NLRB NOTICE DEADLINE DELAYED
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has delayed the deadline for nonunion employers to post a notice about workers’ rights to unionize until Jan. 31, 2012. The NLRB had set an original Nov. 14 deadline but rolled it back after receiving a number of questions from businesses. The decision “was made in the interest of ensuring broad voluntary compliance,” according to a PLANSPONSOR report.
CELL PHONE COMPLIANCE
The IRS has issued new guidance on the business use of cell phones. If an employer provides cell phones to its workers for “noncompensatory business purposes,” the IRS will treat both business and personal use of such phones as a “working-condition fringe benefit” and will make the phones and phone use exempt from employees’ wages.
‘FIDUCIARY’ CHANGE
The Department of Labor plans to rework its proposal to change the definition of “fiduciary” as it relates to employer-sponsored plans. The agency decided to revisit its proposal after receiving feedback from the public and members of Congress. The new proposal is expected to be announced in early 2012.
‘ESSENTIAL’ MUST BE AFFORDABLE
A federal advisory panel has created guidelines on how the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should define “essential benefits” when setting up the new health insurance exchanges created by the health care reform law. The Institute of Medicine said HHS must consider both the cost and the effectiveness of the benefits, including what the average cost of coverage would be for a small employer in 2014. HHS has not said when it will announce the rules, but they are expected to come sometime in 2012.
CLASSIFICATION HELP
The IRS has launched a new program to help employers sort out past worker classification problems. The Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP) will permit employers to solve compliance issues by making a minimal payment covering past payroll taxes instead of waiting for an audit by the IRS. The VCSP is designed to boost corporate tax compliance and reduce some administrative burdens for employers, the IRS said.
TRACKING HIKES
A new government website allows consumers to see if a health insurance company in their state has raised its rates. The site also lists why the company hiked the rates. Previously, only a few states individually listed rate increase information on their websites, according to Steve Larsen of the Department of Health and Human Services. The website can be viewed at:
http://companyprofiles.
healthcare.gov/
EMPLOYERS TAKE A HIT
The trend of rising health costs continued in 2011, with employers shouldering the bulk of the increases, according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The annual cost for family health insurance coverage jumped 9 percent to $15,073 this year, a sharp increase from $13,770 in 2010. Workers’ share of the total cost rose slightly more than 3 percent, while their employers’ share increased 12 percent to $10,944 per family.
STILL SMOKING
Nearly one in five Americans are smokers, with the highest rates found among the least educated, poorest, youngest and uninsured, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of employees without a high school education, more than 28 percent smoke, similar to the rate of workers with no health insurance.
NOT THEIR SPECIALTY
Most employers have a poor understanding of how specialty pharmacy benefits work, according to a new survey by the Midwest Business Group on Health. The study found that 25 percent of employers said they have little or no understanding of specialty pharmacy benefits and 53 percent have only a “moderate” understanding of the benefits. Seventy percent of the 120 employers who said their specialty pharmacy benefit was managed by an outside administrator did not know how much they were spending on the drugs, the survey said.
WORKING AT HOME
Thirty-five percent of workers who telecommute do so full time, putting in at least eight hours per day, according to a new CareerBuilder study. Employees who telecommute between four and seven hours per day made up 40 percent of the respondents, while 17 percent of telecommuters said they spend one hour or less on work per day. Also, 37 percent of workers who telecommute said they are more productive when they come into the office, while 29 percent said they were more efficient at home.
NAP TIME?
A new study by several universities concluded that insomnia costs U.S. companies $63 billion in lost productivity annually. That means an individual worker with insomnia costs the employer between $2,280 and $3,274 per year, the research said.
FSA FALLOUT
New regulations limiting contributions to flexible spending accounts (FSAs) to $2,500 likely won’t affect most employees, according to a new survey. The American Payroll Association found that only 12 percent of employees contribute $2,500 or more to their FSAs, while 39 percent said they made FSA contributions below $2,500. Forty-six percent said they didn’t make any contributions to an FSA.
