Daily Grind Getting You Down? Make Yourself Happier And More Productive At Work With These Simple Tips
Employee Wellness is crucial for productivity. Katie Sola gives some tips and tricks for your daily routine to have a happier self. See the article below from Forbes.com.
Eat a lot more fruit and vegetables: Eight servings, to be exact
You know fruit and veg are healthy, but did you know they can make you happier than a major positive life event like a promotion or a major raise? Scientists at the University of Warwick, Great Britain and the University of Queensland, Australia followed more than 12,000 randomly selected people for two years. They found that people who switched from eating few fruit and vegetables to eating eight servings a day experienced a spike in well-being equivalent to getting a job after being unemployed.
Exercise before work
It’s common knowledge that exercise makes you happier and more productive, but to gain the greatest benefits, you should work out before or during the workday. Researchers at the University of Bristol, Great Britain, found that office workers are most productive on the days they exercise.
“Critically, workers performed significantly better on exercise days and across all three areas we measured, known as mental-interpersonal, output and time demands,” research associate Jo Coulson said in a statement.
Watch a funny video and have a snack during the workday
Scientists at the University of Warwick, Great Britain found that watching comedic clips and eating chocolate and fruit made workers happier, and boosted their productivity by 12 percent. It worked in a laboratory setting, so it may well work in your office too.
Keep your commute as short as possible
Long commutes sap your happiness more than you think.
“Every ten minutes of commuting results in ten per cent fewer social connections. Commuting is connected to social isolation, which causes unhappiness,” Robert Putnam told the New Yorker in 2007. He’s a Harvard political scientist and the author of Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.
See the full article Here.
Source:
Sola, K. (2016, July 28). Daily grind getting you down? Make yourself happier and more productive at work with these simple tips [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/levelup/2016/07/28/daily-grind-getting-you-down-make-yourself-happier-and-more-productive-at-work-with-these-simple-tips/#14c8a80b31f5
10 Resources to Help Your Employees Prepare for Retirement
Very helpful tips for retirement from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), by Irene Saccoccio.
Social Security wants to help you prepare your employees for a secure, comfortable retirement. Security is the Social Security Administration’s middle name and we want everyone to enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of labor.
We mentioned before that being prepared when you retire can open new avenues of possibilities. Our website has tools and information to help you secure today and tomorrow. When it comes to retirement, we’ve got you covered with 10 tools to help you plan for your retirement, apply for, and then manage your benefits as you go along.
1. Our Retirement Estimator provides estimates based on your actual Social Security earnings record. Plug in different numbers, retirement dates, and scenarios to help you decide the best time for you to retire.
2. Using our Retirement Planner: Plan for Your Retirement can help you find your ideal retirement age, estimate your life expectancy and the amount of your benefits when you retire. You can test future retirement ages and various earning amounts.
3. Read Retirement Planner: Getting Benefits While Working to learn the rules and regulations about work after retirement, how it affects you, and what you should consider.
4. Retirement Benefits provides you with a broad overview of our retirement program. It covers how you earn coverage, how to apply, how benefits are figured, and how to decide when to retire.
5. When to Start Receiving Retirement Benefits takes a look at some factors that can help you make an informed decision about the best time to retire.
6. Your Retirement Benefit: How It Is Figured explains the formula Social Security uses to calculate your benefit amount, describes what factors can affect it, and offers a worksheet to help you estimate your retirement benefits.
7. The Medicare section of our website provides information about the Medicare program and answers general questions on Medicare.
8. Medicare Premiums: Rules for Higher-Income Beneficiaries explains the rules about people with higher incomes. If you have higher income, find out why you will pay an additional premium amount for Medicare Part B and Medicare prescription drug coverage.
9. Your personal my Social Security account is one of the most powerful tools available to secure your retirement. And lucky for you it’s at your fingertips. With a personal my Social Security account, your employees can get their Social Security Statement that shows estimates of their future retirement, disability, and survivors benefits. They can check their earnings to verify the yearly amounts that we posted are correct. They can also get estimates of Social Security and Medicare taxes they’ve paid.
10. Our online retirement application is an easy, convenient, and secure way to trail-blaze your way to retirement. You can complete it in as little as 15 minutes and, just like that, you can start the retirement of your dreams.
With these 10 resources, your employees can stay informed about their retirement options. Information is the first step toward achievement. When you retire one journey ends while another begins. Be ready for your next adventure!
Irene Saccoccio is the National Public Affairs Specialist for the U.S. Social Security Administration.
See the original article Here.
Source:
Saccoccio, I. (2016 September 15). 10 Resources to help your employees prepare for retirement. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://blog.shrm.org/blog/10-resources-to-help-your-employees-prepare-for-retirement
CMS moves to shore up ACA insurance markets
Great article from Modern Healthcare by Bob Herman
The CMS proposed rules Monday afternoon that would make several changes to the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and refine the law's risk adjustment, heeding calls from the health insurance industry.
