Upcoming PCORI Fee Due July 31
Source: https://www.irs.gov
The Affordable Care Act imposes a fee on issuers of specified health insurance policies and plan sponsors of applicable self-insured health plans to help fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The fee, required to be reported only once a year on the second quarter Form 720 and paid by its due date, July 31, is based on the average number of lives covered under the policy or plan.
The fee applies to policy or plan years ending on or after Oct. 1, 2012, and before Oct. 1, 2019. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute fee is filed using Form 720, Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return. Although Form 720 is a quarterly return, for PCORI, Form 720 is filed annually only, by July 31.
Specified Health Insurance Policies and Applicable Self-Insured Health Plans
The fee is imposed on an issuer of a specified health insurance policy and a plan sponsor of an applicable self-insured health plan. For more information on whether a type of insurance coverage or arrangement is subject to the fee, see this chart.
Calculating the Fee
Specified Health Insurance Policies
For issuers of specified health insurance policies, the fee for a policy year ending before Oct. 1, 2013, is $1, multiplied by the average number of lives covered under the policy for that policy year. Generally, issuers of specified health insurance policies must use one of the following four alternative methods to determine the average number of lives covered under a policy for the policy year.
- Actual Count Method: For policy years that end on or after Oct. 1, 2012, issuers using the actual count method may begin counting lives covered under a policy as May 14, 2012, rather than the first day of the policy year, and divide by the appropriate number of days remaining in the policy year.
- Snapshot Method: For policy years that end on or after Oct. 1, 2013, but began before May 14, 2012, issuers using the snapshot method may use counts from the quarters beginning on or after May 14, 2012, to determine the average number of lives covered under the policy.
- Member Months Method and 4. State Form Method: The member months data and the data reported on state forms are based on the calendar year. To adjust for 2012, issuers will use a pro rata approach for calculating the average number of lives covered using the member months method or the state form method for 2012. For example, the issuers using the member months number for 2012 will divide the member months number by 12 and multiply the resulting number by one quarter to arrive at the average number of lives covered for October through December 2012.
For more information on these methods to determine the average number of lives covered under a policy for the policy year, please see the final regulations (PDF).
Applicable Self-Insured Health Plans
For plan sponsors of applicable self-insured health plans, the fee for a plan year ending before Oct. 1, 2013, is $1, multiplied by the average number of lives covered under the plan for that plan year. Generally, plan sponsors of applicable self-insured health plans must use one of the following three alternative methods to determine the average number of lives covered under a plan for the plan year.
- Actual Count Method: A plan sponsor may determine the average number of lives covered under a plan for a plan year by adding the totals of lives covered for each day of the play year and dividing that total by the total number of days in the plan year.
- Snapshot Method: A plan sponsor may determine the average number of lives covered under an applicable self-insured health plan for a plan year based on the total number of lives covered on one date (or more dates if an equal number of dates is used in each quarter) during the first, second or third month of each quarter, and dividing that total by the number of dates on which a count was made.
- Form 5500 Method: An eligible plan sponsor may determine the average number of lives covered under a plan for a plan year based on the number of participants reported on the Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan, or the Form 5500-SF, Short Form Annual Return/Report of Small Employee Benefit Plan.
However, for plan years beginning before July 11, 2012, and ending on or after Oct. 1, 2012, plan sponsors may determine the average number of lives covered under the plan for the plan year using any reasonable method.
For more information on these methods to determine the average number of lives covered under applicable self-insured health plans for the plan year, please see the final regulations (PDF).
Reporting and Paying the Fee
File the second quarter Form 720 annually to report and pay the fee no later than July 31 of the calendar year immediately following the last day of the policy year or plan year to which the fee applies. Issuers and plan sponsors who are required to pay the fee but are not required to report any other liabilities on a Form 720 will be required to file a Form 720 only once a year. They will not be required to file a Form 720 for the first, third or fourth quarters of the year. Deposits are not required for this fee, so issuers and plans sponsors are not required to pay the fee using EFTPS.
Please see the instructions for Form 720 on how to fill out the form and calculate the fee. If for any reason you need to make corrections after filing your annual Form 720 for PCORI, write “Amended PCORI” at the top of the second filing.
