TECH

Intelligent benefits

Open enrollment can be a headache for employees and HR pros alike. Can AI help fix that?

Some companies in the total rewards and human capital management space are betting on it, investing in AI-driven technologies with the aim of helping employees make better decisions about their benefits packages. Nayya and human capital technology firm Alight are among the firms that have recently rolled out AI tools with an eye toward benefits.

Though the potential for such tools is promising, HR pros should also be aware of privacy concerns surrounding AI, particularly when dealing with employees’ health data.

Benefits use cases for AI. Alight, which primarily works with large employers on benefits administration, has been testing generative AI in a few different ways, said Eddie Pinto, VP of product management and strategy.

Keep reading here.—CV

PRESENTED BY DEEL

Global talent awaits

Does “global talent” bring to mind thoughts of limitless talent possibilities…or endless red tape? After all, sorting out global benefits, payroll, and compliance can be a heavy lift for any HR department.

Deel is changing that. They created a free international hiring guide to help you build a global team quickly and efficiently. It’s got you covered when it comes to:

• finding and attracting global talent
• knowing what labor laws to consider when hiring
• processing international payroll on time
• staying compliant with employment and tax laws abroad

Deel helps thousands of companies expand globally, handling and maintaining compliance for teams in over 150 countries. In other words, their guidance is gold.

Expand your team without getting bogged down by time-consuming administrative tasks. Download Deel’s handbook.

TOTAL REWARDS

Fertile ground

AT&T is expanding its partnership with Maven Clinic, a virtual care provider for women’s and family health, to offer fertility and family-building benefits to employees.

Since 2021, AT&T has offered postpartum and pregnancy/newborn support to all of its employees through Maven, according to Victoria DeCarmine, corporate communications director, via email. Through this benefit, employees can connect with an ob-gyn virtually in between their prenatal appointments or meet with lactation consultants, for example. Employees who travel for work can also ship their breast milk through Maven.

With this expansion, which started Jan. 1, all of AT&T’s 125,000 employees have access to virtual guidance from Maven when considering reproductive services such as egg freezing, IVF, adoption, and surrogacy, according to DeCarmine. AT&T has covered fertility treatments such as intrauterine insemination and in-vitro fertilization in their medical plans since 2018, but the Maven partnership is intended to provide “wraparound support,” as well as emotional support, for employees at different points in their family-building journeys.

Fertility benefits remain popular, but costs are a concern. While family-friendly benefits such as parental leave are increasingly popular offerings among employers, fertility services are not yet the norm, according to Mercer’s most recent employer benefits survey.

Keep reading here.—CV

COWORKING

Coworking with Jessica “JJ” Reeder

Here’s this week’s edition of our Coworking series. Each week, we chat 1:1 with an HR Brew reader. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Upwork’s Director of Remote Organizational Effectiveness Jessica “JJ” Reeder is an inventor. What’s she inventing? A gold standard for remote work, so Upwork can deliver a “best in class” remote-first experience for employees.

Reeder said HR pros can help leadership think through remote work and RTO by focusing on the why before diving into the how, but the how is important. For Reeder and Upwork, it involves a lot of experimentation and a heavy emphasis on communication while she learns and incorporates best practices from other remote-first orgs.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s the best change you’ve made at work?

In October, Upwork launched an intranet, a private information hub for our organization. We previously had a mix of documentation practices and tools for sharing information, but we knew we needed an elevated solution. This is especially true because Upwork has a large contingent workforce in addition to traditional employees, and so we have a range of different offerings, benefits, and policies to serve many different worker types.

Keep reading here.—AD

TOGETHER WITH CAREERBUILDER

Welcome home, AI. AI’s a rising star, and HR is along for the ride. Recruiters report that AI improves the quality of hires and streamlines recruitment. We partnered with CareerBuilder to dig into how AI is changing the HR landscape for the better. Read on.

WORK PERKS