The proposed rules (PDF), which normally are released in November, come after weeks of intense scrutiny and uncertainty about the viability of the new ACA insurance exchanges. Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealth Group, which have bigger footprints in the employer and Medicare Advantage markets, all have announced major retrenchments for the 2017 season, which begins Nov. 1.
One of the biggest changes involves the ACA's permanent risk-adjustment program. Lawmakers created risk adjustment to compensate plans for taking on sicker enrollees who have higher healthcare costs, thereby attempting to eliminate the incentive to cherry-pick healthier people.
Starting in 2018, risk adjustment would factor in prescription drug data in addition to all the normal conditions and illnesses that are factored into someone's risk score. Health insurers have argued their members look healthier than they actually are because the program doesn't account for the medicines people are taking. But some risk-adjustment experts believe using drug data could create perverse incentives for doctors to write unnecessary prescriptions.
The CMS said the change was worth pursuing while considering those concerns. “We sought to strike a reasonable balance between increasing predictive accuracy and reducing incentives for overprescription,” the agency said. “One way we sought to do so was by focusing on drugs for which guidelines on when they should be prescribed are clear.”
Conditions that involve drugs that would be used for the updated risk adjustment include hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS, end-stage renal disease, diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.
Risk adjustment in 2018 also would account for “partial-year” members who enroll outside of open enrollment. Insurers have said people who enroll midyear have higher healthcare costs and therefore are riskier to cover.
The CMS' proposals would alter several areas within the 2018 exchange plans as well. For example, the agency proposed three additional sets of standardized plans, called “simple choice” plans.
Last year, the CMS proposed six standardized health plan options as a way to simplify shopping for consumers on the federally run marketplaces. For instance, each plan in each tier level has the same deductible and same annual limit on cost-sharing. However, plans are not required to offer standardized options. Insurers fought aggressively against the Obama administration's proposal, saying those types of plans would “stifle” their ability to create new benefits and products.
The new standardized options for 2018 mostly were proposed to adapt with existing state cost-sharing laws, the CMS said.
The rule also proposed that insurers must offer at least one silver-level and at least one gold-level health plan if they sell on the exchanges, which cater to individuals and small businesses. Premium and cost-sharing subsidies are tied to silver plans and pay 70% of medical costs on average. Gold plans are more comparable to employer-based health coverage, paying about 80% of costs on average.
The CMS has already made several changes to the exchanges in the past year, notably to tighten up when people can enroll outside of open enrollment. Insurers have said people are gaming the special enrollment periods—reserved for when people get married or move to a new residence, for instance—and the CMS has repeatedly asked for data to prove that gaming exists.
Comments on the 2018 exchange proposals are due Oct. 6.
See the original article Here.
Source:
Herman, B. (2016 August 29). CMS moves to shore up ACA insurance markets. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20160829/NEWS/160829915
Automation making huge retirement plan impact
Paula Aven Gladych gives great insight on how automated retirement contributions are helping increase participation. See the full article from BenefitNews.com below.
Retirement plan participation has increased 19% in the past five years because of design features that make it simple and quick for employees to participate in their workplace retirement plans.
Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust examined the savings behaviors of 4 million defined contribution plan participants from 5,000 companies and found that features such as automatic defaults into diversified investments, target-date funds and automatic escalation have had a huge effect on employee savings rates.
The company’s Plan Health Index is a retirement plan health measure that includes a plan’s participation and savings rates and its diversification as a measure of employee retirement readiness.
Employees “have to join the plan, be saving at an adequate rate and be adequately diversified for their time horizon. If they are doing all three of those things well, they have a good chance for a good outcome, assuming they started saving early enough,” says Joe Ready, executive vice president and director of institutional retirement and trust at Wells Fargo.
To score well on the Wells Fargo Plan Health Index, employees need to participate in their workplace plan, save at 10% or higher, including the employer matching contribution, and have their retirement savings in diverse investments.
“Plan health across our book of business increased 37% from five years ago,” Ready says.
Participation increased 19%, contributions were up 7.3% from five years ago and diversification improved 26%, according to Wells Fargo research.
Generationally, millennials are reaping the biggest benefit from this industry shift toward automatic features. They have essentially grown up with these options, Ready says, and they have the highest increase in participation in the last five years. They also are the most diversified generation, taking advantage of target-date funds and other managed account options.
Millennials are also taking advantage of Roth 401(k) features at a higher rate than other generations. Wells Fargo found that 16% of millennials are taking advantage of a Roth option, compared to 12% of other participants.
“They are engaged,” Ready says. “They are thinking about their future taxes and tax diversification. That’s pretty good.”