The payment, if paid through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, should be applied to the second quarter (in EFTPS, select Q2 for the Quarter under Tax Period on the "Business Tax Payment" page).
Retention Starts Day One
Originally posted May 12, 2014 by Stephen Bruce (PhD, PHR) on https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com.
Retention’s going to be key for many organizations as the economy improves—your best people are going to be testing the water and your toughest competitors are going to be looking for them.
There’s Nothing I Can Do
Many managers have the attitude “I wish management would do something about retention.” That’s the first thing to correct—it’s every manager’s and supervisor’s job to work on retention. They should realize that it’s for their own good. Turnover (of good people) is their department’s most debilitating disease.
First of all, it eats away at the manager’s personal productivity—job requisitions, postings, interviews, reference checks, and training suck up a lot of valuable time.
Second, turnover is a morale killer. Everyone else has to pitch in and get the job done while the position is vacant. And then there’s the inevitable, “Why are all our good people leaving? What do they know that I don’t know? Should I start putting together my résumé?”
Retention Starts Day One … and Continues Every Day
Managers and supervisors who have great retention rates share several behaviors: They think of their employees as customers; they recruit every day; and they remember that their actions are always on display.
Employees Are Customers
How far would you go to retain a good customer? Make sure you put that level of interest in retaining your employees.
- What do they care about?
- Do they understand their contribution and do you show that you value that contribution?
- What can you do today to make sure you retain them as a customer?
Recruit Every Day
As the saying goes, better recruit your best people every day … your competitors are. Try to avoid that oft-referenced situation where managers and supervisors spend 80 percent of their time on the poorest-performing 20% of their employees.
You Are on Display
Your actions speak louder than any policy or handbook declaration. “Our employees are our most valuable asset” sounds good on paper. Do you live up to that premise in your day to day dealings with employees?
You Have a Road Map
During the interviewing process, you found out about the new employee’s aspirations and expectations. And you probably made a few promises about the future as well. Together, those lists will help you build a retention road map for that employee.
Onboarding
Too many managers think that onboarding is something HR does with new employees the first day to get them signed up for benefits.
Onboarding is the first step in retention—get it right.
To be effective, onboarding is an involved process that lasts weeks or months. There are business methods and approaches to be learned, contacts to be made with key players in different departments, and various assimilation activities that help the new person be comfortable and contributing.
Remember that new employees are often reluctant to ask for help, so keep careful tabs on their work. Consider assigning a “buddy.”
A recent survey conducted by BambooHR shows the following often overlooked factors in an effective onboarding process:
- Receiving organized, relevant, and well-timed content
- On-the-job training
- Assignment of an employee “buddy” or mentor
- Having the onboarding process extend beyond the first week
When it comes to which aspects truly matter to employees starting a job, free food and perks are not what they crave. They want an onboarding process that helps them reduce the learning curve in becoming an effective, contributing team member.
Employer-Sponsored Health Care Facts of Life
Originally posted May 23, 2014 by Donna Fuscaldo on https://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com.
High deductible health insurance plans are a fact of life, particularly for the employees of small businesses. But it doesn’t have to hurt morale or loyalty among workers. There are ways small business owners can help defray some of the costs if high deductible insurance plans are all they can offer.
“With the Affordable Care Act there is clearly a movement toward higher deductible plans,” says Barry Sloane, CEO of Newtek, a health insurance agency for small businesses. “Unfortunately higher deductibles are a fact of life whether you live in New York or Nebraska.”
In an effort to keep costs down and incentivize employees to curb some of the unnecessary visits to the doctor or specialists, employers of all sizes are making high deductible plans an option, and in some cases the only one.
That’s particularly true with small business owners who can barely afford to offer health insurance, let alone plans with low deductibles and limited cost sharing. As a result, experts say the era of high deductible health insurance plans and more of the burden being passed on to the employee is here and will likely stay. That change in the way health care is offered to employees can breed resentment and anger among workers, which in turn can have a negative impact on the overall business.
But there are things small business owners can do to reduce the burden. One way, according to Kevin Luss, owner of Luss Group, is to offer employees a medical bridge policy to neutralize the deductible and other out-of-pocket costs employees face.
