by jeffp | Dec 6, 2016 | Employee Benefits
While the current political landscape suggests changes may be looming for the Affordable Care Act, it is important to ensure you are aware of the law in its current state and what penalty risks you may face.
The most complicated component of the ACA for most companies is the Shared Responsibility requirement. It requires people to secure a minimum level of health care protection and they also require companies with more than 50 full-time employees to offer their workers budget friendly health insurance options.
Companies who presently fail to offer coverage considered acceptable under the ACA can face fines of $2,000 per full-time worker.
Companies with high labor costs and minimal profit margins are typically the most exposed to potential ACA penalties. This includes businesses involved in logistics, hospitality, and retail spaces. (Due to rule changes, many formerly part-time employees were reclassified as full-time in 2014.)
Because these industries tend to offer lower wages, an employer’s group health plan may be considered “unaffordable” which would then trigger ACA penalties for the employer should the workers receive additional subsidies to buy protection via the public health care exchange.
If you meet the trigger size and are required to offer minimum, affordable coverage… but at least one worker purchases through a public exchange instead… you can be penalized.
Likewise, if you offer minimum required coverage to all workers but it isn’t economical, making it so the worker can’t afford the cost of protection… you can be penalized if only one staff member purchases through a public exchange.
The key to managing the impact of ACA penalties is to change your plan designs and premium choices to maximize worker participation in the plans.
Naturally understanding the in’s & outs of these complexities is reason enough to rely on the help of someone with health plan benefits experience to ensure you’re crafting the right plan for the right outcome.
And as the law evolves, having someone familiar with the changing landscape will help you maximize the benefits you offer to your employees while helping you mitigate any exposer you might have to fees & penalties.
If you are concerned about changes to the law, your risk exposure, or simply making certain you are offering the right plan for your team, be sure to reach out to your benefits specialist right away.
by jeffp | Oct 5, 2016 | Employee Benefits, Uncategorized
Open enrollment for individual and family healthcare plans for 2017 is rapidly approaching. It begins on November 1, and many employers choose a similar timeline when allowing workers to sign up for, or make changes to, their participation in the company’s benefits offerings. As such, now is a vital time to review your benefits package and ensure your plans are in compliance with all government regulations before you roll them out to your workers during the open enrollment period.
Retirement Plans
In April, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), issued a final rule to address conflicts of interest in retirement advice. This fiduciary standard applies to anyone who provides investment advice to sponsors and participants in workplace retirement plans and individual retirement accounts including 401(k)s and IRAs, and is expected to impact compliance issues and costs for employers who offer employer-sponsored retirement plans as part of their benefits package.
In essence, the definition of ‘fiduciary’ has been expanded by the new rule, and many vendors who service employer-sponsored retirement plans who were not formerly considered fiduciaries now will be. This includes broker-dealers and mutual-fund representatives. Experts recommend that employers carefully evaluate all of their retirement plan advisors and services and cut ties with those who do not want to comply with the new fiduciary standard.
Healthcare Plans
The Department of Health and Human Services continues to update regulations that can have direct effects on the healthcare benefit employers offer. Before you roll out your non-grandfathered 2017 healthcare insurance selections to your workforce, you’ll want to makes sure each one covers all essential health benefits including:
- Ambulatory patient services
- Emergency services
- Hospitalization
- Maternity and newborn care
- Behavioral health treatment for mental health and substance use disorders
- Prescription drugs
- Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices
- Laboratory services
- Preventative and wellness services (including chronic disease management)
- Pediatric services (including dental and vision care)
The medical options offered must also meet established minimum value, minimum essential coverage and affordability standards. For example, in order to avoid making employer shared responsibility payments to the IRS, your employer-sponsored plan must cover at least 60 percent of the total allowed cost of benefits that are expected to be incurred under the plan.
Finally, you must make sure that the healthcare plans you’re offering—and the insurers who back them—meet the final Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, section 1557) which prohibit any discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability when offering or providing health coverage. This includes denying or limiting coverage for health services provided to transgender individuals, categorically excluding all coverage for health services related to gender transition, or denying or limiting coverage for specific health services related to gender transition.
Wellness Plans
If your employee wellness program includes a health risk assessment, biometric screening, asks for a spouse’s information, or includes a financial incentive for participants, you’ll want to ensure it meets new Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rules.
While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) generally prohibit employers from asking for information about their workers’ health conditions or the health conditions of their family members, they do not prevent employers from asking health-related questions or conducting certain medical examinations to determine risk factors as part of a voluntary wellness program.
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as amended by the ACA, wellness programs are only considered voluntary if they offer incentives that are 30 percent or less than the cost of an individual’s health insurance premium. The maximum incentive for spouse participants is also limited to 30 percent. No additional incentives are allowed in exchange for specific genetic information (such as family history or genetic test results) of an employee, employee’s spouse, or employee’s children. Smoking cessation programs can offer an incentive up to 50 percent of the cost of individual healthcare coverage.
The Bottom Line
Benefits plan compliance has always been complicated and has only become more so in recent years. If you’re uncertain that your 2017 offerings meet government standards and regulations, contact your benefits professional for a review and assistance.
by jeffp | Aug 9, 2016 | Employee Benefits
Americans are notoriously bad at taking vacations. According to a study commissioned by Project: Time Off, 55 percent of workers had unused vacation days in 2015. This was equal to 658 million days, of which 222 million could not be rolled over or paid out in any way. While that might sound like good news for the employers who didn’t have to work around their employees’ time off or pay for the unused vacation days, constant work without adequate downtime can actually lead to higher stress and lower productivity. And a workforce suffering from either of those is not healthy for your bottom line.