The key drivers of plan participation are income, automatic features, tenure and age, Ready says. Wells Fargo analyzed tenure and found that once a company’s employees are hired and with the company for two years, their attrition rates tend to drop off dramatically.Ready encourages employers to design their retirement plans so that loyal employees, those who have stayed longer than two years, are eligible for the employer matching contribution. It’s a balance between helping employees achieve their retirement goals and wanting to invest in those who are invested in their company, he said.
Ready encourages employers to design their retirement plans so that loyal employees, those who have stayed longer than two years, are eligible for the employer matching contribution. It’s a balance between helping employees achieve their retirement goals and wanting to invest in those who are invested in their company, he said.
The way the matching contribution is designed can also have a major impact on how much employees save for retirement. If a company switches from contributing 50 cents on the first 3% to 25% on the first 6%, it automatically gets employees saving an additional 3% they wouldn’t save otherwise. Automatic increase is another feature that is underutilized, according to Ready.
Many companies set their automatic increase at 1% per year with an opt-out option. Ready says that whether the auto increase is 1% or 2%, the opt-out percentage is the same, so why not make the auto escalation 2% per year, bringing employees closer to that 10% savings rate sooner?
“It makes a material difference, especially at a younger age, to get to a higher savings rate quicker. It makes a big difference in outcome,” Ready says.
Two-thirds of Wells Fargo’s clients use an auto increase program, but “less than 30% of those plans implemented it on an opt-out basis,” the research found.
Having an opt-out option — meaning employees have to make the effort to opt out of the increase – takes advantage of participant inertia, Wells Fargo reported. Even with an opt-out option, 79% of plan participants stayed with the automatic increase on their retirement savings accounts.
Millennials tend to be more diversified in their retirement investments than older generations, due in large part to by the increase of automatic features in plans. Because of that, Wells Fargo found that 78% of millennials are on track to replace 80% of their pay in retirement, compared to 62% for Generation X and 50% for baby boomers.
“Some of that has to do with the fact that millennials are getting into the plan at an early age, saving early and diversifying appropriately with managed products,” Ready says.
That said, only 28.6% of millennials are contributing to their retirement account at the 10% level, compared to 35.2% for Generation X and 44.5% for the boomers.
“I’m very bullish on millennials, the way they are participating and the way they are engaging in the Roth
and leveraging diversification products in their plans,” Ready says. “If they keep increasing their savings rate, they have the power of time.”
Ready says he expects the trend toward automatic features in retirement plans to continue. He also sees a future rise in technology with a purpose. Wells Fargo has a mobile app that gives employees a one-click option to sign up for their company retirement plan. The company will send a text to all new employees with a link to the retirement plan sign-up page. It might say, “You are eligible to join our 401(k) plan.” When the participant clicks on the link, it takes her to a pre-filled screen that tells her what the default saving rate is and the default investments. If the employee is happy with the defaults, all she has to do is click the enroll button.
“We have seen a material increase in the number of people enrolling because of that,” Ready says.
See Original Post from BenefitNews.com Here.
Source:
Gladych, P.A. (2016, July 21). Automation making huge retirement plan impact [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.benefitnews.com/news/automation-making-huge-retirement-plan-impact
HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Audit Program
Phase 1 of the HIPPA audits are complete and Phase 2 will begin shortly. The U.S. Departmetn of Helath & Human Services gives some background on Phase 1:
Background on the OCR Pilot Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Audit Program
Phase1: The use of health information technology continues to expand in health care. Although these new technologies provide many opportunities and benefits for consumers, they also pose new risks to consumer privacy. Because of these increased risks, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) include national standards for the privacy of protected health information, the security of electronic protected health information, and breach notification to consumers. HITECH also requires HHS to perform periodic audits of covered entity and business associate compliance with the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules. HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces these rules, and in 2011, OCR established a pilot audit program to assess the controls and processes covered entities have implemented to comply with them. Through this program, OCR developed a protocol, or set of instructions, it then used to measure the efforts of 115 covered entities. As part of OCR’s continued commitment to protect health information, the office instituted a formal evaluation of the effectiveness of the pilot audit program.
Learn more about the Pilot Audit Program.
Learn more about the Audit Evaluation Program.
Learn more about the Audit Program Protocol.
See the Original Article from the U.S. Departmetn of Health and Human Services Here.
Proposed regulations clarify TIN responsibilities, create new questions
Ryan Moulder gives a little clarity on the new TIN regulations in the article below.
On Aug. 2, 2016 the IRS published in the Federal Register proposed regulations which among other things attempt to clarify the confusion regarding Taxpayer Identification Number solicitations. This is the government’s third attempt to clarify the TIN issue since the creation of IRC section 6055. The first attempt was made in the preamble to the final regulations for section 6055. In an attempt to bring greater clarity and to gather further comments on the issue, the government issued Notice 2015-68. Notice 2015-68 states an employer will not be subject to the penalties for the failure to report a TIN if the entity follows the regulations set forth at section 301.6724-1(e) with the additional modifications:
- The initial solicitation is made at an individual’s first enrollment or, if already enrolled on September 17, 2015, the next open enrollment;
- The second solicitation is made at a reasonable time thereafter, and
- The third solicitation is made by December 31 of the year following the initial solicitation.
