by Jared Bilski
To stand out from the competition and attract and retain top talent for the long-term, some employers rely on some very creative compensation tactics.
One of those tactics is a forgivable loan. Under this type of arrangement, employers offer an employee a loan that will be forgiven if that worker is able to meet certain terms. Generally, at least one of those terms is that the employee stays at the company for a certain length of time. But employers can also work performance standards into the terms of the loan as well.
Here’s an example of how this type of structure works, courtesy of The Emplawyerologist: Say an employer offers one employee a $50,000 forgivable loan because it wants to retain that worker for at least five years.
Under the terms, every year that employee stays with the company $10,000 of the loan is forgiven until the five years are up and the loan is completely forgiven. So if the employee leaves after one year, she is only on the hook for $40,000 of the $50K loan (plus interest). The $50,000 is offered up front as a tax-deferred lump sum and the employee can use it in any way she sees fit.
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by Jared Bilski
Most HR pros are hyper-focused on wrapping up their open enrollment process and getting everything just right. But you also want to be aware of the major pitfalls that can jeopardize all of your hard work.
Here are the top open enrollment mistakes to avoid:
1. Failing to engage workers
Despite the fact that healthcare offerings are becoming more and more complex, employees aren’t spending any more time reviewing their options.
Case in point: Nearly half (46%) of Americans take less than 30 minutes to make benefits decisions and 89% simply choose the same plan as they had last year, according to Aflac.
What you can do: Tell workers to schedule specific blocks of time for benefits review during the workday.
Example: Suggest workers put aside 45-60 minutes on their calendar to review benefits materials. Then, tell them to block off another 30 minutes for the actual benefits decision. Why? Research shows that the specific act of scheduling can make a person more likely to follow through.
2. Trying to cover too much
It’s tempting to try and cram every aspect of your benefits package into an open enrollment meeting.
After all, it’s one of the rare times you do have employees’ attention. But if you overload employees with information, they’re just going to tune you out and make benefit selections without putting in much thought.
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by Jared Bilski
If you’re wondering how long the actual ACA reporting process is likely to take, the IRS may be able to help.
When the Service released the final instructions for 1095-C reporting, it included another critical piece of information: The amount of time its likely to take employers to complete each ACA return.
The IRS estimates it’ll take employers an average of 12 minutes to complete each 1095-C return.
12 X 50, 100, 150 …
When you consider that at the bare minimum, employers subject to the ACA reporting requirements will be completing 50 returns, the reporting process is a significant time commitment. At 12 minutes per form, those 50 returns should take 600 minutes or 10 hours to complete.
Of course, this is just an estimate and, considering this is a brand-new, high-stakes process, it’s likely to take many employers longer than the average amount of time the IRS estimates. Still, the estimate does help give you some type of perspective on the time-commitment necessary for the actual reporting process.
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by Tim Gould
Would you hire an applicant who admits he/she takes methadone? The answer might be a little trickier than you thought.
The EEOC has recently filed suit against against temp agency Randstad, which allegedly refused to hire a recovering drug addict who was using methadone.
Here’s how the EEOC described the situation: April Cox, a recovering drug addict, hadn’t used illegal drugs since being enrolled in a medically supervised rehabilitation program in 2011. She received medically prescribed methadone as part of her ongoing, supervised drug rehabilitation treatment.
In January 2015, she applied with Randstad in Timonium, Md., for a vacant production laborer position at one of the staffing agency’s clients. Randstad’s site manager told Cox she had enough experience to advance to the next part of the hiring process and requested that Cox provide a urine sample for a pre-employment drug text.
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Want to feel more upbeat at work? Give these 7 habits a try
Is there a secret to enjoying your job more?
Some experts will tell you a key is to find meaning in what you do. That helps keep you positive — and productive. And you can use other strategies to improve your mindset too.
Here's to a great workday!
Here are seven habits that may help people find more satisfaction in their jobs. Not every suggestion will work for everyone — duties and situations can vary greatly. But there may be tips here that can help you:
1. Focus on how work fulfills you. Think about what makes your work valuable and meaningful. Are you a manager? Then it might be mentoring new employees or seeing your team work well together. Are you in manufacturing? Then it might be knowing that you make a product people need or want.
2. Pat yourself on the back. You take pride in a job well done. Now and then, it's good to take stock of all you contribute. You might even keep a running list to look at on days you need an extra boost.
3. Applaud others too. Look out for opportunities to praise your co-workers. Maybe someone made a tough deadline or came up with a creative solution to a problem. A timely compliment could make their day. And that benefits you too. See "Why helping a co-worker may help you."
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by Christian Schappel
It appears as though the Obama administration isn’t afraid of how its changes to the FLSA’s overtime exemption rules will play in the court of public opinion.
A prediction floating around — after the Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith announced the DOL’s changes to the overtime rules would be delayed until “late 2016” — was that the administration would wait until after the presidential election to unveil the final rules.
The thinking behind this hypothesis: The rules — which are sure to be wildly unpopular in the business community — could give the GOP another feather in its political cap, potentially helping it win the White House. That’s if the rules were released prior to the election.
DOL targeting July
Giving the GOP more campaigning ammo doesn’t appear to be a fear for the Obama administration, at least not yet. In the DOL’s fall 2015 regulatory agenda, the agency published that it’s targeting July 2016 for the release of the final rules.
The deadline isn’t set in stone, and July is still pretty far away, but it does provide clues as to where the DOL’s at with the rules.
Bottom line: Employers are most likely looking at the new rules being released prior to the election.
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by Jared Bilski
Employers that have managed to hang on to their grandfathered health plans for this long will want to pay close attention to the feds’ final regs on the subject.
The trifecta of federal agencies (DOL, HHS and IRS) just released the final rules on grandfathered plan status under the ACA — as well as pre-existing conditions, exclusions, lifetime and annual limits, rescissions, claims and appeals, and dependent coverage.
Despite the length of these final rules (104 pages), there aren’t any wholesale changes that are likely to cause employers to overhaul their current compliance strategy. However, there are some important clarifications and tweaks.
Immediately loses, key exemptions
Here are some key highlights of the final regs:
One plan’s status change doesn’t change all benefits packages. While a plan’s grandfathered status is lost immediately when a prohibited plan change is made (even mid-year), that status loss applies separately to each different benefits package offered. In other words, the loss of grandfathered status for a PPO plan won’t impact the status of an HDHP option.
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