COMING IN THIS WEEK’S BUSINESS PRESS

CLOSED ENCOUNTERS: Local businesses see shortened business hours as a Band-Aid they can use to stop the financial bleeding as the economy continues to struggle.

TELL ME ABOUT YOU: Hiring managers are talent scouts, trying to gauge how job candidates will fit into staffs. Learning about would-be workers' temperaments, hirers say, starts with questions about accomplishments and mistakes.

THIS WEEK'S LIST: Southern Nevada billboard and sign companies.

THIS WEEK'S BUSINESS PRESS POLL QUESTION

Log onto the Las Vegas Business Press Web site and let us hear your opinion on this week's question.

As if the financial meltdown weren't enough, the open enrollment season for workplace health insurance policies is around the corner and a new survey suggests that many employees can expect higher premiums or skimpier health benefits next year. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, together with the Health Research & Educational Trust, noted that in 1999 total family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance averaged $5,790, of which workers paid an average of $1,543. This year, premiums have risen to $12,679, with employees paying an average of $3,354; employees are expected to pay a larger share of their premiums, higher deductibles, more out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs and higher co-pays for office visits. Other companies will also be looking to trim their costs by reducing their plans' benefits.

Is your company planning any changes in its health care benefits or employee costs for 2009?

Answer at www.lvbusinesspress.com/poll/