The Notice is not a model for clarity and this issue has only been exasperated by the number of AIRTN500 error messages employers received when submitting the Form 1095-C. With that as a backdrop, the government is once again trying to clarify an employer’s solicitation obligation through proposed regulations. The proposed regulations only apply to the Form 1095-B and to Part III of the Form 1095-C (the Part that is used for employers that sponsor a self-insured plan). The proposed regulations do not affect Parts I or II of the Form 1095-C. This article focuses on the proposed regulations as they relate to Part III of the Form 1095-C. However, most of the concerns discussed in this article could be applied to the Form 1095-B.
As a refresher to what we have written about in previous publications, an employer submitting a Form 1095-C is subject to the penalty provisions of section 6721 and section 6722 for failure to timely file a correct information return or failure to timely furnish a correct statement to the individual. The penalties under both section 6721 and section 6722 may be waived if the failure to timely file (or furnish) a correct information return (or statement) was due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect. An employer may meet this standard by showing it acted in a responsible manner and that the failure was the result of events beyond the employer’s control or there were mitigating factors. An employer in danger of violating section 6721 and section 6722 as the result of a missing TIN or an incorrect TIN can follow the procedures laid out in specific sections of the regulations to fulfill the standard discussed in the preceding sentences.
The proposed regulations did a good job distinguishing between missing TINs (discussed at section 301.6724-1(e)) and incorrect TINs (discussed at section 301.6724-1(f)). Treasury and the IRS agreed with commenters that some modifications needed to be made to the solicitation process for missing TINs. However, the proposed regulations leave unchanged the regulations set out for incorrect TINs.
One of the problems commenters complained about with regard to missing TINs is it did not adequately define the term “opened” which was relevant to determine when the initial solicitation needed to be made to satisfy the regulations. An initial solicitation for a missing TIN must be made at the time an account is “opened.” Prior to the existence of the Form 1095-C, missing TIN solicitations were typically performed for financial accounts. These accounts are generally considered “opened” on the first day the account is available for use by the owner. However, this understanding of the term “opened” does not translate well to health coverage.
To rectify this problem, the proposed regulations provide that for the purposes of the Form 1095-C an account is considered “opened” on the date the filer receives a substantially complete application for new coverage or to add an individual to existing coverage. The proposed regulations indicate the initial solicitation for a missing TIN can be satisfied by requesting the enrolling individual’s TIN as part of the application process.
If the initial solicitation for a missing TIN does not produce a TIN, the first annual solicitation under the proposed regulations must be made no later than 75 days after the date on which the account was “opened” or, if the coverage is retroactive, no later than 75 days after the determination of retroactive coverage is made. The second annual solicitation for a missing TIN remains unchanged from the current regulations and must be made by December 31 of the year following the year the account is opened. It is important to note an employer may continue to rely on the rules discussed in Notice 2015-68 or may follow the proposed regulations until the final regulations are published.
Additional relief is provided by the proposed regulations for a missing TIN. For any individual enrolled in coverage on any day before July 29, 2016, the account will considered to be opened on July 29, 2016. An employer will have satisfied its initial solicitation obligation with respect to an individual who is already enrolled so long as the employer requested the enrolled individual’s TIN as part of the application process for coverage or in any other appropriate fashion before July 29, 2016.
Consistent with Notice 2015-68, the first annual solicitation would need to be made within a reasonable time after July 29, 2016 if the initial solicitation did not produce a TIN. An employer who performs the first annual solicitation within 75 days (before Oct. 11, 2016) will be treated as having made the first annual solicitation within a reasonable time. In this situation, if the first two solicitations (the initial solicitation and the first annual solicitation) do not produce a TIN, the second annual solicitation would need to be made by December 31, 2017.
The proposed regulations do not change the solicitation process for incorrect TINs. Therefore, for an incorrect TIN, the first annual solicitation must be made on or before December 31 of the year in which the employer was notified of the incorrect TIN unless the employer was notified of the incorrect TIN in December in which case the employer’s solicitation must be made by January 31 of the following year (see section 301.6724-1(f)(1)(ii)). Similarly, the rules for the second annual solicitation for an incorrect TIN remain unchanged. Therefore, if the employer is notified in any following year after the first annual solicitation that an employee’s (or other dependents’) TIN is incorrect, a second annual solicitation must be made on or before December 31 of the year in which the employer was notified of the incorrect TIN unless the employer was notified of the incorrect TIN in December in which case the employer’s solicitation must be made by January 31 of the following year (see section 301.6724-1(f)(1)(iii)).
