#employee-benefits

#employee-benefits

If you run a business, there's a familiar email you probably opened this fall: the one from your benefits broker with your 2026 health insurance renewal. You scroll. You see a double-digit increase, and your stomach drops. You want to do right by your team. You also have a P&L to protect. And the three standard options you're handed - pay the increase, raise deductibles or push more cost onto employees - all feel bad in different ways.

Workplace wellness programs have exploded over the past decade or so, with companies rolling out a suite of subsidized perks, such as gym discounts, mental health apps, and other benefits aimed at attracting and retaining workers. The pandemic upped the ante even more - in the face of a tight labor market and a hyper-stressed workforce, plenty of business leaders looked around and thought, "Well, a Zoom meditation session can't hurt, right?"

Q I manage an engineering company in the north-west, with a staff of about 50. Recruitment and retention are key issues, because staff are constantly being poached, and are then difficult to replace.

Starting March 1, hourly employees at company-operated Steak 'n Shake locations will earn a bitcoin bonus worth $0.21 for every hour worked. The rewards will vest after two years, meaning workers must remain employed for that period before they can access the accumulated bitcoin. The bonus is roughly equivalent to about 1% of the U.S. federal minimum wage and will be administered in partnership with Fold, a bitcoin rewards application.

Perks have vanished, in-office mandates are on the rise, and layoffs continue even as profits hold up - changes that reflect a system that prioritizes shareholder returns over stakeholder capitalism and corporate loyalty. With job openings thinning, wages struggling to keep pace with inflation, and AI looming as a threat to entire occupations, the recalibration is altering how advancement and compensation are determined inside companies.

In 1983, Howard Schultz was an employee of Starbucks, a small chain of coffee stores that mainly sold beans (and no drinks), when he was sent to Milan for a trade show. As Schultz observed Italians visiting their local cafés, he loved what he saw, describing it as a " sense of community, a real sense of connection between the barista and the customer."

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The state of New York has posted several new position openings on Staten Island in the month of November, with varying levels of experience and education required. Salaries range from $55,537 to $125,413. New York state provides careers that touch every part of public life - including education, environmental conservation, and health care. The state employs people of all ages, backgrounds, and education levels - from first responders to engineers, nurses, research scientists, and plow drivers.

Gen Z may be the most tech-savvy generation in the workforce, but when it comes to understanding their benefits, many are still lost in translation. Thirty-percent of Gen Z employees don't enroll in employee-paid benefits because they don't understand them, according to research from financial investment management and insurance company Principal Financial Group. Another 50% admit they use social media like TikTok and Instagram to learn about benefits - bypassing their HR and benefit leaders entirely.

Nava - $30M Series C Employee Benefits Nava, a tech-enabled employee benefits brokerage platform, has raised $30M in Series C funding led by Thrive Capital. Founded by Brandon Weber, Donald DeSantis, Kareem Zaki, and Lincoln Reis in 2019, Nava has now raised a total of $90M in reported equity funding. Crosby - $20M Series A Technology Crosby has raised $20M in Series A funding led by Bain Capital Ventures, Index Ventures, and Elad Gil. Crosby was founded by Ryan Daniels and John Sarihan.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS Nava, a tech-enabled employee benefits brokerage platform, has raised $30M in Series C funding led by Thrive Capital. Founded by Brandon Weber, Donald DeSantis, Kareem Zaki, and Lincoln Reis in 2019, Nava has now raised a total of $90M in reported equity funding. TECH Crosby has raised $20M in Series A funding led by Bain Capital Ventures, Index Ventures, and Elad Gil. Crosby was founded by Ryan Daniels and John Sarihan.

When Mark Barak, a former corporate executive, became a restaurateur, he decided to take better care of his employees in terms of financial benefits and health care, in order to help them, lessen its turnover rate and boost profits. That strategy is paying off at his six La Pecora Bianca's and one Mama Mezze, all in Manhattan. For a dozen years, Barak held several senior executive positions including a three-year stint from 2009-2012 as senior vice-president of international development at the NBA.

You are seconds away from signing up for the hottest list in NYC Tech! Sign up today Octane - $24.5M Funding Round Octane, an end-to-end financing platform for powersports equipment purchases, has raised $24.5M in funding according to a recent SEC filing. The filing indicates that there were five investors in this round. Founded by Jason Guss in 2014, Octane has now raised a total of $245.7M in reported equity funding.

Well-Paid Maids provides a starting wage of $27 per hour for cleaning staff plus full benefits, demonstrating the viability of a living-wage business model.

Three quarters (75%) of legal employees want support with energy bills or discount vouchers for food shopping as part of their workplace benefits packages.

Stay longer, get promoted, earn more. In today's landscape, it doesn't always work that way. Pay progression isn't neatly tied to tenure, and loyalty alone no longer guarantees growth.

Health care costs for workers are already up, with the average costs of those benefits expected to grow by 5.8% this year, which is an increase from 4.5% last year.

Workers at the CN Tower have ratified a new three-year collective agreement, ending a nearly two-week-long lockout. The agreement includes wage increases and enhanced benefits.

"If you live 30 minutes away from the office, that's an hour a day that you could be working," says Jimenez, who also lives within a short walk to the office.

Germany's work-life balance is bolstered by generous statutory leave days. Full-time workers are entitled to a minimum of 20 paid vacation days annually, with many receiving 25 or 30.

Summer Fridays were once seen as a perk that allowed employees some flexibility during the summer months... This has just lost a lot of relevance today. And there's a lot more intentionality around what employees are doing when they're actually in the workplace, primarily Tuesdays through Thursdays.

Effective management often meant being directive, authoritative and results-focused in years past. But today, workers expect greater empathy, transparency and shared decision-making.

I can confirm that we received a total of 325 applications for the voluntary exit programme. This VEP comprises Voluntary Severance (VS) and Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) schemes available to employees with at least two years' service.

This exciting partnership ensures that employers can provide their people with financial protection solutions that comprehensively cover the areas that are important to them.

Employers must consider the whole package as increasingly employees are looking for more than just a salary in order to provide them with job satisfaction.

Labour Party spokesperson Ciarán Ahern emphasized that this announcement reflects a significant breakthrough for over 2,600 CIE pensioners who have faced stagnant benefits for 17 years.