Tag: benefits

Ask the Expert Mailbag: Employee Benefits Week Edition

When it comes to compliance, sometimes it helps to share specific cases and how employment lawyers approached them. Today, we share three benefits-related questions submitted to our employment lawyers, along with their answers. Learn whether to give a 1095-C form to an employee who declined coverage, whether offering higher plan contributions for more tenured employees […]

Pension

Borderless Pension Plans

As organizations become more global, HR leaders face the challenge of how best to reward and protect certain groups of their international staff. Pensions and savings benefits are often tightly bound by local rules and restrictions that can exclude some workers or render the benefits unattractive or insecure. One option is to look at the […]

Year-End Appropriations Act Makes It Easier for Employers to Make a Difference in Tackling Employee Student Debt

With 44 million Americans owing an estimated $1.7 trillion in student debt,[1] policymakers in Washington, D.C., have been focusing on how to help people pay down their balances—and the good news is, they are making it easier for employers to make a difference.

Employers Urged to Prepare for Tougher Rules on Contractors, Joint Employment

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) announcement of plans to rescind final rules related to independent contractors and joint employers should put employers on notice that a less employer-friendly day is coming, attorneys who advise employers say. In announcing the effort on March 11, the DOL said the action is needed because the rules weaken […]

Bringing Women Back on Board: 2021’s Recruiting Goal

Did you know that four out of five people who quit their jobs because of COVID were women? From caregiving responsibilities to school closures to a lack of childcare options, there are many reasons women have been leaving the workforce in far higher numbers than men over the last year. Unfortunately, this means that decades […]

FSA

New Law Allows Employers to Make Temporary Changes to FSAs

On December 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed the Economic Aid to Hard Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act into law. It makes temporary changes to rules governing health and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and allows employers that sponsor the plans to provide employees with more time to use the benefits. Here […]

Blocking Off Free Time on the Calendar

“Free time” is not a term that comes to mind when people think about their workday. In fact, free time and work are two concepts that are about as far apart as one can get. But free time can provide surprising value to employees and companies alike. Scheduling some free time can help reduce stress […]

hybrid

Implementing a Hybrid Workplace Plan

Ready or not, COVID-19 has pushed employers into allowing remote work for any suitable role. As we near closer to bringing employees back to their workplaces en masse, many employers are considering implementing some sort of hybrid model.

Downsides of an Open-Door Policy

Open-door policies are often implemented to provide employees with a venue to discuss their needs or bring suggestions or complaints. They are also used to demonstrate that a manager’s office is a place where issues can be addressed and to make employees feel heard, as well as to encourage employees to express their concerns, particularly […]