Passing the Buck If you're asking employees to manage their own benefits, you could be asking for trouble.

By now, you've heard the phrase consumer driven beingused to describe health care, Social Security and other plans. Butit might be better to use the phrase employee driven.

From health plans to retirement plans, employers are passingmore and more paperwork on to their employees in areas that used tobe the exclusive domain of HR and outside professionals. It raisesthe question: Are employers asking employees to manage too much ofthe work experience? And what are the risks?

Employers benefit from lower fees and fewer penalties by havingemployees manage various plans on their own. Take Health SavingsAccounts, which allow employees to manage their health-caredollars. The employee--not the employer--is subject to a financialpenalty if too much money is contributed to the account within acalendar year.