News Notes: Survey Flags Hot New Employee Benefit Choices

A recent survey of employers by the human resources consulting firm Hewitt Associates indicates that employees are increasingly interested in non-traditional and flexible benefits that they can pick and choose to suit their particular needs, including retirement and work/family concerns. And employers, to stay competitive in attracting the best talent, are planning to make more of these choices available to their employees over the next three years. According to the survey, some popular non-traditional benefits include group financial planning services, long-term care insurance, group auto and home insurance, and the option to purchase or sell vacation time. Alternative work arrangements-such as flex-time, job sharing and telecommuting-continue to be a growth area, with 57% of surveyed employers planning to make such set-ups available by the year 2000, compared to 44% currently.