Obamacare’s summary statements: DOL grants you a major break

By Jared Bilski

Remember those wholesale changes the feds sneaked into the ACA’s Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) statements right at the end of the year? Well, we’ve got some good news for you.

Those changes won’t be finalized until at least 2016.

That means employers have a good amount of breathing room until they must comply with the wholesale changes to the SBCs.

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4 ADA triggers managers can’t afford to miss

By Jared Bilski

Most HR pros are well aware of the many triggers that could signal an employee’s need for a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. But managers and supervisors are another story altogether.
Many firms are learning the hard way that not training managers and supervisors properly on how to recognize situations when the ADA could be in play has major and costly consequences.
At at the recent Mid-Sized Retirement & Healthcare Plan Management Conference in San Diego, Buck Consultants’ Ophelia W. Galindo outlined some of the major trigger events that suggest that the ADA — and the interactive process — might come into play.

4 events to watch for

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Tip Tuesday! Employee handbooks: NLRB updates what you can and can’t include

By Jared Bilski

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) General Counsel has released a massive report on employee handbooks (and other relevant policies), so HR pros should probably take a very close look at their own handbooks and compare those documents to the feds’ new guide.
Specifically, the report outlined handbook content that’s lawful – and that which is likely to violate the National Labor Relations Act.

Both union and non-union workplaces

The report, which includes examples and recent NLRB decisions, applies to all employers regardless of whether or not they have union-represented employees.
In general, when handbooks contain vague or overly broad statements, employers are setting themselves up for problems.

Here are some of the major handbook areas listed in the report as well as specific examples of what the NLRB considers overly broad (i.e., potentially illegal) and what it will likely find lawful, courtesy of the folks at The Employer Handbook:
1. Confidentiality rules. The feds make it very clear that employees have a right to discuss “wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment.”

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Wellness committees: 4 reasons why you can’t afford not to have one

By Jared Bilski



The success of any wellness program rests on getting maximum employee buy-in. And the best way to get that buy-in is with the help of a diverse group of workers.

4 benefits of a group

Here are four reasons why all employers that are serious about improving workers’ health should have a wellness committee in place, courtesy of The Bailey Group, a benefits service and advisory firm:
1. It makes it easier to get employee buy-in. When a wellness program is something that is entirely under the control of upper management, employees may be skeptical of the company’s motives.

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EEOC finally issues wellness rules: 8 things employers will want to know

By Christian Schappel

It took a while, but employers finally have some sold guidance on how to design their wellness program incentives so they don’t violate the ADA. 
The EEOC has been promising for a while now to issue rules to clear up the confusion it’s created around what kinds of wellness incentives are legal — and when non-participation penalties become so steep as to render a program “involuntary” and, thus, illegal under the ADA.
Well, the EEOC has finally kept its promise, and its new proposed rules outline, in its words, “how Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to employee wellness programs that are part of group health plans …” The regs will be published in the Federal Register on Monday.
But the EEOC did offer a sneak peek of the proposed rules on its website.

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The key to keep younger workers from jumping ship

By Julian Lopez

What can companies do to get their young workers to stick around longer? Give them more feedback. A new study highlights just how much feedback you should be giving these workers.
As Millennial workers (those born after the 80s) continue to come into the workforce, employers will have to think of ways to tailor their operations to keep these young employees engaged and productive.

However, many companies struggle to accomplish this, as Millennial workers generally have different expectations of their employers than previous generations.
To help companies hold onto their Millennial workers longer, a team of researchers at SuccessFactors, an HR software developer, recently surveyed over 1,000 Millennials to find out what they want from their employers.

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Tip Tuesday! Health savings accounts: Little-known ERISA pitfalls to watch for

By Jared Bilski

With high-deductible plans coupled with health savings accounts (HSAs), becoming the plan of choice for many employers, HSAs are under the microscope more than ever before. 
That means now is probably a good time for a refresher on how the feds expect firms to administer HSAs as well as the types of activities that could get employees in trouble.

Key DOL requirements

Generally, HSAs are considered “welfare benefit plans,” which makes them exempt from ERISA’s many detailed requirements.
But to maintain that ERISA exemption, HSAs must meet certain DOL requirements (which can be found here and here).
First and foremost, the HSA must be “completely voluntary.”
Employers also can’t:

• limit the ability of employees to move funds to another HSA
• impose conditions on the use of HSA funds
• make or influence any HSA investment decisions
• represent that HSA is an employee welfare benefit plan, or
• receive any payment or compensation in connection with the HSA.