At Luss Group, brokers work with employers to create a health plan that limits the cost sharing for the least frequent things like hospitalization, surgeries and outpatient procedures and with the savings, a medical bridge policy is taken out to insure employees from high deductibles associated with those expensive but less frequent medical needs. There are numerous ways to design the plan, but one option could be if one of the employees is admitted to the hospital he or she gets a lump sum of $3,000 in addition to a daily amount for the length of the admission. In that case, an employee who has a $5,000 deductible would only pay part of that out of pocket because the medical bridge policy covers the rest.
“The employer saves money by offering high deductible plans and uses part of the savings for the bridge plan,” says Luss. “These plans aren’t very expensive and in the long rung the employer saves money.” The rules and what is offered varies state by state.
For many small businesses footing the bill for a medical bridge policy isn’t an option, but they can offer it as a supplemental choice for employees. According to Nancy Thompson, senior vice president and director of sales at CBIZ Benefits and Insurance, employers who are providing high deductible plans can also offer the option of hospital indemnity and critical illness insurance, which will defray some of the costs associated with the high deductible plan. While it will cost employees more money, albeit not a lot, in exchange they’ll get one-on-one counseling with a benefits consultant, so they are making the right choices when it comes to their healthcare.
“Employees are going to experience gaps in coverage that they haven’t in the past,” says Thompson. “The right supplemental product is paramount when you go to a high deductible plan.”
Hand in hand with offering high deductible plans is providing the ability for employees to use pretax dollars for medical costs, which is where health savings accounts come into play. With a health savings account, funds contributed aren’t taxed and the money accumulated can be rolled over to the next year. Some employers who contribute to health savings accounts can increase their contribution to offset any bad feelings from offering a high deductible plan, says Sloane.
Another option, according to Richard Mann, Chief Product Officer at PlanSource, is offering a defined contribution toward benefits. Basically it’s a predetermined amount the employer agrees to contribute to each employee’s benefits spending.
“This helps employers control spending because the amount is fixed, but allows employees to use the amount in whatever way they think is best,” says Mann.
At the end of the day, knowledge may be the best way a small business owner can help their employees with their health-care costs. The whole idea behind these high deductible health plans is to get people to think before they get that test done or have blood drawn.
According to Sloane, arming employees with all the information about the plan, ensuring they know which doctors are in network and out of network, and all the benefits associated with the plan (including preventive care), can go a long way in keeping out of pocket costs down. It’s also a good idea to give employees access to the actual costs of health-care services, adds Mann. Knowing, for example, that the cost of a MRI can vary by as much as $1,000 will make employees more savvy consumers of health care, he says.
“It’s very valuable for the business to make an investment in the HR department and educate their staff as to how to keep claims down,” notes Sloane. “People need to pay more attention to health care. It’s not as simple as it used to be.”
What Laws Relate to Antidiscrimination in the Workplace?
Originally posted May 12, 2014 by Bridget Miller on https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com.
No employer wants to be accused of discrimination. Employers strive to treat employees fairly and act without improper bias. To do this and also remain in legal compliance, it’s more important than ever to understand the various laws that protect employees from different types of discrimination.
Here are the primary U.S. laws at the federal level that have antidiscrimination components. (Note: This article focuses on the laws that apply to private employers and does not distinguish which also apply to government entities. There are additional laws pertaining to antidiscrimination for government employees.)
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII). This is the first law most people think of when it comes to antidiscrimination. Title VII protects employees and applicants from discrimination based on gender, religion, color, national origin, or race. It also makes it illegal for employers to retaliate against employees who take protected actions. It applies to employers with 15 or more employees.
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The ADEA states that employers cannot discriminate against individuals over 40 years old in employment decisions or in any terms or conditions of employment. It applies to employers with at least 20 employees.
- Equal Pay Act. The Equal Pay act states that men and women who perform equal work at the same employer should receive equal pay, as long as the jobs they perform are completed under similar conditions and require equal skills, responsibilities, and effort. The job titles do not have to be an exact match for the rules to apply. This act applies to all employers.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) This act states that employers cannot discriminate against qualified individuals who are disabled. It includes those with a history of being disabled or who are perceived as disabled, even if this is an incorrect perception. It applies to employers with 15 or more employees.
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act. This act is an amendment to the Civil Rights Act. This amendment takes the prohibition of discrimination based on gender a step further and specifically prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or any related medical conditions. As a part of the Civil Rights Act, it also applies to employers with 15 or more employees.
- Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). GINA prohibits employers from asking employees for genetic information or requiring them to provide it. It also says that any genetic information obtained (even inadvertently) must be kept confidential and cannot be used in employment decisions. It applies to employers with at least 15 employees.
- Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). This act states that employers cannot discriminate on the basis of citizenship or national origin. It also makes it illegal for employers to knowingly employ workers who are not authorized to work in the United States. It applies to employers with at least 4 employees.
This list is not intended to be fully comprehensive; it simply contains the laws that are most commonly cited and enforced pertaining to antidiscrimination. Employers should also note that some state laws provide further protection than these federal laws. Always check local laws and confer with employment counsel with questions. (This article does not constitute legal advice.)
10 tips to help employees boost their retirement savings
Originally posted on https://ebn.benefitnews.com.
Even if they began saving late or have yet to begin, it's important for your plan participants to know they are not alone, and there are steps they can take to kick-start their retirement plan. Merrill Lynch has provided the following tips to help boost their savings - no matter what their stage of life - and pursue the retirement they envision.
1: Focus on starting today
Especially if you're just beginning to put money away for retirement, start saving and investing as much as you can now, and let compound interest have an opportunity to work in your favor.
2: Contribute to your 401(k)
If your employer offers a traditional 401(k) plan, it allows you to contribute pre-tax money, which can be a significant advantage; you can invest more of your income without feeling it as much in your monthly budget.
3. Meet your employer's match
If your employer offers to match your 401(k) plan, make sure you contribute at least enough to take full advantage of the match.
4: Open an IRA
Consider an individual retirement account to help build your nest egg.
5: Automate your savings
Make your savings automatic each month and you'll have the opportunity to potentially grow your nest egg without having to think about it.
6: Rein in spending
Examine your budget. You might negotiate a lower rate on your car insurance or save by bringing your lunch to work instead of buying it.
7: Set a goal
Knowing how much you'll need not only makes the process of investing easier but also makes it more rewarding. Set benchmarks along the way, and gain satisfaction as you pursue your retirement goal.
8: Stash extra funds
Extra money? Don't just spend it. Every time you receive a raise, increase your contribution percentage. Dedicate at least half of the new money to your retirement savings.
9: Take advantage of catch-up contributions
One of the reasons it's important to start early if you can is that yearly contributions to IRAs and 401(k) plans are limited. The good news? Once you reach age 50, these limits rise, allowing you to try to catch up on your retirement savings. Currently, the 401(k) contribution limit is $17,500 for 2013. If you are age 50 or older the limit increases by $5,500.
10: Consider delaying Social Security as you get closer to retirement
For every year you can delay receiving a Social Security payment before you reach age 70, you can increase the amount you receive in the future." The delayed retirement credits range from 3% to 8% annually, depending on the year you were born. Pushing your retirement back even one year could significantly boost your Social Security income during retirement.
Food: The quickest way to an employee’s heart?
Originally posted May 29, 2014 by Scott Woolbridge on https://www.benefitspro.com
Apparently, workers in the U.S. are hungry for food-based perks.
A new survey by Seamless, an online platform for ordering takeout or delivered meals, looked at what employees are saying about food in the workplace. And although a grain or two of salt might be appropriate with this dish, the results are thought-provoking.
In the survey, 57 percent of workers say food-based perks provided by employers would make them feel more valued and appreciated, 50 percent said food-based perks would make them more satisfied with their employers, and 38 percent said that food-related perks would make them more inclined to rate a company highly as a “Best Places to Work” survey. That last finding ranks food-based perks as No. 3 in importance, after flexible vacation policies and gym or yoga memberships.
Employers are responding to this: there was an 11 percent increase in the number of companies offering food-based perks to workers in the past year, the survey found.
The report also noted that nearly half the workers surveyed (48 percent), say they work late nights and weekends some or all of the time, but just 9 percent say they are reimbursed for meals while working extra hours. Fueling that productivity also makes for a more harmonious workplace, the survey suggests, with 40 percent of respondents saying food-based perks would improve communication and collaboration with other workers. And although health issues can be a concern when food is provided at the office, almost half (46 percent) of employees in the survey felt that increased food-based perks at the office would promote healthier eating habits.