The current regulations state that an employer may be notified of an incorrect TIN by the IRS or by a penalty notice issued by the IRS under section 6721 (see section 301.6724-1(f)(1)(ii)). Employers are being notified of an incorrect TIN on Part III of the Form 1095-C with an AIRTN500 error message. We were under the assumption that this would trigger the TIN solicitation obligation. However, footnote 2 of the proposed regulations appears to call this into question. Footnote 2 states:
A filer of the information return required under section 1.6055-1 may receive an error message from the IRS indicating that a TIN and name provided on the return do not match IRS records. An error message is neither a Notice 972CG, Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty, nor a requirement that the filer must solicit a TIN in response to the error message.
This footnote could be interpreted several ways. One possible reading would result in an employer having no solicitation obligation despite the fact an employee’s Form 1095-C triggered an AIRTN500 error message. Alternatively, this footnote could be read to mean an employer who received an AIRTN500 error message would not in all cases be required to make a solicitation. This would be the case if the employer had already fulfilled an initial solicitation as well as two additional annual solicitations at a prior time
However, we think the instructions to the Form 1095-C require an employer receiving an AIRTN500 error message to make some sort of effort to identify a correct TIN for a covered individual. Among other items, an employer is responsible for filing a corrected Form 1095-C if there was an error in the TIN in Part I or Part III related to covered individuals. The source of the error identification may be an IRS error message when submitting the Form 1095-C. The AIRTN500 error message is telling an employer there is an error in a TIN in either Part I or Part III of the Form 1095-C.
However, and to murky the water even further, the instructions for the Form 1094-C/1095-C state “Regulations section 301.6724-1 (relating to information return penalties) does not require you to file corrected returns for missing or incorrect TINs if you meet the reasonable cause criteria.” The confusion with this statement begins with the statement appearing to be at odds with the Form 1094-C/1095-C instructions requirement that a corrected return be filed for an incorrect TIN in Part I or Part III. However, this could conceivably be reconciled with the current regulations. The current regulations require an employer to include the updated TIN with any information return that has an original due date which is after the date that the employer receives the updated TIN (see section 301.6724-1(f)(1)(iv)). Therefore, these statements could be reconciled by viewing the current regulations standard of only updating forms after the correct TIN has been received (as stated in section 301.6724-1(f)(1)(iv)) as trumping the Form 1094-C/1095-C instructions need to correct a return for an incorrect TIN in Part I or Part III.
What is more difficult to reconcile is footnote 2 and the statement in the Form 1094-C/1095-C instructions. As discussed above, footnote 2 could be read to mean no solicitation effort is needed in the event of an AINTN500 error message. Seemingly to the contrary, the Form 1094-C/1095-C instructions state an employer does not need to file a corrected return for a missing or incorrect TIN if the employer meets the reasonable cause criteria of section 301.6724-1. This is inconsistent because, to meet the reasonable cause criteria of section 301.6724-1, an employer must follow the solicitation procedures for missing and incorrect TINs discussed in section 301.6724-1(e) and section 301.6724-1(f) respectively.
One possible reading of all of these statements would give employers two potential paths. If the footnote 2 path is followed, no formal solicitation would need to be made. However, if the footnote 2 path is followed and an informal solicitation produces a correct TIN, the employer would need to file a corrected Form 1095-C and typically would need to furnish the employee a corrected statement. This path is unsatisfying to a conservative legal mind. Alternatively, the second path would not require a corrected return but the formal solicitation procedures discussed in section 301.6724-1 would need to be followed. The uncomfortable aspect of this option is no corrected return would be filed after the employer is made aware that either a TIN in Part I or Part III of the Form 1095-C is incorrect. Again, this path is unsatisfying to a conservative legal mind.
Given the uncertainty created by footnote 2 and the statement in the Form 1094-C/1095-C instructions, we still view the formal solicitation as the best practice if an informal inquiry does not solve the TIN issue. Additionally, we view filing a corrected return as the safest practice. It is important to note that correcting errors is a requirement to use the good faith efforts standard to file accurate and complete information returns in 2015. Therefore, an employer must at least make some sort of effort to figure out what is causing the AIRTN500 error message.
Ideally, the IRS would release a simple overriding statement. The statement would begin “In the event one of your Form 1095-Cs triggers an AIRTN500 error message…” This would be followed by a simple statement or two as to what type of solicitation needs to be performed and whether a corrected Form 1095-C needs to be completed. We urge the IRS to take such action as the AIRTN500 error message was received for millions, if not tens of millions, of Form 1095-Cs.
