The growth of telemedicine

Telemedicine is becoming a hugely popular health care product, and a great way to connect doctors and medical facilities with patients. Although many people are still not familiar with its application or availability, the medical community is acutely aware of the cost savings and efficacy of providing direct access between the healer and the sick. […]

401(k) plan money market fund changes are coming

Commentary: Earlier this year BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, announced that it would follow Fidelity and Federated in making changes to its money market fund offerings. These changes are in response to Securities and Exchange Commission reform rules announced during the summer of 2014. Is your money market fund affected? Probably. The new […]

ACA News: Subsidy refresher – who’s eligible and how they work

Open enrollment, the time to sign up for a 2016 health care plan starts November 1, 2015 and ends January 31, 2016. For those employees who will have to buy coverage on their own, instead of getting it through an employer, knowing how subsidies work can help them protect their health and savings. They also need to […]

Mobile health market to explode by 2020

The global mobile health market has been the darling of forecasters for some time now, as they see everything from medical video applications to monitors and health-related mobile apps surging as the population ages. But can an annual growth rate of nearly 50 percent be sustainable? Yes, insists new data from Grand View Research—and it will drive […]

Avoiding FMLA interference claims: Walking a fine line between permissible, impermissible comments

Commentary: When it comes to Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave, not all comments are treated equally. Some comments may discourage an employee from using FMLA leave, thereby interfering with the employee’s FMLA rights and creating employer liability. In contrast, other comments from supervisors may be viewed as completely permissible requests and do not […]

What to know about proposed overtime changes

Human resource professionals already have had several changes to absorb during a short holiday week, and yet another is in the works. The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed raising the annual salary level at which overtime pay kicks in from $23,300 to $50,440. The proposal is subject to a 60-day review period before a final […]

IRS allows employers to ‘test run’ ACA reporting

The Internal Revenue System says employers can now do a trial run of their electronic form filing for reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act, giving nervous employers and their benefit advisers a way to test for readiness in advance of the reporting deadlines. The IRS has recently opened up its Affordable Care Act Assurance […]

SHRM slams DOL’s proposed overtime rule

The Society for Human Resource Management, a vigorous opponent of changes to overtime regulations proposed by the Obama administration, told the Department of Labor in comments last week that the changes will not only burden management but be a detriment to the workers they intend to help. The change floated by the DOL would raise the […]

NLRB’s new joint employer standard creates enormous uncertainty

Late last week, the National Labor Relations Board published a decision that will make many business leaders’ heads spin. By pronouncing a new legal standard to be used to determine if a business is a “joint employer” of another’s employees, the board has created an unprecedented amount of uncertainty for all types of businesses. Under […]

401(k) viewed as essential benefit

Workplace-sponsored retirement plans are an essential benefit for the majority of workers. Ninety percent of respondents to a Schwab Retirement Plan Services survey said they would think twice about taking a job if it didn’t have a 401(k) plan. “When it comes to retirement, there’s been a significant shift of responsibility from employer to employee […]