Disability Insurance may Cut Work Comp Claims

"This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy!"

When someone legitimately gets hurt on the job a caring employer moves heaven and earth to help that person and their family.  But what about when an employee gets hurt on the weekend, but "slips" on Monday?  If they are broke, desperate, and/or looking to get over on an employer, what is an employer supposed to do.

What if you could help your employees feel like they weren't desperate when an unexpected injury happens?  What if you could help your employees make sure they had money coming in to pay their mortgage, their power bill, and put food on the table.

Voluntary Short Term Disability and Accident Insurance provides these benefits whether employer or employee paid.

For a great read on the statistics check out this article on SmallBizTrends.

The 4 Most Common Business Fraud Schemes

http://www.businessfraudprevention.org/fraud_statistic.html

Now that I've started offering LegalShield as a benefit my eyes have been opened to just how much hassle and trouble small and large businesses go through with employee theft.

Number 1 - Expense Account Fraud
Number 2 - Check Tampering
Number 3 - Payroll Schemes
Number 4 - False Billing and Vendor Invoices

All of these are ways that unscrupulous employees can take advantage of a trusting boss.  With LegalShield for Small Business plans, you can have access to an Attorney for a flat monthly rate to deal with these and other problems that crop up.  LegalShield also offers the best Identity Theft AND Restoration around.

The full article can be found HERE.

5 Regulation Changes for Employers With Self-Funded Health Insurance

There are changes coming in how a Self Funded Business Entity needs to report to the Federal Government in 2015 and 2016.

1. Section 6055 and Section 6056 will help determine who gets subsidies or not.
2. The 5500 report is changing.  The rules are different for under 100 lives, which is who I deal with often.
3. Traditional Reinsurance Tax - for Self Funded payers they are responsible for this fee instead of the insurance carrier.  Allied, Assurant, and others help with this requirement.
4. PCORI Fees - Again this fee is built into some plans, but not others.  You need to be in the know; it's increasing next year, and then will be tied to inflation.
5. Health Plan ID Requirement - Small Businesses (under $5 million in claims) have until November of 2015 to comply.

For the full article CLICK HERE.
If you have any questions about this or any other Self Funding issue - EMAIL ME.

Poor Employee Communication cost $173K

A very small oversight cost FedEx $173,000 when they terminated an employee for failing to comply with their policies to approve a Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) request for time off.
What they didn't know was that if your policies aren't properly communicated to an employee you are liable to legal action.

The employee had health problems, notified them that she needed time off under FMLA.  FedEx had no problem with this.  They asked her to fill out paperwork and provide some medical proof of illness.  She didn't return the paperwork, and was ultimately terminated.

The fault came in when FedEx did not clearly lay out their policies if she, or any other employee didn't comply.  So her day in court came, and she won a wrongful termination suit.  HR is getting trickier and trickier these days; you need backup from outsourced payroll and HR experts.  You also need help communicating with employees.  Be warned.

Sign up for HR Morning, I get very interesting tidbits of info every day that can directly impact my clients positively and negatively.

Source: http://www.hrmorning.com/oversight-on-fmla-form-costs-employer-173k/?pulb=1

4 Life Insurance Beliefs That Sabotage Your Financial Safety Net

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month.

Women Hold Families Together

And while women are the sole or primary breadwinners in a record 40 percent of U.S. households, women's life insurance coverage is only 69 percent of the average coverage on men  "Every woman needs to stop, take a moment and consider how important it is to protect her income and the value of what she provides at home in the event something would happen to her or her spouse," urges Cynthia Tidwell, President/CEO of Royal Neighbors of America, one of the largest women-led insurers in the United States. "Life insurance can help replace your salary, pay off a mortgage, cover childcare expenses, or protect college dreams if you die prematurely."

1. "I don't work or earn as much money as my spouse. I don't need life insurance." Wives and mothers have worth, and life insurance can help replace your lost salary or all the things you do for the family as a stay-at-home mom. Term insurance is an economical option for families. Term insurance provides coverage at a fixed premium amount for a specific time period. It is an affordable choice to protect assets such as your home and can provide funds until your family gets back on its financial feet. Learn more why women need life insurance.

2. "Life insurance is just for paying for funerals, right?" The fact is life insurance not only pays for funerals but can also help offset daily expenses, protect your current lifestyle, or ensure your children's college dreams still come true. According to life insurance industry figures, one in three U.S. households has no life insurance at all. For those that do, they only own enough on average to replace household income for 3.5 years. The recommended industry rule of thumb starts at twice that from 7-10 years.

3. "I'm too young for life insurance. It's for older people with kids."

The fact is, purchasing life insurance for yourself or your children at a younger age means you are buying less expensive coverage – and that coverage can financially protect you against future illnesses that may make you ineligible for coverage later in life. Consider purchasing permanent coverage (whole life) because premiums may be more affordable and will build cash value, or look for economical term policies that can be converted to more permanent insurance no matter what happens to your health.

4. "Life insurance is too complicated. I have no idea what to buy."

The fact is women do need to get educated, so take the first step. Royal Neighbors offers an online tool to help you calculate how much insurance you may need to stay financially secure, depending on your age, income, and current expenses. It also explains the different types of coverage and what might fit your needs best.

For the full article with references CLICK HERE.

Image Source - Shutterstock

Compensation Communication

"Everything You Do in Compensation Is Communications"

http://www.workforce.com/events/72-everything-you-do-in-compensation-is-communications

Watch Out E-Cig Users!!

The tide has already turned against tobacco use in America.  It took decades for smoking to lose it's appeal, then longer to legislate and tax cigarettes into disuse.  Now, e-cigarettes are coming under fire.  I predict that it won't take nearly as long for "vapes" and e-cigs to be done in. Look at what Tupelo, Mississippi has done...   Tupelo-city-council-passes-e-cigarette-ban.  So, it's not going to take long for this to catch on.  We expect New York and LA to lead the way banning "fun" but definitely unhealthy things, and they have.  But when lesser known places like Tupelo jump on the bandwagon the trend is clear.  Banning e-cig's at the house is already here, too.  In a way, I feel sorry for cigarette smokers, but as we increasingly have to pay for everyone else's mistakes healthwise, this blow against tobacco use is a good thing.

Three Keys to Making Wellness Work

This would be an incentive.

Wellness is a huge word in the employee benefit landscape right now.  I came across a great article on Employee Benefits Adviser the other day that made some great points.  Know your company, and educate your benefits consultant on your company.  Having a goal in mind and knowledge of your people is key.

Wellness is not a one size fits all product or concept.  It may take incentives, punishments, or a combination of both to make a program effective.  You may need to focus on obesity at your company or city; or you may need to work on lowering heart attack and stroke risk factors.  The bottom line is that you need a true consultant when designing a wellness program, not just a spreadsheet with features and pricing.

Here's the whole article if you'd like to read more.