“Employees are working longer hours, and in return they want to feel appreciated for their hard work. Companies want to increase profits, but improving employee productivity while recruiting and keeping talented professionals are top concerns,” the report says. “Food-based perks offer an accessible way for companies to strongly impact both employee satisfaction … and recruiting efforts.”
Workers may appreciate companies that provide food-based perks, but HR experts and health groups often raise warnings about eating at work, especially if employees don’t also have opportunities to be active or access to healthy food choices. This WebMD article has several suggestions for healthy eating at work, including watching portion sizes, mixing in activity during the day, and bringing home-made meals rather than ordering takeout (sorry, Seamless).
And a 2013 Healthways study of 20,000 American workers found that workers who ate healthy throughout the day are 25 percent more likely to have higher job performance. So providing food at the office can be a good thing — as long as the programs address health as well as hunger.
How to make wellness work
Originally posted May 29, 2014 by Andy Stonehouse on https://ebn.benefitnews.com.
For all the talk of the benefits of onsite wellness programs – in both the healthier, more productive lives of workers, as well as the presumed employer cost savings as sickness, injury and absenteeism are reduced – are American companies really getting the most out of their wellness dollars?
A new EBN survey, which drew responses from 245 benefits managers, administrators and human resources professionals, finds that wellness programs work best when employee incentives – be they cash or decreases to insurance premiums (or penalties for not achieving goals) – are clearly established. But meeting wellness objectives, be they cutting costs, increasing employee productivity or lowering on-the-job absences, remains a struggle, and companies who’ve implemented wellness programs say they sometimes find it difficult to justify the investment in those costly ventures.
Wellness programs, as a result, are still on the “to do” list of many respondents; only 44% are currently running a wellness initiative, with more than a third either thinking about or almost ready to roll out a program of their own. A lack of benefits/HR managerial resources and the challenging nature of showing the financial justification for wellness’s costs are the biggest factors holding them back, according to the survey.
Among those who’ve actively adopted a wellness program at their workplace, the results are largely positive, but not breathtaking. Just 5% of respondents say they’ve completely met their top objectives – cost savings and cost avoidance – though 53% say they’ve “somewhat” met those goals and a third say they’ve achieved “a little” of that goal. The same goes for other top goals – improving employee health and longevity, and enhancing employee engagement and participation – with respondents reporting only mid-level success, at best.
Respondents said they personally had far less interest in using wellness to increase employee retention and satisfaction, reduce absences or increase overall productivity. “Turnover is an issue in our industry; spending money on wellness for people that leave hurts the ROI on wellness,” one respondent added.
What works
In order to make wellness successful, those who’ve set up and retained a program say that it’s critically important to offer easy-to-use wellness educational tools for employees. This is a much easier task to accomplish, they say, than objectives such as transforming their workplace culture into one centered on wellness, or getting employees engaged in wellness offerings.
But there are still plenty of success stories, and examples of what helps to get workers fully engaged. “A culture of wellness and associate programs requires a long-term commitment,” one respondent noted. “We are beginning to see results after only two years in effect.” Most of those with positive wellness outcomes say they’ve used incentives to help push participation in their programs, with almost half offering cash or gift cards and 40% offering health insurance premium discounts … or penalties, on the other side of the coin, for employees who do not take part.
Survey participants offered their opinions on the vendors that they work with; according to the results, the top five wellness partners include Cigna Behavioral Health, WebMD Health Services, HumanaVitality, OptumHealth Care Solutions and Alere Health Improvement. The various units of Blue Cross/Blue Shield are also important strategic partners for many companies. Interestingly enough, 19% of those respondents with wellness plans in place admitted they did not work with a specific wellness vendor at all, opting to do the heavy lifting of implementing and running a wellness program on their own.
Wellness’ saturation also appears to be directly connected both to the type and the size of business respondents are engaged in. While office-based workplaces such as banking and financial services, plus health care – rife with potential health issues among sedentary workers – make up the largest percentage of those taking the survey, manufacturing and industrial worksites are also important settings for wellness programs. More than 65% of our respondents work with employee populations of 1,000 or fewer, almost a third in companies less than 100.
