Great — a new way for employees to complain about you anonymously

By Tim Gould

Think employers have problems with employees posting nasty stuff about them on Facebook? Wait ’til you hear about this. 

There’s a new iPhone app available called Memo — and while it’s certainly not the first anonymous messaging app out there, it’s got one major difference: It’s aimed at the workplace.
It’s sort of like Glassdoor — only mobile.

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GOP’s 40-hour Obamacare workweek hits major snag

By Christian Schappel

Turns out a presidential veto isn’t the only thing standing between Congressional Republicans and changing Obamacare’s definition of a full-time employee to one that works 40 hours a week. 
It’s also that the numbers don’t appear as favorable as they once did.

Why does the GOP want to change the threshold for who counts as a full-time employee under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from someone who works 30 hours per week to someone who works 40?

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HR won’t like this new ruling: FMLA can change employee’s job … permanently

By Christian Schappel

When this worker asked his employer if he could take intermittent FMLA leave in such a way that it would permanently change the nature of his job, the employer denied his request. But then a court stepped in and said the employer didn’t have the right to do that — and you won’t like the court’s reasoning.

Meet Samuel Santiago. He was a material storage supervisor for the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT). His position required that he work considerable overtime during snowy months.
Santiago also suffered from cluster headaches, which are far more severe than migraine headaches.
His doctor determined that working overtime was the main trigger for his headaches, and Santiago submitted a medical certification that requested something rather unusual: He requested to take intermittent FMLA leave whenever he had to work overtime.

Would medical leave cover his OT?

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Tip Tuesday! Obamacare: The forgotten step you must take with plan documents

By Jared Bilski

So you’ve meticulously followed the confusing calculation method under the ACA, you’ve calculated the measurement period and the stability period, and you’re absolutely certain you know just how many full-time employees you have for Obamacare purposes. You’re all set now, right? Not so fast.
In all the confusion that’s accompanied the complex full-time equivalent employee calculations under Obamacare, many employers are forgetting to take one critical step.
That step: Updating their employee handbooks and formal plan documents to spell out exactly what constitutes a full-timer and why.

Proof benefits should’ve been offered

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Intermittent FMLA leave: How to add it up when staffers’ schedules change

By Jared Bilski

Administering intermittent FMLA leave is tricky enough on its own. But when you have an employee on leave whose schedule varies so greatly from week to week that you can’t determine how much that person would’ve worked (if not for taking FMLA leave), it can be an absolute nightmare.
That’s the situation FMLA Insights founder Jeff Nowak covered recently.

In response to a specific question, Nowak detailed the ways in which employers can handle intermittent leave — even in situations where an employee’s schedule varies greatly from week to week.

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Why voluntary benefits aren’t voluntary if your firm wants to compete

By Jared Bilski

Obamacare has made healthcare coverage more accessible than ever. As a result,  traditional healthcare plans — even the most generous plans — won’t be enough to attract and retain top talent much longer.

So if you really want to set yourself apart from the competition, a solid offering of voluntary benefits will soon be a must – if it isn’t already.

Closing the gaps

Why are voluntary benefits — particularly voluntary medical benefits so important? Because they’ve expanded to fill virtually any gap that occurs between what employees’ traditional health plan covers — and the types of medical situations that can take place.

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Major pitfall when calculating full-time employees under Obamacare

By Jared Bilski

It’s been nearly five years since President Obama put his pen to the Affordable Care Act, and its employer mandate has finally kicked in. But its implementation has brought a new pitfall to light. 
As you know, the mandate says that starting in 2015 the largest employers (those with at least 100 full-time equivalent employees) must offer coverage to their full-time equivalent employees to avoid the law’s penalties.

But what at least some employers will likely fail to realize is this: There’s another group of workers who, under certain circumstances, will have to be offered coverage as well — former full-time equivalent employees.

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Tip Tuesday! 7 key Obamacare changes the feds snuck in at year-end

By Jared Bilski

If the feds’ latest announcement is any indication of what’s to come, 2015 will be a busy year for Obamacare changes.

Just before the start of the new year, the three main federal agencies — the Department of Labor (DOL), Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury — issued proposed changes to the health reform law’s Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) statements that employers that offer healthcare coverage are required to distribute to all eligible employees at open enrollment.

The original SBC regs, issued back in 2012, caused a significant amount of confusion for HR pros. So you’ll definitely want to make sure you understand exactly what’s different about the feds’ amended SBC regs.

On or after Sept. 1, 2015

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