Insurance

Contesting unemployment? Be sure you have been fair

04/29/2015

Employees discharged for willful misconduct aren’t eligible for unemployment benefits. Generally, refusing an assignment is willful misconduct. But what it you only fire one and not others who refuse the same assignment?

Recruiting: Which benefits do employers tout to highly skilled candidates?

04/29/2015

More than three-fourths of employers talk up their health benefits when trying to recruit highly skilled job applicants. Fewer tout the value of other benefits.

Study: ACA has little effect on employer health benefits

04/27/2015

Large U.S. employers are keeping health care costs down despite concerns over Affordable Care Act mandates, according to a new report by the ADP Research Institute.

Which employees are eligible for health benefits?

04/21/2015

Most employers follow the lead established by the Affordable Care Act, and offer health insurance benefits to employees who work at least 30 hours per week.

As military-leave season nears, plan now for reservists’ absence

04/17/2015

Summer is usually when employees who belong to the National Guard and military Reserves give their two weeks of duty to Uncle Sam. Some military-connected employees may be deployed for longer periods of time. Now is the time to prepare for their absence.

One-third of workers want to rebalance pay, benefits

04/09/2015

Most workers are satisfied with the health benefits they have now, but nearly a third are interested in changing the mix of benefits and wages they receive, according to a new survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Can your workers afford out-of-pocket costs?

04/07/2015

For years, employers have tried to keep health insurance premiums down by passing along other costs to employees in the form of higher deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance fees that must be paid out-of-pocket. But now, employee cost-sharing measures may be getting too expensive for many workers to afford.

Employer trade group pushes to privatize workers’ comp

04/06/2015

A who’s who of some of the nation’s largest private-sector employers have formed a lobbying group to “advocate for better medical outcomes to injured workers and give employers a choice in how they will manage employee benefits.” Critics say the Association for Responsible Alternatives to Workers’ Compensation is out to gut workers’ comp laws.

Employers aren’t cutting staff to escape ACA mandate

03/30/2015

Only a handful of employers have considered reducing full-time employees’ hours to dodge the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act, according to a new survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Employers planning changes to health benefits

03/25/2015

More than 80% of U.S. employers expect to make changes to their health benefit programs over the next three years, despite cost increases remaining at historically low levels, according to new research from the Towers Watson HR consulting firm.