The survey’s results echo the experiences of benefits managers such as Katie Sens, director of human resources for Chemprene, a small manufacturing firm in New York’s Hudson Valley. Sens oversees the wellbeing of about 115 employees, and says that like many workplaces across the country, those involved in daily physical labor out on the manufacturing floor tend to be in better shape than the company’s desk-bound workers.
“We’ve tried to create interest by offering gym memberships, but we had problems with our health insurance providing coverage,” she says. “But we’ve been inspired by our boss, who walks every day and has lost about 75 pounds in the process, so we worked out another arrangement with Gold’s Gym – we’ll pay if they go eight times a month.” In addition to standard wellness pushes such as smoking cessation and flu shots, Sens says her company has partnered with online weight loss and nutrition and lifestyle coaching provider Retrofit, paying half of employees’ costs up front and hosting group programs.
“Our boss is aboard, I’m in it, as are several other managers and their sponsors, hoping to lead by example,” she says. “Now I’m getting a lot more questions about the program, and certainly raising awareness.” As for ROI on Chemprene’s wellness efforts, Sens says the company is hoping to achieve a better bottom line for its health insurance costs, which she and management will be keeping a close eye on as the wellness programs develop; their efforts are too early to tell, she admits.
Offerings matter
Employee participation in our survey respondents’ wellness efforts also greatly varies by the complexity of the programs they offered. Overall, the highest participation was experienced in safety and injury prevention programs – more than half of respondents said the majority of their workers took part, followed by health screenings (including biometric tests, flu shots, health risk assessments and on-site health clinics), with at least 50% of employees taking part. Significantly less participation was noted in awareness, education and support programs, stress relief efforts and disease management programs; in workplaces where direct physical activities were offered, the majority of respondents said that less than 50% of their workers took part.
Teisha Haynes, global benefits supervisor for international oilfield service company Halliburton, continues to work to find productive and cost-efficient wellness options for her 35,000 U.S. employees and 75,000 dependents, spread out at 104 worksites across the country. Haynes says that the teamwork atmosphere among the company’s largely laboring workforce can actually be beneficial, when it comes to getting workers more actively engaged in physical activity.
“We realize that our employees like to work in teams and compete, so we have implemented a number of physical activity challenges that allow them to work together and compete against other business units for not only bragging rights, but a donation to the charity their select,” she says. “We have had participation from the executives, all the way down.”
For Halliburton, many larger worksites now include an on-location physical activity coordinator (“wellness champions”) to help provide compatible, healthy exercise, even for those employees not necessarily dragging pipes on an oil rig. Those coordinators are tasked with figuring out what works best in their local environment – and what vendors can provide the best services at annual wellness fairs, be they biometric screenings, heart health clinics, mammograms, or exercise programs (Red Wing Shoes, for instance, has helped with foot health assessments at various locations).
Do the efforts pay off? Haynes says measuring the investment in wellness can be a challenge, though the company is moving to quantify things more clearly by comparing claims numbers and data from health risk assessments. “We get some positive signs, like ‘employees are feeling better,’ but that produces pretty fuzzy numbers, so we’re thinking of working with Truven’s health analytics database to get more solid results,” she says.
Among those companies that are reluctant to implement a wellness program, common impediments emerge: 46% say that wellness is simply not a priority for them now, while 20% of others say that they lack the staff resources and time to help establish a wellness system. More often than not, they admit they are “still questioning whether we need one or not,” as well. As a result, a quarter of those still on the fence about wellness say it will be at least a year, if not two, before they’re able to get underway with a full wellness push.
Those who have yet to start up their own wellness program say they are primarily frustrated by a lack of time and resources to do so, as well as the financial costs involved in both start-up and administration of a wellness offering. “Our company is just a year old so it takes time to find out what employees want and will participate in,” one respondent wrote. Others said that their upper management has yet to be convinced of the merits of a wellness program; quantifiying the potential savings, whether they be direct cost reductions or overall decreases in sick leave, remains the biggest stumbling block.
Those cost-related fears may not be unfounded: 40% of survey participants who formerly had a wellness program but have abandoned those efforts say they did so primarily for financial reasons, as well as out of concerns of issues of employee privacy or anti-discrimination laws. Some changed health care providers or lost a partnership with their wellness vendor, as well.
