| | 2015 Plan Sponsor of the Year | | Plan Sponsor of the Year Profile: Wharton Smith, Inc. | | Just two years ago, the retirement readiness
prospects of many Wharton-Smith, Inc., employees did not look good. “Among many
senior employees, balances were not very high,” says Jim Levasseur, human
resources (HR) director at the construction company, headquartered in Sanford,
Florida. “And the college grads we’d hired needed to get into the plan and take
advantage of time [for their savings to grow],” he says. The $19.7 million plan
already automatically enrolled new hires at a 4% deferral, but participation
stood at just 49%.Read more > | | Plan Sponsor of the Year Profile: JE Dunn Construction Co. | | Ten percent of JE Dunn Constructions Co.’s
profits go toward the philanthropic arm of the company—this family-owned
business is a strong believer in sharing success not only with its employees
but also with the community of Kansas City, Missouri, where it is headquartered
and beyond. Since its beginning in 1924, the company has followed this tenet
from founder John Ernest Dunn: “Get the best people you can get, give them
interesting and challenging work, and let them share whatever rewards there are
in the company.” With that commitment in mind, JE Dunn’s 401(k) profit-sharing
plan and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) focus on employees attaining a
sustainable retirement. And though the recession forced it to shave 1.5% from
its profit-sharing contribution, the company has been working to offset the
loss.Read more > | | | Benefits & Administration | | HSA Contributions Declined in 2014 | | Contributions to health savings accounts (HSAs)
from workers and employers are decreasing, according to research from the
Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). “The percentage of workers with a
health reimbursement account (HRA)- or HSA-eligible health plan whose employers
contributed to the account had steadily increased since 2009 and reached its
highest level of 71% in 2013 since the inception of EBRI surveys monitoring
trends in health accounts,” a report says. “It fell to 67% in 2014.”Read more > |
|
| |
