With long-term disability insurance, employees can be sure they have the necessary protection should something go wrong.

As health care costs continue to grow, employers and employees alike are searching for ways to reduce the financial burdens they face, and many are turning to consumer-driven health plans that include flexible spending accounts.

Fifty-three percent of employers find recruiting nonmanagerial employees with the skills, training and education their companies need is a challenge, according to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and University of Phoenix.

Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage in 2011 increased to $15,073, a 9 percent jump from 2010, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust 2011 Employer Health Benefits Survey.

Federal employees are dedicated to their careers and are looking for ways to improve job performance; however, supervisors lack skills in performance management, according to the 2011 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.

More employers are turning to accountable care organizations as a lower-cost employer-sponsored benefits option with a higher quality of care, according to a report by Aon Hewitt and Polakoff Boland.

The global benefits administration outsourcing market is growing at a rate of 12.5 percent in 2011 and has reached the $5 billion mark, according to an Everest Group market report.

Seventy-five percent of small businesses plan to add new positions, regardless of the economy, a slight jump from 2010s 72 percent, according to the Ink from Chase survey of CEOs of fastest growing U.S. small businesses.