As a more successful alternative, some survey respondents say they have worked to establish very specific objectives for their wellness programs, working with wellness vendors to find the right fit. Dale Johnson, employee benefits manager for the city of Cary, N.C., says that involved developing an innovative functional movement screening – not unlike those used in professional sports – to better understand the musculoskeletal strains of an aging workforce engaged in medium to heavy physical work, and use exercise and better day-to-day techniques to reduce strain and injuries. Johnson says the holistic program, developed with the input of research from nearby Duke University and initially implemented with the city’s public safety employees, resulted in a tangible negative trend in health care utilization and costs.
“The jury’s still out on the long-term impacts of the program, but we’re now considering expanding it to our employees in public works and utilities,” Johnson says. If this variation of a wellness program can significantly cut costs, Johnson says it could be a very positive sign that focused wellness efforts pay off.
ADA accommodation just has to be reasonable
Originally posted May 29, 2014 by Eric B. Meyer on www.benefitspro.com.
This is my son's first year playing t-ball. The rules, in case you're not familiar with them, are simple: Everybody hits. Everybody (eventually) rounds the bases. Everybody scores.
Some games, my son wants to lead off. Some games, he wants to hit last. Ultimately, it doesn't matter where he hits. The coach can place him anywhere in the batting order because he will hit, he will round the bases, and he will score.
The Americans with Disabilities Act is similar in that respect. It requires an employer to accommodate an employee with a disability if doing so will not create an undue hardship for the employer and will allow that employee to perform the essential functions of the job.
The ADA regulations include a non-exhaustive list of reasonable accommodations. Does the employee get to choose which one? Sure, the employee can express his/her desire. But, ultimately, the employee should get one that is reasonable, whether it is the employee's choice -- or not.
A recent case reflects this. In Bunn v. Khoury Enterprises, Inc., Mr. Bunn, who is disabled (visual impairment), sought an accommodation to allow him to perform his essential job functions. So, the employer restructured the employee's job. The accommodation worked. But, since it was not the accommodation Mr. Bunn wanted, he sued, claiming a violation of the ADA.
The lower court granted summary judgment to the employer and, on appeal, the 7th Circuit affirmed, because the job restructuring, while not the employee's preference, nonetheless allowed the employee to perform the essential functions of the job:
"In short, it was exactly the kind of accommodation envisioned by the regulations applicable to the ADA....the undisputed facts show that Khoury did what it was required to do by law....In this area of the law, we are primarily concerned with the ends, not the means...Bunn's apparent displeasure with the way in which Khoury decided on that accommodation, or with its failure to provide the exact accommodation he would have preferred, is irrelevant."
Does this mean that employers should resort to the my-way-or-the-highway approach to workplace accommodations? Certainly not. Oftentimes, providing the employee with a preferred accommodation will not increase expense or inconvenience and, instead, will satisfy the employee.
And although the 7th Circuit underscored that an employee will not prevail on a "failure-to-accommodate" ADA claim by merely showing that the employer failed to engage in an interactive process with the employee or that it caused the interactive process to break down, an employer that goes through the interactive process should have an easier time establishing it acted reasonably when responding to an employee's request for accommodation.
Because, after all, an employer just needs to act reasonably.
Worker Fatalities Show Importance of Safety Training
Originally posted May 28, 2014 by Paul Lawton on https://safetydailyadvisor.blr.com.
Today’s Advisor reports on several workplace fatalities that may have been prevented with more effective safety training.
Case studies provide real-life examples of why it is important for learners to complete safety training and apply that knowledge back on the job.
In the month of June 2013 alone, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued statements regarding citations to five companies where training might have helped save a worker’s life.
1. OSHA proposed fines of $157,000 against a plumbing company as a result of a January 16 incident in which a worker died from injuries sustained when a trench collapsed at a job site in Hastings, Nebraska. The company was cited for failing to train workers on trenching hazards and four other safety violations.
“This tragedy might have been prevented with the use of protective shoring that the company planned to bring to the job site that afternoon. All too often, compromising safety procedures has tragic consequences, and hazards like these cause numerous deaths and injuries every year,” said Bonita Winingham, OSHA’s area director in Omaha. “No job should cost a worker’s life because an employer failed to properly protect and train them.”
