Employer-Sponsored Health and Retirement Benefits: Efforts to Control Employer Costs and the Implications for Workers

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DIANE Publishing, 2007 - 49 pages
Many U.S. workers receive health & pension benefits from employers, & the cost of these benefits represents a growing share of workers¿ total compensation. Employers have made changes to control these rising costs, contending that these changes will allow them to remain competitive in an increasingly global market. This report examines the practices employers are using to control the costs of benefits. To evaluate changing employer benefit practices & their implications, the author examined: (1) current & emerging practices employers are using to control the costs of health care benefits, & retirement benefits; & (2) employers¿ workforce restructuring changes. Charts & tables.

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Page 43 - Labor and other interested parties. We will also make copies available to others upon request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO's Web site at http://www.gao.gov.
Page 15 - Act to promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age ; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment; to help employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment.
Page 15 - A retirement, pension, or insurance plan will be considered in compliance with the statute where the actual amount of payment made, or cost incurred, in behalf of an older worker is equal to that made or incurred in behalf of a younger worker, even though the older worker may thereby receive a lesser amount of pension or retirement benefits, or insurance coverage.
Page 43 - We will also make copies available to others upon request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO's Web site at http://www.gao.gov. If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-7215 or robertsonr@gao.gov.
Page 16 - reasonable accommodation" may include: (A) making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities; and (B) job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations, training materials or policies, the provision of qualified readers or...
Page 15 - Where employee benefit plans do meet the criteria in section 4(f)(2), benefit levels for older workers may be reduced to the extent necessary to achieve approximate equivalency in cost for older and younger workers. A benefit plan will be considered in compliance with the statute where the actual amount of payment made, or cost incurred, in behalf of an older worker is equal to that made or incurred in behalf of a younger worker, even though the older worker may thereby receive a lesser amount of...
Page 1 - Employee Compensation: Employer Spending on Benefits Has Grown Faster Than Wages, Due Largely to Rising Costs for Health Insurance and Retirement Benefits, GAO-06-285 (Washington, DC: Feb.
Page 26 - Employee Benefit Research Institute, "Early Experience With HighDeductible and Consumer-Driven Health Plans: Findings From the EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Survey,
Page 16 - ADA protects a qualified individual with a disability from discrimination in job application procedures, hiring, advancement, discharge, compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

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