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The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) released its 2014 Employee Benefits Survey at its recent Annual Conference and Exposition in Orlando. The findings are helpful for determining what benefits are commonly offered and which ones you might want to consider.
IRS officials described when employers themselves have to fill out full information on all health plan enrollees along with months enrolled, and when employers can hand that over to another entity, such as an insurer. Most employers offer minimum essential coverage to employees; the purpose of Section 6055 reporting is to demonstrate that they are […]
It dawned on me that if you change the angle from which you look, you might see things you’ve never seen before. Swiss comedian and artist Ursus Wehrli once said, “I like to turn things upside down, to watch pictures and situations from another perspective.” Maybe that is what each one of us needs to […]
A federal district court judge on Aug. 12 dismissed a suit by current and former employees of a Maryland construction company who alleged that the company failed to comply with ERISA disclosure requirements and to provide retirement plan documents upon request because the Spanish-speaking plaintiffs couldn’t understand the English documents. ERISA requires that plan sponsors […]
HR activities, such as training, staffing, orientation, discipline, and benefits, are difficult to directly connect to operational performance metrics, such as sales, profitability, costs, delivery, quality, and service. And they tend to be reactive, not proactive. Consultant Rick Buchman shows you how to connect the dots.
With the HIPAA deadline for obtaining a health plan identifier less than two months away, plan sponsors have encountered major problems trying to get one — if they’ve started at all, according to a poll conducted by the ERISA Industry Committee. “ERIC’s members are really struggling with the requirements for health plan identifiers,” said Gretchen […]
Haven’t we learned by now that if you’re going to play the system, it’s better to keep a low profile? With the advent of social media, laying low is proving to be a hard challenge for people trying to get away with workers’ compensation fraud!
Policy Focus: Background Checks Multiple states and cities have enacted laws in recent months that govern the use of background checks, so this year’s survey takes a closer look at those policies. We kicked it off by asking how many survey participants have background check policies (74.4%) then moved on to ask how many apply […]
IRS on Aug. 29 issued two sets of questions and answers about reporting on health coverage for large employers under Section 6056 and for all employers under Section 6055 of the reform law. Section 6056 reporting is required by “applicable large employers” that provide health coverage to their full-time employees and is needed for the government to carry out […]
Sexual harassment in the workplace is a topic often met with either a snicker or an eye roll—it brings to mind a culture where inappropriate jokes and gender-based comments are the norm. But the reality of sexual harassment is serious, and it happens every day in our workplaces. Often, it’s not as obvious as inappropriate […]