2. OSHA also cited waste treatment facility for 22 safety and health violations and proposed $325,710 in fines as a result of a December 28 fire and explosion at the Cincinnati waste treatment facility in which a worker was fatally burned. The violations include failure to provide new training to employees assigned to handle waste materials, to train workers on the selection and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for protection from various materials that are part of their routine assignments, and to provide training and PPE to employees assigned to work on energized circuits.
3. Penalties totaling $116,200 were proposed against a lumber company in Timpson, Texas, stemming from a December incident in which a worker was killed after being struck by a broken band saw blade. The 17 alleged safety violations include failure to provide easily understood lockout/tagout training for energy control and to certify that energy control training was completed and current.
4. Among other things, OSHA cited a trucking company in Ross, North Dakota, for failing to train workers on chemical hazards and precautions after a worker was fatally injured on March 27 while cleaning the inside of a crude oil tanker that exploded.
5. OSHA also cited tool manufacturer for 17 safety violations, including lack of training, after a maintenance worker was electrocuted on March 6 in Fenton, Missouri.
Each company had 15 days to comply with the citations, request a conference, or contest the citations and penalties.
Learn from the failures of these companies to protect their employees, and make any needed changes in your own safety training programs to ensure such tragedies don’t happen in your workplace.
Why It Matters
- Safety on the job is a top priority for employees and employers alike.
- Safety training is a key component of every safety program.
- Keep your employees safe—and avoid expensive citations—by continually evaluating your safety program and its training component.
Financial services companies renew focus on talent management
Originally posted May 29, 2014 by Michael Giardina on https://ebn.benefitnews.com.
As the financial services industry recovers from the recession, HR leaders at companies such as BNY Mellon and Invesco are re-examining their talent management programs and putting a new emphasis on corporate culture.
Following the recession, many executives in the financial services HR field began to question the industry’s focus on top-down management. At BNY Mellon, combining the firm’s traditional corporate structure with a new focus on talent management was an important part of its business strategy.
The global investment company has more than 50,000 people in 100 different locations, which makes culture and communication integral to its growth.
“We spend a lot of time thinking about culture,” says Sarah Allen, global director of HR strategy and talent solutions for BNY Mellon. “We really do try and reinforce the values.”
The company is in the process of implementing a year-long rotational development program, also known as a management training program, for interns and current employees.
“We think it’s really important because it gives us a chance to offer a differentiated experience, and gives these new employees a chance to see the company from a completely different perspective, from a 360 [degree] perspective,” says Allen. She notes that BNY Mellon is also rolling out a new employee career center to foster development, networking and coaching for motivated employees looking to grow.
According to Nancy Lupinski, head of people development at Invesco, the company is developing numerous programs with a focus on its more than 6,000 employees.
“We are continuing our focus on robust talent management processes, with enhanced efforts related to leadership development, as well as succession and development planning for key roles,” she says. “We work closely with business leaders to target development solutions that accelerate top talent development.”
Identifying, developing and managing talent in an industry as complex and global as financial services is a constant challenge, says Chris Farbo, global leader of Towers Watson’s talent and rewards financial services practice.
“We’re seeing a difference now,” he says. “We’re seeing organizations challenging what have been the historic norms on the staffing pyramid. Do we really need that many seniors to this many middle managers to this many juniors or should we change the slope of that pyramid?”
In a recent poll, Towers Watson found that approximately 44% of financial services companies said that identifying and developing talent would be the primary focus of their HR department over the next 12 months. Also, manager effectiveness, performance management and career architecture were cited by executives as being part of their 2014 HR roadmap.
“I think the industry has been very good at creating very good vertical executives who know their particular area of expertise incredibly well,” says Farbo. “But, as I speak with executives in the industry and boards of directors, where they want the industry to go is having executives grooming talent with a broader horizontal perspective on the business, so they can see and understand the different pockets of activity that are taking place across what are increasingly global and very diversified business portfolios.”
Allen says BNY Mellon is launching a manager feedback component to its employee review process this year, which will allow employees to rate the effectiveness of their managers.
“The manager will use that as input into their professional development plan, but it’s something that our employees have asked for that we think will be pretty powerful,” Allen says. “It just ensures that greater two-way communication.”
Forty-two percent of respondents to the Towers Watson survey said both manager effectiveness and performance management would be the talent initiatives receiving the most attention over the next 12 months.