Patterns That Can Indicate Leave Abuses
Consider the employee who’s always out on Mondays, Fridays, or the days before and after holidays. Suspicious? Perhaps. But what to do about it?
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Determination Letter Application Changes for 2012
Just when you thought you’d figured out all the new regulations set to go into effect for 2012, some government agency changes them up on you. At least with last Friday’s announcement from the IRS, you can breathe easy: its changes won’t take effect until Feb. 1, 2012, or later. The Service’s Announcement 2011-82 changes […]
Look but Don’t Touch: Take a Sneak Peek at the 2011 Form 5500
Advance copies of the 2011 Form 5500 annual return/report and related instructions are now available for your viewing pleasure — the issuing federal agencies note the forms are for “informational purposes” only, so don’t use them to get a head start on your filing responsibilities. The advance copies were jointly issued by the U.S. Department […]
Electronic Signatures for Forms 5500 and 5500-SF Mandatory Jan. 1
Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, Forms 5500 and 5500-SF must have electronic signatures. The consequences of filing without them are serious: it will result in a form not being processed at all, and could result in penalties being imposed on the plan. Forms 5500 and 5500-SF that have no electronic signature will be given a filing […]
Best Practices for Your FMLA Leave Policy
Communication is the Key Caraway reminds employers that communicating the rules is key to successfully managing FMLA. When employees ask about FMLA, they are already stressed by whatever is underlying the request for leave. If you hit them with a rule they don’t know about (they’ll call it a “technicality”) their reaction is going to […]
How California Employers Should Deal with Intermittent Leave Abuse
A consistent employer complaint in administering the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) is the tendency of certain employees to abuse intermittent leave taken to care for their own or a family member’s serious health condition—and the difficulty of managing that abuse.
The Bonus FMLA Cover Letter & Abuse Curtailer
Keep the FMLA documentation flowing, says attorney Stacie Caraway—You want to be able to show multiple times that you advised the employee of his or her obligations. If you use a cover letter with your DOL designation notice, Caraway suggests it include the following: Leave status update/reminder. If planned intermittent FMLA leave is being approved […]
FMLA— HR’s Own Personal Migraine
FMLA—HR’s own personal migraine. (Migraine people, says attorney Stacie Caraway, may have terrible headaches, but never so bad that they don’t know exactly how many days and hours of FMLA they have left.) Successful management of FMLA is very much about careful attention to forms and schedules. In today’s Advisor, Caraway offers tips for getting […]
Release of Medicare Claims Data Expected to Help Plan Sponsors
The feds’ decision to release Medicare claims data for quality measurement should help employers and individuals alike make more informed decisions down the road, advancing the goals of health care quality and value, a plan sponsor representative noted. Importantly, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) final rules apparently will allow the selected data […]
PPACA Foe Proposes Repeal and Replacement with Market-driven Tools
Critics say health reform is part of a disturbing trend of the government displacing free markets, and they note that it looks unlikely to curtail spiraling health costs. Well, now Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) – a freshman House member – has introduced a bill that would repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) […]