We understand that the AIRTN500 error message has been the source of immense frustration for many employers. The proposed regulations appear to be another small step in the right direction towards an amicable solution. However, footnote 2 and the Form 1094-C/1095-C instructions cast uncertainty as to when the formal solicitation procedures need to be followed. Employers need to continue to monitor the government’s guidance on this important issue. And, until we get official word from the IRS, we view the formal solicitation procedures along with a corrected return when the solicitation is successful as the safest way to ensure compliance.
See the original article posted on EmployeeBenefitAdvisor.com on August 11, 2016 Here.
Source:
Moulder, R. (2016, August 11). Proposed regulations clarify TIN responsibilities, create new questions. Retrieved from https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/opinion/proposed-regulations-clarify-tin-responsibilities-create-new-questions
How companies keep employee perks hot during the summer
Giving extra perks in the summertime can help increase productivity and help cut costs. Kathleen Koster gives some insight for extra summertime perks for employees in the article below from BenefitNews.com
Summer means fun in the sun for employees and their families, and more and more employers are providing additional flex time and summer scheduling to allow workers to enjoy the warm weather and spend their work hours recharged and refreshed.
From flex time to company softball leagues to early dismissals for good surf days, employers are rewarding employees with summer benefits and perks that fit their company culture.
According to the SHRM Employee Benefits Survey, 17% of employers offer seasonal scheduling. Employers may offer Fridays off or close early on those days, which not only gives employees a reward, it saves money on air conditioning and electricity.
Further, employers now offer employees an annual company outing, such as a picnic, up from 55% in 2012 to 64% in 2016.
Social gatherings give employees the opportunity to get to know one another outside of the job, which can lead to better working relationships. According to the SHRM report, almost one-third (30%) of employers offered discount ticket services, and 23% offered company purchased tickets to events such as cultural proceedings, sporting events or theme parks.
Another traditional example is allowing seasonal casual dress, offered by 27% of employers.
These are all solid, fun ideas for summer rewards, but EBN also spoke with an employer who goes far beyond these traditional summer perks. Patagonia offers company bikes, volleyball courts and on-site yoga for workers at their Ventura campus. Their reception desk posts daily surf reports and they even make companywide announcements on especially days when waves are prime for surfers.
“Whether it’s playing volleyball or going down to the beach, we encourage people to take a moment of time to reconnect and enjoy summer,” says Shannon Ellis, Patagonia’s HR director.
See also: 20 crazy benefits offered by employers
The company is known for its athletic lifestyle and environmentally-friendly products, which carries into their company culture.
“In terms of traditional stuff [like office picnics], I’d say we’re very untraditional in that regard in that we try to capitalize on events that deliver more connection back to the community and tie in with the company mission,” explains Ellis.
And that mission — “to build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis” — clearly extends to its employee benefits.
For example, teams participate in volunteer efforts at local grassroots and environmental groups. Ellis says a group in the Ventura office recently volunteered at a marine mammal rescue center. These group initiatives are “a great way to connect with the local community and also for team building,” she says.
What’s more, employees can take two months off work to volunteer at an environmental non-profit and still receive their full salary. All employees are eligible to apply for and participate in these environmental internships and many do, especially in the summertime when, according to anecdotal data from Ellis, utilization is at its highest.
Ellis says they rarely have staffing shortages. “In the summertime it’s very easy to adapt and schedule accordingly with things like vacation,” she says.
This year, Patagonia plans to send approximately 170 of its employees into the field through its Environmental Internship Program. Since its inception in 1993, Patagonia has supported nearly 2,000 employees with fully paid protected leave while they work for environmental organizations around the world.
For longer leave (such as maternity, paternity or adoption), Patagonia often has employees from different segments of the organization sub in so they gain new experiences and a deeper understanding of the full company’s interworking, as well as their own career goals.
Rewards on a dime
No matter what the organization’s size or budget, HR managers can find ways to engage and reward employees in the summertime.
“There are lots of unique perks in the high tech companies and financial services. But I think any organizations regardless of size or revenue can come up with something,” says Lenny Sanicola, benefits practice leader for WorldatWork.
This could mean hosting an ice cream social in the office or bringing a snow cone truck to the parking lot. “Look for ways to keep people motivated and productive,” he says.
Flexibility is a great example. The time issue is critical for working parents during the summer when their kids are out of school. The spring and summer is a great time to encourage employees to reach out to the EAP for camp or childcare referrals.
“Even if company doesn’t [offer flexible or compressed work schedules] during the year, it can be an attractive benefit for summer,” says Sanicola. “Or if they do, make it go further in the summer.”
Sanicola also suggests offering “Bring Your Kid to Work” days in the summer. This could be a single day or employers could offer it once a month, depending on the size of the workforce.
Patagonia offers on-site childcare for their Ventura campus employees. But their benefits philosophy extends to all their employees, no matter their location, be it at Ventura corporate headquarters, their distribution center in Nevada or any of their retail stores across the country. So while they can’t offer on-site care to store employees, they have a reimbursement program in place.
