Cost controls still bosses’ top issue

CLEVELAND — Controlling costs is the top business issue for nearly half of employers, and workers are paying the price, a new report says.

This is what cost containment means for their employees: fewer raises, fewer benefits, less fulltime work and larger insurance copayments.

The Aflac WorkForces Report, released last week, focuses on insurance coverage but includes other workplace trends. This is the fourth year the Columbus, Ga., insurance company has done the report. The company is a major supplier of “voluntary insurance,” which employers offer to workers at group rates. Such products, like supplemental health insurance or disability coverage, often augment other benefits.

The report says 49 percent of employers were focused on controlling the bottom line, up from 28 percent in 2011.

“The research shows how the need to control costs is driving workforce decisions,” said Teresa White, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Aflac. “For four consecutive years, we have witnessed this growing trend and can foresee the possible ramifications for the U.S. workforce. When businesses make changes, like delaying pay raises and increasing major medical deductibles and out-of-pocket costs, they can further destabilize the precarious financial position of many employees.”

The study surveyed 1,856 benefits decisionmakers at companies of various sizes Jan. 7-23. On Jan. 7-27, 5,209 fulland part-time adult employees from across the United States responded. Research Now, a global online sampling and data-collection company, conducted the survey for Aflac.