GiftCard Partners Blog

Most companies are now in the planning season for 2023, but uncertainty about the economy, continued labor shortages and stubborn inflation are posing unique challenges to planning and forecasting budgets. Given these challenges, initiatives like employee engagement may not seem like an executive-level priority, but the risks of continued high turnover, paired with high onboarding costs for new employees are far greater than the cost of a coordinated employee engagement program that helps retain key members of your team. 

Open enrollment is defined as the annual period in which employees can make changes to their benefits for themselves and their dependents. For many companies, this period occurs at the end of the calendar year for the following year. Despite the fact that this enrollment period is a mechanism by which employees can take advantage (or fuller advantage) of employer subsidized benefits, HR teams still face challenges in getting employees to participate in the open enrollment period and often turn to enrollment incentives to encourage employees to participate, and do so on time.

As of January 2022 62.8% of eligible Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This milestone is significant and essential to help protect the nation’s health. Unfortunately, studies show that vaccination rates for the low-income Medicaid population are lower than that of the general population.

Chronic diseases cost healthcare providers and employers $36 billion annually. Fortunately, there are multiple ways to combat the risk chronic disease poses on patients and employees. Avoid high healthcare premiums and low productivity due to chronic illnesses by downloading our free guide. 

Winter is here, which means seasonal illnesses will begin to surface. For employers, keeping healthy employees is paramount to reduce absenteeism and keep healthcare costs down. When employees call in sick, it can be very costly due to reduced productivity and increased employer healthcare costs. Especially this year, with the ever-present threat of COVID-19, staying healthy and putting preventative practices in place is vital to avoiding illness.