We all know that unhealthy lifestyle choices increase the prevalence of chronic disease in our society as a whole as well as within our nation’s workplaces. Employees who are sedentary, practice poor nutrition or use tobacco products are more likely to suffer from dangerous conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Not only do these diseases decrease quality of life and lead to premature disability and death, they also cost employers money.

Salary alone is not enough to recruit and retain your industry’s best professionals. A comprehensive benefits package is necessary as well. Most employers know this, and they spend billions of dollars a year on benefit offerings as a result. However, the recruitment and retention value of any benefits program is wholly dependent on employee participation. An outstanding package, complete with all the bells and whistles, is essentially worthless if few of your employees elect to enroll.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—also known as the ACA—was signed into law more than five years ago, requiring dramatic changes to the plans employers can offer their workers, how information on those plans are communicated, how eligibility is determined, and much more. It is only natural to believe that changes of this magnitude play a significant role in shaping employer-sponsored health benefits trends.

As the economy improves, more people are beginning to leave their jobs of their own volition. What’s worse, the people who are leaving aren’t the slackers to whom you would love to give a pink slip. In a recent WorkForces Report, Aflac notes that the individuals who describe themselves as likely to leave their current position are hard-working, highly educated, high-achievers.

The word “benefits” implies that they are an extra bonus that employees receive. Although the term can include this idea, the truth is that federal and state laws require employers to provide certain benefits to all employees upon employment, making them no more of an “extra” than is a salary.