And just because the summer ends, doesn't mean company perks have to cool off.
“We see larger utilization [in child care benefits and environmental internships] during the summer, but our philosophy spans the entire year,” says Patagonia’s Ellis. “We really try to replicate summer to year round.”
See the Original Article Here.
Source:
Koster, K. (2016, August 2). How companies keep employee perks hot during the summer [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.benefitnews.com/news/how-companies-keep-employee-perks-hot-during-the-summer
What Employers Can Learn From Millennials
Great read by Christina Folz on generational communication.
It's a tale as old as time: Middle-aged and older adults kvetch about the next generation and speculate on what this world is coming to. Business author and consultant Jamie Notter recently shared a reference to young adults' lack of respect for elders and poor work ethic—from the ancient Roman philosopher Cicero.
"Every 20 years, a new generation comes into the work world as adults, and we all freak out about it," says Notter, who co-wrote the book When Millennials Take Over (Idea Press, 2015). As the largest living generation, Millennials (those younger than 35) have perhaps borne more than their fair share of scorn.
"We are really mad about how many trophies they got," says Notter, who is a member of Generation X and founding partner of WorkXO LLC. "We're constantly saying they don't get it, they don't know how to work in the real world." In truth, however, they likely understand more about the future of business than others, given that they are shaping it. "They have a lot to teach us," Notter maintains. "We need to shift conversation away from complaining and more toward being curious."
For their book, Notter and co-author Maddie Grant researched organizations that had alignment with the Millennial approach to business. These companies tend to be:
Digital. This is about more than technology. It's a philosophy based on the concept that software must work for the user—by being customizable and constantly updated. "We need to bring that mindset into leadership and business," Notter says. The American Society for Surgery of the Hand, a Chicago-based organization with about 20 employees, shaped its whole enterprise around the needs of employees rather than management—by letting people wear what they want to work, for example—and the organization has experienced off-the-charts engagement as a result.
Clear. "It's not just transparency for transparency's sake," Notter says. "It's about making things visible in order to improve the quality of decisions that get made." Menlo Innovations, a technology firm in Ann Arbor, Mich., pairs two software designers at a single workstation; one comments on the code as the other is writing it, and each pair's tasks are posted on a wall so they know what is expected at all times. "They charge more than competitors and still have people lining up," Notter says. "The product is that good."
Fluid. The hierarchy is still there, but everyone is actively engaged in the organization's mission. At Quality Living Inc. in Omaha, Neb., a rehabilitation facility for people with brain and spinal cord injuries, there is a standing rule: No matter where a person is on the organization's hierarchy, he or she must connect decision-making to the hopes and dreams of the patient. "For this to work, you need to be crystal clear on what defines success," Notter says.
Fast. All the organizations Notter and Grant studied were agile and quick—in part because employees are trusted to make choices themselves. At Menlo Innovations, for example, "decisions get made without e-mail and boring status update meetings," Notter says.
Instead, employees communicate and resolve issues using something Notter referred to as "high-speed voice technology."
In other words, they talk to each other.
Read the original article posted on SHRM.org on July 27, 2016 Here.
Source:
Folz, C. (2016, July 27). What employers can learn from millennials [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/0716/pages/when-millennials-take-over.aspx
Healthcare strategies that can save employers money
Todd Rolland compares the traditional strategies to new stratigies for healthcare savings in the artilce below.
It is no secret that employee benefit costs are rising. As an employer, we wonder what can be done to reduce costs and as an employee, we are curious if we are getting the best deal. Medical insurance costs are rising faster than many companies’ profit margins and outpacing inflation on a year-to-year basis.
Rising healthcare costs are eroding revenue unlike any other element within a business. Government regulations and rising premiums are also affecting cash flow which can impact all areas of business operations. Separating rhetoric and marketing from meaningful, impactful company-wide solutions is becoming increasingly difficult. However, as the paradigm shift of healthcare strategies gains momentum, sustainable solutions are becoming clearer.
There are evolving options with this new paradigm shift of healthcare strategies: traditional, direct contracting, reference-based pricing and bundled pricing. A strong market push for pricing transparency has created additional opportunities for employers to save money and control costs, and they are doing just that. Employers now have the ability to function much like the traditional PPO has historically functioned by negotiating directly with providers.
The traditional approach includes elements such as reinsurance, administration, PPO networks, pharmacy benefit managers, population health management, predictive modeling, multiple plan designs and wellness strategies.
New options
Direct contracting is also a viable option because providers are much more willing to contract directly with employers than ever before. The idea is to establish a delivery and pricing contract that accomplishes two primary objectives:
- An agreed-upon fee schedule for services performed that is less than typical insurance company PPO-contracted rates.
