Collaborative Benefits Interview: J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr. and Leslie Lemenager Gut microbes are tiny sensors of your general health Eliminate the middlemen: The Bezos-Buffett-Dimon U.S. health care venture How does your body ‘burn’ fat? In praise of doing nothing 2018 IBIS Conference Report New Product: MAXIS Global Wellness – A Q&A with Dr. Leena Johns Luxembourg Pensions for Post-Brexit Workers

The number of studies that have found a link between a disease and a specific gut microbiome composition seems to be ever increasing. Until recently, though, almost all these studies have looked at single diseases in isolation. But most people tend to have more than one health complaint at a time – “comorbidities”, in medical parlance.

Gallagher President, Chairman, and CEO J. Patrick “Pat” Gallagher, Jr., and Vice President – International, Gallagher Benefits & HR Consulting, Leslie Lemenager, sat down with GBV during the 2018 IBIS Academy. They discussed Gallagher’s history and values as well as client needs and market trends in global employee benefits and global mobility. Gallagher’s long history and family connections result in unique, long-term, and people-oriented perspectives. Read on.

Collaborative Perks is the most recent brainchild of co-founder Jean-Baptiste de la Mettrie, who believes in encouraging the practice of collaborative consumption as a way for global employers to attract and retain talent. In an article, “Mandated and discretionary benefits: understanding the types of compensation available for your employees” and published on Linked In, de la Mettrie breaks compensation schemes into “two major subcategories: mandated and discretionary benefits.” Both types, he explains, help employees enjoy a “more comfortable lifestyle,” but some benefits are standardized and compulsory. Discretionary benefits, he says, “offer a wide range of advantages that compliment mandated forms of compensation, and even go the extra length to ensure employee gratification”. (Emphasis mine.)

The 48th IBIS Academy Conference was held from 7 – 11 May 2018, in conjunction with the IBIS Institute, a “boot camp” for practitioners, and the IBIS Mobility and Partner Program. It included a three-day series of cutting-edge presentations and panels for more experienced colleagues. The overarching theme was “Your Future, Your Workforce” and focused on what it takes to be an employer of choice for the future.

Global Benefits Vision: Why has MAXIS GBN decided to launch its new wellness solution now? What were the key drivers behind the launch? Dr. Leena Johns MD: Over the past few years we have worked with clients to identify the cost drivers of their health claims data across disparate geographies, through our sophisticated data reporting tools. While some markets offer solutions to mitigate these drivers, often, in reality, there is an absence of data-based recommendations and a lack of cohesive, centralised solutions that can be rolled out globally.

In the 1950s, scholars worried that, thanks to technological innovations, Americans wouldn’t know what to do with all of their leisure time. Yet today, as sociologist Juliet Schor notes, Americans are overworked, putting in more hours than at any time since the Depression and more than in any other in Western society.

Many of us may be considering “burning some fat” so we feel better in our bathing suits out on the beach or at the pool. What does that actually mean, though?

The new health care venture formed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase announced June 20 that Harvard professor and well-known author Atul Gawande would be the company’s CEO. The idea for the new company is to innovate by cutting costs from the health care system, starting with the more than 1 million employees of the three companies behind the venture.

The setup of a business in Luxembourg will result in the migration of employees from the United Kingdom. This will be cause for changes in their professional and personal lives, such as new remuneration packages, changes in employment contracts, tax and social security, family assistance plans for housing, school, etc. Using the Brexit model as an example, we can explain what happens in terms of social security and occupational pension schemes for employees (not all of whom are from the UK) who are migrating to Luxembourg.

Bleisure Travel and Corporate Liability Issues – A Debate Moving Around Has Big Health Benefits Three Things That Should Be Part of Any Weight Loss Efforts New Medical Advances in Fighting Obesity Why GPs May Not Be Able to Help You Lose Weight Benefits in Brazil – WBN Series – Ana Carolina Conduta Losco, Priscila Maria Lima Conduta Elias WBN – Worldwide Broker Network – San Antonio Conference Report

For many years, the long-term success rates for those who attempt to lose excess body weight have hovered around 5-10 percent. In what other disease condition would we accept these numbers and continue on with the same approach? How does this situation sustain itself? 

