Month: January 2020
Key Elements of a Good Health Benefit Plan for Small Companies
The cost of providing health insurance for employees and their families is expected to be five percent higher this year than in 2019.
The National Business Group on Health estimates that the average cost of coverage for an employee and their family will be $15,375. This is obviously bad news for... Find out more »
How To Make Safety Education Fun and Effective
It’s often a challenge to capture the attention of employees when the subject is safety.
It’s not exactly the most inherently interesting subject matter. That’s why many employers have started using several new strategies.
Virtual Reality
Some of them, like virtual... Find out more »
Basic Steps to Avoid Discrimination in the Workplace
Workplace discrimination takes many forms, but sound policies and procedures can reduce the occurrences.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported that in 2018 it resolved 90,558 charges of workplace discrimination and collected $505 million for victims. Retaliation was... Find out more »
Alera Group Acquires Muench Financial, Inc.
Alera Group, a national employee benefits, property and casualty, retirement services and wealth management firm, today announced that it has acquired Muench Financial, Inc., effective December 31, 2019.
Muench Financial, located in Seattle, Washington, works with small and medium-sized... Find out more »
Congress Repeals Unrelated Business Income Tax for Tax-Exempt Entities Offering Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefits
As part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (the “Act”), Congress repealed Section 512(a)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”). This Code section was added as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA”) and resulted in... Find out more »
Rules and Exceptions When Providing Benefits to Same Sex Couples
Employers who offer benefits to spouses must also offer them to same-sex couples though there are exceptions.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the rights of same-sex couples are protected under the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S.... Find out more »
New Hardship Distribution Rules for Retirement Plans
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has made it easier for employees to make withdrawals from their retirement plans during the time of hardship. The IRS also made it easier for employees to rebuild their accounts.
Some of these changes affecting 401(k) and 403(b) plans are mandatory, requiring... Find out more »
Dental Insurance Promotes Overall Health
Providing employees the opportunity to purchase dental insurance is not enough. Employee education is an important element when you offer voluntary benefits.
A 2019 survey by the National Association of Dental Plans shows that approximately 47 percent of adults participate in employer-sponsored... Find out more »
What’s Covered in a Typical Equipment Breakdown Insurance Policy?
To prevent business shutdowns or slowdowns, an organization might want to cover other kinds of valuable equipment from mechanical breakdown, too.
The typical equipment breakdown insurance policy includes the following coverages:
1. Damage to “covered property” at the... Find out more »
