Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Payments that an employer makes to an employee under a fixed indemnity health plan must be included in the employee’s taxable income, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently indicated, if the plan premiums were paid by the employer or by salary reduction under a cafeteria plan.
This article series addresses some of the most confusing real world problems surrounding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In the last installment, we focused on FMLA leave regarding spouses who work for the same company. In this article, we’ll focus on substituting paid leave for FMLA leave.
A 2013 laptop theft led to a $3.2 million Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) penalty against a Dallas hospital, after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determined that it had failed to address known security risks for years beforehand.
Most HR professionals (and a lot of laymen, too) are at least familiar with Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) in general terms. We know that it gives employees the chance to continue their former employer’s insurance coverage for a while after leaving a job. But what law is this part of? And how long […]
On procedural grounds, a federal appeals court rejected a lawsuit from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against an employer that had conditioned health coverage on participation in a wellness program.
Does your workplace offer any type of flexible work arrangements for employees? Or are your employees requesting more flexible options? With ever-improving technology, more and more jobs can be performed from any location, which opens up a lot of options for employers looking to provide this sought-after benefit for employees. What options are most common?
Federal government enforcement lawsuits brought by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)—including those centered on Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) violations—continued at an aggressive pace in 2016 but were less effective in terms of number of filings and recoveries when compared with previous years, according to annual report on workplace class action litigation.
by Lisa Higgins, Contributing Editor
According to IMS Health 2015 Report of Use of Drugs in the US, 35%–40% of pharmacy-related costs for employers can be attributed to specialty medications, even though they are used to treat just 1%–2% of pharmacy benefit members. That shouldn’t be a surprise, considering the dollars involved.
Generally speaking, money contributed to a health flexible spending account (FSA) in any plan year can be used only to reimburse qualified expenses incurred during that year; money not used to reimburse eligible medical expenses incurred during the plan year is forfeited.
More than any other concern as it relates to hiring and retention, finding and hiring top tech talent keeps executives up at night—more than keeping the team they have in place and more than staying competitive with regard to salary and bonuses. According to the Harris Allied Tech Hiring and Retention Survey for 2017, half […]