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6 bizarre interview questions employers actually admit to asking

By Christian Schappel

The survey masters at CareerBuilder have done it again — this time getting hiring and HR managers to admit to some off-the-wall questions they’ve thrown at candidates. 
CareerBuilder’s survey team, which works with Harris Poll, has gotten employees and employers to admit to some pretty strange stuff over the years.
Now it’s starting spring off with a bang, releasing a list of the some of the most bizarre interview questions respondents to its latest survey admitted to asking.
Without further ado, they are (along with the reasons they were asked):

1. How would you wrangle a herd of cats? A hiring manager asked this to gain insight into a candidate’s ability to organize, lead and motivate others.
2. Do you believe in life on other planets? This was asked to see if a candidate was the type to believe anything is possible.
3. What superpower would you like to have? This was asked to provide insight into how candidates view their own strengths and weaknesses.
4. If you were stranded on an island, which two items would you like to have with you? This question could provide insight into candidates’ abilities to weather a tough situation with limited resources.
5. If you did not have to work, what would you do?” This question was asked to peek into a candidate’s values and interests outside of work, which can help assess how well they’d fit into the company’s culture.
6. If you were trapped in a blender, what would you do to get out? You may remember this question from The Internship, starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. It helps assess a candidate’s creativity, ability to think on his or her feet, and problem-solving skills.

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7 cost-cutters you’ll need to fight emerging healthcare trends

By Jared Bilski

Healthcare costs are on pace to increase at record lows this year, but there’s a perfect storm of cost-drivers ahead.

In fact, there are a number of trends – increasing drug costs, the ACA’s Cadillac Tax, etc. – that can have drastic effects on unprepared employers.

At the Mid-Sized Retirement and Healthcare Plan Management Conference in San Diego, benefits consultant Marybeth Gray spoke about the necessity of developing a long-term plan to prepare for these costs drivers.

Here are some of the best practices Gray cited in her presentation:

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Tip Tuesday! Are clueless execs killing the effectiveness of your employee benefits?

By Tim Gould

In order for employee benefits to serve as effective recruiting and retention tools, upper management must understand what workers really want. And when that doesn’t happen it hurts companies in a number of ways.

Benefits aren’t cheap, which means that you want to be devoting your attention to the ones that will provide the biggest payoff, both in ROI and employee engagement.

But there’s new evidence that what your financial honchos believe to be the most coveted benefits today aren’t. Just ask employees.

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Calm and focused — that's your brain on exercise

By United Health Care

Better brain health may be just a hop, skip and a jump away. Or perhaps a hike, swim or a jog, if that's more your style.

However you choose to be active, exercise is likely to give your brain and outlook a lift.

How it works
Your brain contains billions of nerve cells that pass information back and forth. Exercise naturally boosts chemicals and hormones that can strengthen the connections between those cells. It may even help you form new links — or slow down the loss of brain cells over time.          

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Wait, what? Internet Explorer, Safari users make poorer hires

By Christian Schappel

We’re all looking for ways to separate the wheat from the chaff in the hiring process. Well, one company found a pretty unique trait a lot of lesser-performing candidates share. 
What is it? They use Internet Explorer or Safari — over other non-default Web browsers like Chrome and Firefox.

That may sound pretty absurd, especially for those of you reading this using Internet Explorer or Safari, but let us explain.

Cornerstone OnDemand is a talent management software company, and it recently analyzed data on roughly 50,000 people who took its online personality test and were eventually hired by firms using its software.

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A vital HSA move only 15% of workers make: How to change that

By Jared Bilski

When major medical issues occur, health-savings accounts (HSAs) are meant to help soften the blow of having a high deductible. That’s why these findings are so alarming.
New research shows employees are falling well short of where they should be regarding their HSAs.

Missing the max

In fact, just 15% of accountholders contributed the max to their HSAs in 2013, according to new research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
The study also included some surprising findings about the impact
of employer contributions.

Just 14% of HSAs with an employer contribution received the max funding, compared to the 20% of HSAs without employer contributions.

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Tip Tuesday! DOL grants employers a major Obamacare break

By Jared Bilski

Good news: The major changes the feds recently proposed to the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) statements won’t be finalized until at least 2016.
And that means employers have a good amount of breathing room until they must comply with the wholesale changes to the SBCs.

As HR pros know, the Affordable Care Act’s Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) statements rule require all health plans (grandfathered and non-grandfathered alike) to supply plan participants with SBCs and a glossary of commonly used terms during their open enrollment period.

These SBCs were created to help simplify health info for employees, but they’ve also caused HR and Benefits pros as well as plan administrators some major headaches since the regs took effect.
So when the feds essentially proposed an overhaul to the SBCs that employers were finally getting used to, you can imagine not everybody was thrilled.

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