Insurance

Survey: Health law won’t spark mass cancellations

06/15/2011

A full 87% of employers say they plan to continue offering employee health benefits as a result of President Obama’s year-old health care reform law, says a survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

8 tips for handling summer military-leave payroll issues

06/14/2011

Summer is usually when employees who belong to the National Guard and military Reserves give their two weeks of duty to Uncle Sam. Now is the time to prepare for their absence, by following these eight tips.

Employer health costs are predicted to rise 8.5% in 2012

06/08/2011

A new PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 1,700 employers says employer health costs are predicted to rise 8.5% in 2012. Employers say they’ll lessen that burden by pushing more costs onto employees.

Houston company faces class-action COBRA lawsuit

06/01/2011

A former employee of Brunel Energy Inc. is suing the company for failing to notify her of her right to maintain her health insurance coverage after she quit in 2010—and she has proposed making the case a class-action lawsuit that could involve hundreds of other former employees.

Which forms does nonprofit use to claim health care tax credit?

05/30/2011

Question: We’re a small nonprofit organization and we’re eligible to take the health care tax credit. How do we do this?

Children’s Hospital nurses return to work after strike

05/20/2011

After a five-day strike, registered nurses have started returning to their jobs at Children’s Hospital in Oakland. The nurses, represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, walked out on May 5 over a dispute about health care benefits.

What will you decide: keep or drop employee health benefits?

05/20/2011

Most employers are not considering canceling health benefits as a result of the year-old health care reform law, according to two recent surveys. The Affordable Care Act may be politically unpopular, but employers assume that it will be a business fact of life for the foreseeable future.

Same-sex marriage & payroll: What happens now?

05/18/2011

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prohibits the extension of federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples who marry under state law. Some federal courts have ruled DOMA unconstitutional, and the Department of Justice says that it will no longer defend the law. But the IRS says it’s still enforcing DOMA as it applies to the tax laws that cover married couples.

IRS issues W-2 health benefit reporting guidance

05/16/2011

The health care reform law requires you to report the value of employees’ health benefits on their W-2 forms. The IRS waived mandatory reporting for 2011, pending future guidance. Now the guidance has been released. It requires employers filing 250 or more W-2s to report beginning with 2012 W-2s that are filed in 2013.

MDHS, state retirees settle age bias complaint

05/11/2011

The Minnesota Department of Human Services has agreed to pay more than $467,000 to settle an age discrimination complaint filed by retired staffers.