How can you encourage your employees to use their hard-earned vacation time? You can start by reducing their guilt. An Alamo Rent A Car study found that 47 percent of workers feel shame or guilt when asking for vacation time. The percentage jumps to 59 percent among Millennial employees, 42 percent of which do not hesitate to shame their co-workers who do decided to take vacations.
In addition, consider implementing the following best practices at your workplace:
- Formulate a solid vacation policy. Whether you choose to offer a set number of days off for all employees or enable them to earn more vacation days with additional years of service, put your terms in writing. This includes determining how many days—if any—employees can roll over to the next year or setting a cap on the total amount they can accrue, two policies that may help prevent employees from sitting on unused vacation time.
- Communicate it frequently. Don’t just talk about vacation time when interviewing potential hires. Make sure your vacation benefit is spelled out in your employee handbook and periodically review the details at staff meetings. Keep an eye on vacation time accrued by each employee and encourage them to use it.
- Help workers redistribute their workloads. The Project: Time Off study also found that 30 percent of employees don’t take time off because they don’t think anyone else can do their job. Thirty-seven percent are afraid they’ll return to a mountain of work. You can encourage your team to use their vacation time by offering to aid in the redistribution of their workload and cross training other employees to cover vital duties.
Set a good example. It’s important for your employees to see you—and your management team—take vacation time off.
by jeffp | Jul 27, 2016 | Employee Benefits
Mental illness affects more of your workforce than you may realize. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 43.8 million U.S. adults—or approximately one in five—experiences a mental illness in a given year. For 10 million of them, the mental illness is serious enough to substantially interfere with or limit one or more of their major life activities.
While depression and anxiety disorders—including posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and specific phobias—are the most common, your employees may also be dealing with other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. It is estimated that serious mental illness costs America $193.2 billion in lost earnings every year.
Most of your employees who suffer from mental illnesses will do their best to never have to tell you about them. However, it’s up to employers to be proactive and establish ways to handle employee mental health issues at work when they arise. Experts advise addressing them on a case-by-case basis using the following steps.
- Acknowledge the issue. Whether an employee comes to you directly or you notice signs and symptoms that seem to point to a possible mental illness, the first step is to acknowledge the issue and speak candidly yet sensitively with the employee.
- Gather the facts. Evaluate the effect of the mental health issue on your employee’s job performance. You should discuss this with the employee as well as his or her supervisors and managers. Consider reasonable accommodations you may be able to make to help the employee continue functioning productively.
- Learn more about the mental illness itself. Consider speaking with a healthcare provider as well as a lawyer to learn more about reasonable expectations, possible accommodations and any legal requirements associated with the particular mental health issue. Legal obligations in regards to mental health accommodations may vary from state to state. Many mental illnesses are considered disabilities and protected accordingly under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Make any necessary changes. Based on your conversations, legal obligations and what you’ve learned about the nature of the mental health issue your employee is dealing with, adjust job duties and/or expectations. Continue to check in with your employee to make sure the changes are working for them and progress is being made.
Managing mental health issues in the workplace can be challenging. In addition to the steps above, adding an employee assistance program (EAP) to your benefits package may help. EAPs are voluntary, confidential programs that benefit any employee with a personal or work-related problem—not just those suffering from mental illness. Short-term counseling and assessments can help workers deal with alcohol and substance abuse problems, stress, grief and family difficulties as well as psychological disorders. To learn more about your EAP options, contact us today.
by jeffp | Jul 13, 2016 | Employee Benefits
Hand writing Benefits with white marker on transparent wipe board.
Americans are struggling with student loan repayment. Given the hardships this very common debt can cause, consider these reasons a student loan repayment assistance program could be a powerful addition to your company’s benefits arsenal.
It will help you attract more job candidates. According to 2015 data from the Society for Human Resource Management, only 3 percent of employers are currently offering student loan repayment assistance as a benefit—despite the fact that the majority of American workers would find it attractive. A recent survey of more than 1,700 employees conducted by Student Loan Hero, a financial education website, found that 77 percent of respondents rank student loan repayment assistance benefits as slightly to very important. Only 23 percent were uninterested in this benefit. When asked if they’d prefer student loan repayment assistance or additional vacation/paid time off, 53 percent chose the former.
It will keep you keep your employees engaged. Engaged employees are actively invested in their work and committed to their employer. Unfortunately, financial distractions—such as student loan repayment struggles—can interfere with that engagement. According to the results of a survey conducted by American Student Assistance, 62 percent of respondents with student debt report it poses a hardship on their budget when combined with other household spending. Thirty-five percent say student loan payments make it difficult for them to purchase daily necessities. And more than half say student loan debt has affected their decision or ability to make larger purchases such as a car or a home.
It requires little sales effort or benefits education
Unlike 401(k) plans, health savings accounts and life insurance, you don’t have to convince your employees that they need student loan repayment assistance. They’re already dealing with the immediate reality that debt every day. Additionally, a repayment assistance program is much easier to administer. There’s no complex terminology to understand, and no need to spend hours educating your team about options or how the program functions.
It appeals to all employee demographics
Student loan repayment assistance doesn’t just appeal to workers in the Millennial Generation (currently between the ages of 18 and 34). Those from Generation X (ages 35 to 50) are equally burdened by education debt. A Gallup poll found 20 percent of Americans have student loans, including 35 percent of Millennials and 25 percent of Gen Xers. Those from Generation X actually have the largest average loan balances (more than $30,000) outstanding. Six percent of Baby Boomers are also paying off student loans.
It will improve the use of your employer-sponsored 401(k) plan
Many workers postpone contributions to a retirement account until they have their student loan debt under control (50 percent according to one survey). If your employer-sponsored 401(k) plan is underutilized, adding a student loan repayment assistance benefit may help.
If you’d like to explore enhancing your company’s employee benefits package with a student loan repayment assistance program, contact your benefits advisor today.
