Foundation members who share how they plan to celebrate will receive a free deck of health tip playing cards! A useful health tip and the National Employee Benefit Day logo is on each card. E-mail brendar@ifebp.org with your celebration plans to receive your free cards. Limit one free deck per member.
"I contact all my TPAs and ask them to send little freebie items for each employee. I never know what I’ll get but it is always fun stuff. We then pack give away bags with each of the items and I include something “healthy” which might be a bottle of water or a small chocolate bar (emotional health is important too!). We have a write up in out monthly eNews and then on the day itself, we go to each employee and give them the bag, any flyers relating to the theme, and wish each person a “Happy National Benefits Day.” People are pretty excited to get their little goodie bags." - MaryDee, HR Benefits Administrator, Colorado
"On April 2nd I plan to acknowledge and give thanks to the staff members on our HR Team who make the effort to effectively communicate, administrate and resolve benefits issues in service to employees. I'll bake some homemade muffins, circulate some bad benefits humor, and let them know I appreciate their teamwork!" - Joanne, Compensation & Benefits Manager, Washington, D.C.
"This will be the first year I will celebrate Employee Benefits Day with my staff. In fact, I am going to surprise them! At this year's first celebration, our HR director will honor the benefits team with a short speech recognizing all their efforts throughout the year. As well, we will have a healthy breakfast - this keeping in line with promotion of wellness within our department and at the City. Since I am also the editor of our employee newsletter, I plan to take pictures of the event and write an article for the next edition." - Lety, Human Resource Senior Analyst-Benefits/Payroll, Texas "I wrote music and lyrics to a song I called “The Benefits Blues”. On National Employee Benefits Day last year, I brought in my electronic keyboard, donned a hat and sunglasses, and performed it for my co-workers. It was a hit, to say the least." - Louise, Human Resource Associate, New Jersey
Louise was even kind enough to share the lyrics! Here's Verse 1 (yes the song had 3 verses!) of the Benefits Blues: Verse 1It’s Monday morning, and the phone rings off the hookAnother request for a Benefits handbookThe Ben Admin Group – Oh, the calls they’ve gotta logThe answer my friend:“We’ll tell you again, No, you really can’t cover your dog!” ChorusWe’re lookin’ east and west and north and south and left right up and down for some good newsBut at the end of every day let’s face it – we’re sufferin’ from the Benefits Blues
Louise was even kind enough to share the lyrics! Here's Verse 1 (yes the song had 3 verses!) of the Benefits Blues:
Verse 1It’s Monday morning, and the phone rings off the hookAnother request for a Benefits handbookThe Ben Admin Group – Oh, the calls they’ve gotta logThe answer my friend:“We’ll tell you again, No, you really can’t cover your dog!”
ChorusWe’re lookin’ east and west and north and south and left right up and down for some good newsBut at the end of every day let’s face it – we’re sufferin’ from the Benefits Blues
"I haven't done anything in the past for the employees on National Benefits Day; but what a great day to say "THANK YOU" for the work they do. I have ordered T-shirts for the staff along with piggy banks and plan to take them out to lunch. I also plan to include your article "How to Talk to Your Doctor" in the quarterly newsletter." - Diana, Washington
"We are planning a Healthy Breakfast and a stroll with our Benefits Director for an early morning Walk. We will provide them with a certificate of appreciation and a small token to thank them for all their great work they contribute towards health and productivity." - Stacey, Benefits Manager, Health Delivery, Virginia"We are going to be having our health fair that day which will feature providers that are PPO’s under our plan. We are also going to be having a week of special guest speakers at box lunches to talk about health issues within our state." - Heather, Human Resource Manager/HIPAA Privacy Officer, Alaska"Our organization printed health slogans on labels, which we put on apples, pears, and oranges. We then put baskets of assorted fruit in each breakroom for our employees to enjoy." - Christy, Risk Management Specialist, North Carolina
"We've never celebrated National Employee Benefits Day, but the entire HR staff from around the country will be flying in for meetings (April 2nd being one of the days). I am planning on bringing fresh fruit in for the morning and will acknowledge them during my presentation and will give each of them the Health Tip playing cards. I will also hang one of the posters up that you have listed on your site in the meeting room." - Alison, Director of HR & Corporate Benefits, New Hampshire "One of our team goals this year is to bring more benefits/consumer awareness to our employees. This year, our Benefits team will be reviewing the free e-learning course and strategizing on different tools we can use throughout the year to simply and effectively communicate our benefit plans to our employees and their families." - Susan, Compensation & Benefits Analyst, Maryland "This will be our First Celebration of National Benefits Day as a team! I am making small gift bags with information sheets and appreciation cards inside and we will all be going out to lunch or I will order lunch in and we will play a fact game. I have a fairly small staff of 9 so it makes our group a fun one." - Darci, Benefits Manager, Virginia
"I always share a small gift/trinket with the other Benefits Team members that correlates with the special focus for the National Employee Benefits Day. Last year, the emphasis was retirement savings and the piggy banks were sold out, so I attached play money and a card with the National Employee Benefits Day logo. This year, I will give the playing cards with the health tips. I plan to expand the group to include other benefits professionals outside of our company. I enjoy raising the awareness of our special day!" - Brenda, Sr. Benefits Manager, Kentucky
"To celebrate National Employee Benefits Day, we are planning a 90-minutes program and lunch with the National Compensation Survey staff. Since this year’s emphasis is health, the program will include a 5-minute workout session, the history of the BLS benefit surveys, a discussion on health statistics, and a few fun games." - Iris, Economist, Washington, D.C.
"I plan to bring in a basket of apples and have the health care tip sheets available in a central area, while proudly donning my National Employee Benefits Day T-shirt!" - Tim, Sr. Benefits Analyst, New York
"We are going to have benefit staff training for all benefit administrators, review the e-learning program and come up with ways to bring the information we learn to our employees." - Brenda, Director of Employee Benefits, Illinois "This will be the first year my company recognizes the event, so the celebration is still in the working stages. Early plans are to (1) announce the "Happy Event" on our intranet, (2) randomly hand out copies of a self-care book to "winning" employees, and (3) send out a broadcast e-mail to let employees know how much they MAKE their own benefits and how much I appreciate their involvement." - Lynn, Senior Human Resources Generalist, Alabama "Our company will be sharing the Tip Sheets with our staff and sending them an e-card to celebrate the date." - Lisa, Executive Assistant, California
"National Employee Benefits Day is important for me as it is also the anniversary of my customer service team starting to work on our Plan. I plan to share the celebration with my team by surprising them with a small token of my appreciation. When I shared with them that their anniversary was Employee Benefits Day, they totally got into the spirit - even making me cards last year (which I proudly displayed on my office door!)" - Mary Ann, Associate Director Employee Benefits, New Jersey
"Our company will be hosting a Lunch and Learn to educate our employees about selecting health care benefits." - Mary, Benefits Administrator, Georgia
"On April 2, we will launch our 2008 Wellness efforts with a meeting with Executives to discuss future plans." - Ann, New York "I plan on giving each staff member a PAY DAY candy bar with their pay check that week and also will purchase one of your online trinkets. They appreciate thoughtful gestures from management." - Cheryl, Claims Supervisor, Connecticut