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BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter
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Employee Benefits Jobs
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Webcasts and Conferences
Five Timely Employee Benefits Challenges: What Employers Need to Know and Do Webcast
Nationwide
on April 25, 2012
presented by McDonald Hopkins
Employee Benefits Roundtable: Fee and Expense Disclosure Requirements Recorded Seminar
Nationwide
on April 20, 2012
presented by Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program and COBRA Workshops
in California
on April 26, 2012
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
The Basics and More! Workshop
in Florida
on May 23, 2012
presented by U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Work, Health, and Wellbeing: Strategic Solutions for Integrating Wellness and Occupational Safety and Health in the Workplace
in Massachusetts
on September 17, 2012
presented by Harvard School of Public Health Center for Continuing Professional Education
401(k) Rekon Advisor Symposium - Atlanta
in Georgia
on May 3, 2012
presented by 401(k) Rekon
401(k) Rekon Advisor Symposium - Minneapolis
in Minnesota
on May 3, 2012
presented by 401(k) Rekon
"Affiliated Service Groups: How Much Do You Know About Them?" Web Seminar
Nationwide
on May 1, 2012
presented by SunGard Relius
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[Guidance Overview]
Regulations Clarify Summary of Benefits and Coverage
"One rule concerning the SBC that may surprise plan sponsors is the sponsor's obligation to coordinate vendors of carve-out arrangements, such as prescription drug coverage. To avoid unnecessary duplication and to provide a "complete" SBC, if a plan has medical coverage and prescription drug coverage through different vendors, the plan sponsor must combine each vendor's model SBC into one SBC to provide to participants and to beneficiaries."
(Faegre Baker Daniels)
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More Small Businesses Take On Risk of Self-Insurance
"Some 20 percent of companies with 50 to 199 workers self-insured in 2010, up from 14 percent four years earlier ... That could spell trouble for the state insurance exchanges expected to launch in 2014. In those markets, premiums will reflect the total risk of all the people insured, so companies with younger and healthier workers may decide they're better off self-insuring to avoid subsidizing others with higher medical costs."
(Bloomberg Businessweek)
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Many U.S. Workers Unprepared to Handle Financial Consequences of Unexpected Health Expenses
"When asked how they would pay for out-of-pocket expenses due to an unexpected illness, more than half (57 percent) of respondents said they would have to tap into savings, 30 percent would use a credit card and 19 percent — nearly one out of five people — would have to withdraw funds from their 401k plans to cover the costs."
(Wolters Kluwer Law & Business / CCH)
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Program Perspectives on Health Benefit Costs by Wage Category (PDF)
[M]edical care benefit data by wage category--focusing on participation rates, the share of premiums paid by employers, and average monthly employer and employee medical care premium contributions. Originally published January, 2012.
(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
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Benefits in General; Executive Compensation
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[Guidance Overview]
Can an Employer Require an Employee to Make Up Time Taken as FMLA Leave?
"[R]egulations (and several court decisions) make two general principles very clear: 1) employers cannot engage in conduct that discourages or otherwise 'chills' an employee from requesting or taking FMLA leave; and 2) employers must provide privileges and benefits to employees who take FMLA leave in the same manner they offer benefits to those on non-FMLA leave.... [R]equiring employees to make up FMLA leave is fraught with problems and invites litigation, as a court would very likely find that such a policy causes employees to refrain from requesting FMLA leave"
(Franczek Radelet P.C.)
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[Guidance Overview]
EEOC Issues Rule Amending Its ADEA Regulation
"The amended regulation confirms that (1) the plaintiff bears the burden of 'isolating and identifying the specific employment practice' that allegedly causes any observed statistical disparities, and (2) the employer bears the burdens of production and persuasion to demonstrate the RFOA defense.... The regulation also ... provides a nonexhaustive list of considerations that are relevant in determining whether a practice is based on a reasonable factor other than age."
(Morgan Lewis )
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Press Releases
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