January 15, 2020
What Group Plan Sponsors Need to Know About ERISA
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was signed in 1974. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is the agency responsible for administering and enforcing this law. For many years, most of ERISA’s requirements applied to pension plans. However, in recent years that changed and group ...
January 13, 2020
The Potential of Pay Transparency
In the not-too-distant past, an individual’s salary was a topic to be avoided. Bringing it up in the break room or at a dinner party was a major faux pas, almost taboo. But today, many HR departments are implementing more pay transparency into their policies—some even going as far as posting ...
January 6, 2020
Aligning with the C-Suite Agenda
If your CEO’s Gmail calendar looks more like a colorful bar graph than a few simple meetings, it can be difficult to capture and retain their attention. Your “C-suite” (CIOs, CEOs, CTOs, CMOs, CFOs, etc.) have a lot of responsibility placed on their shoulders and are likely involved in many key ...
January 6, 2020
Compliance Recap | December 2019
December was a busy month in the employee benefits world. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) individual mandate is unconstitutional. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released final instructions and final 1094-B, ...
January 3, 2020
Proposed Rules on Coverage Transparency and Final Rules on Hospital Price Transparency
Updated January 2020 On November 15, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (collectively, Departments) released proposed rules on coverage transparency. The proposed rules seek to give an estimate of plan ...
December 27, 2019
Leading the Social Enterprise: Building a Culture of Community Experience
If you’ve been considering developing a social responsibility plan for your company in 2020, now is the perfect time. Experts are predicting that the future of success for organizations lies in their ability to make a marked difference in their community — an initiative that is directly tied to ...
December 27, 2019
Overtime Rule Goes Into Effect January 1, 2020
For many employers, overtime is a tricky issue. Should you offer it to all employees? Only hourly employees? How much time should they work before they are eligible? Effective January 1, 2020, this will be decided for any employers struggling to classify overtime status. Last September, the ...
December 27, 2019
Marketing a Modern Benefits Package
Each year can bring new challenges for successfully implementing and marketing a modern employee benefits package. Participation is critical—without it, companies cannot offer the kind of benefit savings that they are expected to. Add this to the state of the “talent crisis” as it stands with ...
December 27, 2019
Federal Tax Credit for Employer-Provided Paid Family and Medical Leave
In December 2019, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 included a one-year extension of the federal tax credit for employers that provide paid family and medical leave (FML) to their employees. As background, in December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Act) included the new ...
December 16, 2019
IRS Releases Final Forms and Instructions for 2019 ACA Reporting
Background Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), applicable large employers (ALEs) are required to offer health benefits to their full‑time employees and individuals are required to have health insurance, although the penalty is $0 for individuals who fail to have minimum ...
