you, just reach out to start the conversation.
Get your free Insights+ report today at mployeradvisor.com.
On May 22, the House narrowly passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, a sweeping legislative package that slashes over $1 trillion in healthcare spending - most notably through cuts to Medicaid, changes to Medicare, and tighter control over the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions.
But buried in the bill’s 11th-hour amendments and complex fiscal shifts are several consequential reforms that could reshape the way employers provide healthcare benefits. It still needs to pass the Senate.
Below, we break down six major provisions from the bill that will directly affect employer-sponsored healthcare plans, with added detail on what each means for HR leaders, brokers, and benefit consultants.
What changed?
The bill expands Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) by allowing employees to use pre-tax dollars to purchase ACA marketplace (exchange) plans. For the first time, small employers who offer ICHRAs are eligible for a new tax credit (details pending Treasury guidance, but estimates suggest it could offset up to 50% of administrative and contribution costs for employers with fewer than 50 employees).
Why it matters:
ICHRAs allow employers to reimburse employees for individual health insurance rather than providing a group health plan. The concept was initially met with lukewarm reception but has gained traction in recent years, though still minimal adoption (less than 2%).
This bill signals an endorsement from the current administration, making ICHRAs a potentially central pillar of the future employer health plan landscape. With the exchange rules also being tightened (see #3), this move creates a more stable and predictable ecosystem for employers looking to shift toward defined contribution models.
Expected impact:
Estimates from policy analysts suggest that this provision could increase ICHRA adoption by 20–30% over the next three years, bringing potentially 2–4 million more workers into ICHRA arrangements by 2027. This is still just 5% of employees on employer-sponsored care, but a few more tweaks could continue to increase that number.
What changed?
The bill significantly loosens the rules around HSAs:
Why it matters:
These updates make HSAs far more versatile and attractive. For employers, pairing HSA-qualified high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) with expanded HSA usage can serve as a cost-control strategy while still supporting employee wellness.
The compatibility of Bronze and Catastrophic plans with HSAs also complements the ICHRA expansion, since many exchange plans fall into these tiers. It paves the way for consumer-driven health models that blend pre-tax benefits with individual choice.
What changed?
The bill implements a host of ACA exchange-related reforms, including:
Why it matters:
These changes aim to clamp down on fraud and subsidy misuse - issues that have dogged the exchange system since inception. Reports indicated that some individuals overstated income or took advantage of lenient re-enrollment policies.
From an employer perspective, particularly those using ICHRA models, this introduces both compliance pressures and risk mitigation benefits. While tighter enrollment rules may create more friction for employees navigating exchanges, they also stabilize the risk pool, potentially lowering premium volatility.
What changed?
The bill restores cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to insurers that serve the lowest-income ACA enrollees. These payments that were defunded in 2017. At the same time, it bars CSR funds for plans that include abortion coverage.
Why it matters:
CSR payments lower out-of-pocket costs for enrollees and stabilize insurance pricing. Their return is a boon to insurers, allowing them to offer lower deductibles and premiums on Silver-tier plans, particularly important for ICHRA participants who may rely on this tier to maximize value.
It’s also a subtle but significant endorsement of the ACA exchange infrastructure, reinforcing its viability for employer-funded individual insurance. In effect, this provision serves as another indirect boost to ICHRA success.
What changed?
While most of the PBM reforms target Medicare Part D and Advantage, the bill:
Why it matters:
These changes don’t directly apply to employer-sponsored commercial plans...yet. But PBM practices are under bipartisan scrutiny, and Medicare regulations often act as a precedent for broader industry reform.
Employers who self-fund plans or partner with third-party administrators (TPAs) could soon benefit from greater insight into drug pricing, rebates, and margins. At minimum, this raises employee awareness and expectation for cost transparency.
What changed?
The bill restricts lawful immigrant access to unsubsidized exchange coverage and makes DACA recipients ineligible for premium subsidies.
Why it matters:
For employers with diverse workforces - including those using ICHRA to cover part-time, seasonal, or contract labor - this provision introduces coverage challenges. Employees affected by these rules may face higher premiums or complete ineligibility for coverage options, potentially increasing uninsured rates.
This raises ethical and equity questions, particularly for organizations committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) principles. HR leaders may need to rethink how they support affected workers, or whether to offer alternative employer-funded benefits.
While the One Big Beautiful Bill is still awaiting Senate action and final reconciliation, its passage through the House offers a roadmap for where healthcare policy is heading, toward leaner federal spending, tighter exchange oversight, and growing support for consumer-driven models like ICHRAs and HSAs.
For employers, this means:
Now is the time for HR teams and brokers to evaluate how these shifts can be leveraged strategically—not just to stay compliant, but to build more flexible and cost-effective benefits for a changing workforce.
.png){kind=small}
%20(1).png){kind=small}
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)