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Applicable large employers often utilize workers from staffing firms, sometimes on a long-term basis. For purposes of the pay or play provisions of the ACA, it’s important for an ALE to determine its obligation to make offers of coverage to these workers. The key factor is whether the staffing firm or the ALE is the […]

At a time when many middle market employers and benefit professionals are looking for ways to get workers engaged, focusing on core benefits such as health insurance and paid time off may boost engagement, suggests new research. The report, released this week by benefits and HR platform Namely, shows that most employees think health benefits […]

Trump vs Clinton: Their Stances on U.S. Healthcare How do the presumptive presidential nominees differ on U.S. healthcare policy? See our matrix.

When it comes to rising healthcare costs, the thought of insurance is a must. In fact, it’s the law of the land according to the Affordable Care Act, but what if you have paws? Pet insurance is a small, but growing, voluntary benefit with one in three Fortune 500 companies now offering pet insurance. According […]

High-deductible health plans are increasingly become commonplace and more and more employees are investing in health savings accounts as a result. As employees take on greater financial burden for their healthcare expenses, HSAs will become a critical component of an overall healthcare strategy, says John Park, chief strategy officer for Alegeus. “Because consumers do not […]

Employee counts are used to determine what laws, rules, fees, and penalties apply to a health plan and/or the employer sponsor. But the methods for counting employees are as varied as the laws that affect them. This creates confusion and frustration among employers and can significantly hinder their compliance efforts. To make sense out of […]

The Department of Labor announced the details of its new rule on overtime pay, which has increased the salary threshold for employees eligible from $23,660 to $47,476. There will be no change in the duties test to determine whether employees earning more than the salary threshold must be classified as exempt from overtime; however, the […]

After much anticipation, the U.S. Department of Labor unveiled sweeping changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime rules this week. These regulations — which haven’t been updated in over a decade — are estimated to make nearly 4.2 million current workers eligible for overtime pay. The new rules double the minimum salary required […]

A new employer guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act outlines companies’ obligation under the statute, but still leaves many unanswered questions, says FMLA attorney Jeff Nowak, a partner in the Chicago office of FranczekRadelet. “For the most part, the guide simply restates what we already know from the regulations, without tackling the difficult […]

Health savings accounts emerged from two potentially conflicting goals–to keep health care costs down and to give consumers control over their health care choices. HSAs continue to be popular ten years later. Estimates are that over 13 million HSAs existed as of the end of 2014, with over $24 billion in assets. And those numbers […]