Corporate benefit departments are shifting, growing, and responding to the needs of their employees by outsourcing more time-consuming benefits functions. The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans explored responsibilities, staffing practices, challenges and trends in a recent survey,
Corporate Benefits Departments: Staffing and Operations
On average, companies report outsourcing 40% of their benefit functions, most commonly for:
- Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs): 77%
- Flexible spending accounts (FSAs): 69.4%
- COBRA: 63.6%
- Retirement benefit payments: 56.3%
- Pharmacy benefits administration: 52.5%
The top two challenges facing benefits departments by a wide margin are compliance with benefits laws and regulations (72.6%) and rising health care costs (51.9%). Other challenges include employee engagement, communication of benefits/changes, strategic benefits planning and administration of benefits/changes.
View Survey Results
