Tag Archives: Employee Benefits

By David Slaughter, JD The massive appropriations and COVID-19 relief legislation that President Trump signed December 27, 2020, includes a number of provisions affecting employers’ health benefit programs. These include arbitration procedures for “surprise billing” situations, a new layer of transparency requirements, added flexibility for flexible spending accounts (FSAs), and disclosure rules regarding mental healthContinue Reading

Most companies are receiving employee benefit renewals.  In order to avoid benefits communication errors, it is wise to periodically review communications that employees have received in the past to gauge their perception and understanding.  Ask yourself the following questions: Were these communications meant only to fulfill ERISA compliance regulations, and do they comply with currentContinue Reading

By Emily Muhoberac, COO, Sapper Consulting Have you reevaluated your employee benefits package since social distancing was implemented? It’s likely that your pre-pandemic perks, plans, and promises won’t hold up after COVID-19 passes. You’ll need new, creative benefits to retain talented employees and snag new superstars. How your company reacts and realigns during this crisisContinue Reading

By Amanda Utevsky, PhD As employers reevaluate employee benefits following the labor shock of 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic, they must look at ways to both shore up financial health and help reduce potential future stressors. Evidence shows that having enough savings on hand is one of the largest predictors of financial well-being, making employee financial health programs focusedContinue Reading

Expertise is defined by Webster’s as “a high level of knowledge or skill”.  Many businesses simply can’t afford to hire experts on staff.  For this reason, it has become commonplace for companies to contract with outside accountants and attorneys.  Ever-changing laws and regulations make having an accountant and attorney a must for any business. WhatContinue Reading

It seems like we’ve been talking or hearing about Millennials for most of my career.  Millennials are now in their 20’s and 30’s.  It is estimated they will comprise 30% of the workforce by 2020, and many are entering management roles. Once characteristic touted as “millennial” is they perceive themselves invincible, although that has alwaysContinue Reading

A recent survey by Public Opinion Strategies found that small businesses across a wide range of industries and sectors, depend on a variety of business services.  Of the small business owners surveyed, more than 65% of the companies utilize payroll and insurance broker services.   More than 35% of respondents indicated the company uses human resourceContinue Reading

Remember the days of the family doctor making a house call?  Neither do I. My experience with doctors has been making an appointment, sometimes weeks in advance. Taking off work at the most inopportune time. Fighting traffic to drive across town. Looking for a parking place. Still looking for a parking place… Wandering around aContinue Reading

Open enrollment is a time to review and make changes.  A time to make sure you and your employees are ready for anything.  As an employer, you have selected the best providers and now your employees have an opportunity to select from among medical, dental, vision, and other protection products to make sure they andContinue Reading

Everything happens at once!  Doesn’t it feel like that during 4th Quarter?  Not only are companies busy wrapping up the year, trying to meet goals and prepare for next year, but employees will soon be wrapping up in blankets at football games, wrapping twine around the turkey to roast or deep fry it, and wrappingContinue Reading

New federal rules that control when workers are paid overtime wages are changing what it means for employees to be “on the clock.” For Texas businesses, the changes signal a whole new set of regulatory compliance challenges come December 1, 2016. Overtime pay is common among hourly employees, who typically earn time-and-a-half wages for hoursContinue Reading

Karlyn Borysenko has seen a lot of hard places to work. A consultant studying for her PhD in organizational psychology, she gets asked to go in, diagnose, and tell business leaders the truths about their work cultures they don’t want to hear. Even at companies where positivity is policy, she often finds leaders’ efforts lacking.Continue Reading