- Incentive for participants to utilize contracted providers for the care needed.
The third option, reference-based pricing, allows employers to structure partial self-funding plans that reimburse a certain percentage of Medicare reimbursements levels for claims. PPO fee schedules can be 100-200% higher than these Medicare rates. As a result, the reimbursement plan can save employers a considerable amount. However, there is still a risk in balanced billing. The direct contracting option protects the employer with balanced billing issues that they would otherwise experience with reference-based pricing methodologies.
Bundled pricing is rapidly evolving and creates a significant opportunity for employers to save money. Employers simply pay agree-upon cash pricing for surgeries performed on an outpatient basis, and in certain cases, an inpatient basis. The price includes all services including facility, surgeon, anesthesiology, pathology, radiology, etc.
Additionally, two strategies that are gaining attention around prescription costs are average script pricing and pass-through average sales price prescription pricing. Both offer employers opportunities to find significant claims savings.
See the original article posted on EmployeeBenefitAdvisor on August 9, 2016 Here.
Source:
Rolland, T. (2016, August 9). Healthcare strategies that can save employers money [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/news/healthcare-strategies-that-can-save-employers-money
What It Means to Think Big As a Small Business
Sabrina Baker defines what it means for Small Business to Think Big in the article below.
I’ve been using this tag line of “small business who think big” for just under a year now. I took some time last year to really understand my target audience and focus my work and thought that best defines the clients I want to work with. It seems to be resonating because when potential clients reach out, they often mention how they really like that line and thought it fit them well.
And then they ask me what it means.
Funny, isn’t it, how something can speak to us, but then we wonder if it means the same to us as it was intended? Over lunch last week a new acquaintance asked what I did. I gave her the tagline and she, quite enthusiastically (which I don’t think was feigned), said she really liked that….and then asked me what it meant.
I told her and realized that maybe it would be worth sharing with you. I’ve explained it on the website, but never through the blog, where most of you meet me. So here’s the story.
When this business first began, I hadn’t really defined my target market. I always tell people who ask how I got started to never, ever, start a business like I did. I had no idea what I was doing, did not do any of the conventional things that people tell you to do (like, you know, have an actual plan) and somehow stumbled and fumbled into a growing business.
In the beginning, I would take almost any project. I knew I wanted to focus on small businesses, but that’s about all I knew; and very early on, most small businesses only wanted me to write a handbook or be someone they could call to talk through a termination. All of those things are necessary, but not indicative of businesses who think big. With these clients I would deliver on the service they asked for and then talk to them about other things. For the client who only wanted a handbook, I would ask them what message they wanted the handbook to send. What policies did we absolutely need and what could we leave out. For the business that wanted an employee termination hotline, I would ask them to think about leadership training or better onboarding so that we could maybe come to the place of termination a little less often. And often I would be met with the same response.
“Sabrina, that’s all great, but that’s big business stuff. We are too small to worry about that right now or put any of that in place. It will just change when we grow anyway.”
I would get so frustrated thinking about what they could do. I would try to explain that setting those things up now would be easier than doing it when they were big.
About two years in, I received a call from a potential client for onboarding help. He had 14 employees, but had just received his second round of funding and would be adding nearly 40 more in the coming year. He wanted to get all of the “HR stuff” setup, but most importantly really wanted to talk about onboarding. He felt that he needed to start these 40 employees off right and wanted to establish a process for future growth.
I was in love. In a total, business sense of course.
I decided right then and there that these would be the clients I chose to work with going forward. Not that I wouldn’t write a handbook or be on call for term issues, I still do those things, but I do them with businesses who also care about setting up what have been traditionally held as big business issues, even though they are still small.
Things like onboarding.
Culture.
Leadership Development.
Employee Development.
Branding.
Workforce strategy.
I know it’s hard to think about some of this stuff when you are just trying to get a business off the ground, but I firmly believe it’s even harder when that business is grown and some of these things have created themselves – and not in the manner the leader would have intended.
Or worse, you find out way too late that your business is behind the competition and cannot compete for talent because some of these human capital strategy areas weren’t addressed.
So a business who thinks big is a business who realizes, regardless of employee population, they can still think about and focus on advanced human capital concepts. They think about how they want the business to look in five, ten or twenty years when the population size may be double, triple or more and decide what they want things to look like then, and put practices in place now to make sure they do.
They are businesses who realize that regardless of whether they have one employee or 2,000, they are the spirit of the business, the thing that keeps customers coming back for more. They realize it and let that drive their strategy from day one.
Thinking big as a small business means not limiting your actions to the size you are now, but the size you can be.
And those are the small businesses I most want to work with.
Originally posted on Acacia HR Solutions blog.
Source:
Baker, S. (2016, August 03). What it means to think big as a small business [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://blog.shrm.org/blog/what-it-means-to-think-big-as-a-small-business.