Imagine that you are running a company, but you cannot get to your goal because all of your good workers keep quitting. For 30 years, your response to this problem has been to criticize the workers and say they are stupid and weak for quitting. As a result, you never reach your goal. You don’t change your formula or alter your plan, just keep blaming and shaming the workers for quitting.

Pretty much everyone knows that taking exercise helps people stay in good health. It staves off chronic ailments like type 2 diabetes and heart disease and – maybe – helps us live longer.

Mixing work and pleasure in one trip abroad can raise serious issues. Five experts from the Asia-Pacific in April 2018 debated how to stay on the safe side.

In terms of land mass Brazil is the largest country in Latin America and the 5th largest in the world behind Russia, Canada, China, and the USA. Despite its vast territory, Brazil’s population is concentrated in the major cities of each state, mostly on the Southern coast. Being the only Portuguese- speaking country in the region, Brazil is also different in many aspects including cultural, and economic challenges, and the way of doing business in the marketplace. These are the reasons why operating in Brazil brings inherent and unique challenges to the HR team.

Obesity was designated a disease in 2013 by the American Heart Association and American Medical Association. Obesity, defined as a body mass index of 30 or higher, had long been identified as a health condition, but its designation as a disease underscored its role as a risk factor for leading causes of death, such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, stroke and many cancers.

Workforce Sustainability & the Death of HR – Paul Pittman Why Are We So Sleep Deprived? – Michael S. Jaffee Six Misconceptions About Meditation – Dusana Dorjee AIG GBN Conference Report

The AIG Global Benefits Network Annual Partners meeting was held on 14 September 2017, in Paris, France. The meeting focused on AIG’s global strategy, with extensive discussion on the effects of the global economy on the insurance industry.

Meditation has been hailed as a way to boost mental health, help chronic pain, reduce stress and build a new appreciation for the world around us. But even with all this interest, misconceptions about what this ancient practice can do for human health and well-being are still circulating.

Many of us dread the loss of the hour’s sleep we incur by moving our clocks forward when daylight saving times comes back in Spring. For millions, the loss will be an added insult to the inadequate sleep they experience on a daily basis.

Anyone who follows trends in cinema will have noticed films for, and about, “baby boomers” that play to themes of memory. With HR profession at a crossroads, just like in one of those movies, I seem to remember having been here before!

So far cross-border pensions have been discussed extensively, however, have not been put into practice with as much effort. We can all agree how challenging it can be operating in the cross-border environment, in particular complying with the many (and often complex) requirements at each single local level.

International pension plans (IPPs) have been around for many years. A wide variety of employers have already established IPPs covering employees in well over 100 countries. Plan sizes range from only a few members to a handful of plans with more than 5,000 members. There are currently well over a thousand IPPs in existence; and, our experience tells us that this number continues to grow as more employers discover their many benefits, and how they can be used effectively to provide pensions and long term savings for certain employees.

Much has been made of borders in the speculation around Brexit. While focus has been on the Irish border, there is a generalised desire to limit the imposition of so-called “hard” borders after the UK leaves the European Union. These discussions focus on trade barriers, and what remains very much in the air is how people movement will be affected. While limiting free movement is in essence a political problem, it does have very practical repercussions.

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will come into force on May 25, 2018, is European in scope but with global implications. In an effort to protect personal data against unauthorized access and tampering, it strengthens the rights of individuals (such as the right of access, right of rectification, and right to be forgotten) and sets up new obligations for businesses (such as setting up a register of personal data processing, responding to requests from individuals, and data security and confidentiality measures).

The tradition of sending a telegram to every British citizen on their 100th birthday was started just over 100 years ago by George V, who sent out just nine letters. Last year, the Queen had to sign over 16,000 birthday letters. The UK has an ageing society, with falling birth rates and increasing life expectancy. Improvements in public health and medicine have helped to achieve this amazing effect on lifespan.