Insurance

Account-based health plans drive biggest cost savings

03/06/2018

The companies that do the best job of managing health care costs and improving plan efficiency rely on account-based health plans, according to new research by Willis Towers Watson.

Accommodation requests can affect unemployment benefits

01/26/2018

How you handle disability accommodation requests may determine whether a worker receives unemployment compensation if you terminate her after she’s used up all her leave.

When stress warrants workers’ comp

01/26/2018

An employee may claim her job is so stressful that she can no longer work and should receive workers’ comp benefits. That claim can succeed—if a court concludes that “abnormal” working conditions caused the stress, anxiety or depression that made it impossible for her to work. But whether work is really abnormally stressful is a fact-specific question.

Prepare to contest restoring unemployment when employees quit soon after starting

01/18/2018

When a worker receiving unemployment benefits accepts a job she isn’t required to accept because it is “unsuitable” for her training, education or ability, she can quit within 30 days and regain unemployment benefits. But simply quitting because she thinks she is going to be discharged doesn’t count.

IRS extends deadline for providing ACA notices to March 2

01/03/2018

You have an additional 30 days to provide 2017 Affordable Care Act health insurance reporting forms to employees.

Court blocks Trump rule on ACA contraceptive mandate

01/02/2018

A federal judge in Philadelphia has issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from enforcing new rules giving employers wide latitude to exclude coverage of birth control from their health plans if they have moral or religious objections.

New tax law includes several key changes to employee benefits

12/20/2017

Major tax reform legislation just passed carries important changes for employers, HR and payroll departments.

Supreme Court passes on same-sex benefits

12/14/2017

On Dec. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case testing whether the court’s landmark decision legalizing gay marriage requires government entities to provide the same employee benefits to same-sex couples that heterosexual couples receive.

Poll: Employee benefits are our favorite tax breaks

12/12/2017

As a congressional conference committee negotiates the final terms of tax reform legislation, a new poll of working Americans shows more support for maintaining the tax-favored status of employer-provided benefits than for the popular mortgage interest deduction.

Employer-sponsored health plan costs rose 2.6% in 2017

12/05/2017

Cost growth has averaged just 3.3% annually over the past five years, compared to 6.2% over the prior five-year period.