Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Bring your own device (BYOD) policies are starting to gain some traction in the workforce as more and more employees are requesting the ability to use personal devices for work rather than take on yet another device to manage. Employers recognize the benefits (such as employee satisfaction and decreased upfront costs of electronics for the […]
Marques, an associate in the New York office of Holland & Knight LLP, offered her PTO tips at a recent webinar sponsored by BLR® and HR Hero®. Make sure that all parts of the company are on the same page. Payroll, posted policies, and employment handbooks should all agree, says Marques. Make sure the payroll […]
Unfortunately, to complicate matters, many state laws (and some city laws) cover sick time and/or vacation time, so proceed with caution, says Marques, an associate in the New York office of Holland & Knight LLP. She offered her tips at a recent webinar sponsored by BLR® and HR Hero®. PTO Policy Decisions Are Important Policy […]
How health insurance exchange money is spent, which private insurance products may be offered on exchanges, who advises exchange consumers on plan choices and how well exchanges handle personal data will be under federal scrutiny, as explained in proposed program integrity rules issued by CMS on June 17. The rules also propose tweaks to existing regulatory language […]
Even though it isn’t a California or federal law requirement, many employers have an employee handbook or at least a few written company policies. Exactly where do those policies come from? The answer to that question is easy―the HR department. But where does HR get the policies that govern the company? The answer to that […]
An increasing number of employers are examining providing a low-benefits health plan that covers only preventive health services but not high-price major medical claims. Offering this type of low cost or “skinny” plan is allowed under the health reform law. The question is: Will skinny plans trigger a large-employer exodus to de minimis coverage, and if so, […]
Health reform fees that health insurers and self-funded plans must pay in order to fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute are “ordinary and necessary business expenses,” and therefore qualify as deductible from federal taxes, a recent IRS memo states. Insurers and health plans will pay the $1 (soon to become $2) per covered life fee […]
Creditors of retirement plan participants sometimes try to tap into a participant’s supplementary benefits under various legal arrangements, including garnishment and domestic relations orders. If a plan administrator or adviser is faced with the prospect of a participant’s deferred compensation being assigned to a creditor, the administrator must be familiar with a number of complicated […]
Concerns about the effect of lump-sum retiree distributions on the funded status of defined benefit pension plans with ongoing obligations to future beneficiaries were prominent as members of the ERISA Advisory Council tackled issues of “derisking” at a June 5 open meeting at the U.S. Department of Labor. There was high interest in the topic […]
Starting July 31, 2013, the IRS will start collecting, and employers will start paying, a new excise tax authorized by the health reform law. This annual fee will be imposed on most insured and self-insured group health plans for the next seven years. The feds have amended the April 2013 IRS Form 720 (Quarterly Federal […]