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Why Technology is an Integral Part of your Benefits Planning

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Do you remember sitting in an open enrollment meeting reviewing a list of benefits you or your company was offering and manually writing in your name, relevant contact information, and selecting a plan? Do you recall having to use a required black or blue ink pen to fill out the paperwork? You may be surprised to hear that a lot of companies are still using this outdated process of manually filling out benefit plans. The problem is that if there’s a spelling error, a transcription error, or even a single number is incorrect, there’s not an easy way to update or change the document —

Why You Should Set Up an Open Enrollment Meeting with Your Employees

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Open enrollment is the time of year where employees can enroll in a health, medical, or dental plan, or make changes to their current coverage such as adding a spouse or a dependent. Hosting an open enrollment meeting is a great way to educate employees on their benefits or changes to their plans, and help them understand the value of what your business is offering. What Is Covered In An Open Enrollment Meeting? Let’s face it, health insurance is complicated. That’s why we strongly suggest setting up an open enrollment meeting where we can review: Different carriers and coverage offered for the plan year Recommendations

Why Businesses Should Offer Voluntary Benefits to Employees

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From cable subscription services to grocery deliveries, the demand for customization has never been higher. However, the need for customization extends beyond everyday consumption and into the workplace. With the ever changing healthcare industry, individuals want the option to tailor their benefit plans to fit their needs — and that’s exactly where voluntary benefits can play an important role. What Are Voluntary Benefits? Voluntary benefits are elected insurance products employees can add to their benefit packages. They are typically paid completely or mostly by the employees through payroll deferral and often include: life insurance, vision, dental, disability, cancer and critical illness insurance, and accident insurance.

5 Things to Consider When Choosing an Insurance Agent

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For many businesses, health insurance can be complex, difficult to navigate and tough to understand. There are constant updates because of policy reform that you have to stay on top of. Carriers will often make changes to the benefit plans including what’s covered within the plan and costs associated with it. Lastly, what your employees need or want in a health insurance plan will often change over time. As people age, start families, or have children, their health insurance needs change — as does the importance of getting coverage to protect yourself, your employees, and the ones they love. Working with an insurance agent can

5 Reasons You Should Educate Employees on their Benefit Plans

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Education, especially when it comes to understanding one’s health benefits, is extremely important. How else will your employees be able to appreciate the value of having a company benefits plan if they don’t know how it works? Here are 5 reasons you should educate employees on their benefit plans. 1. Appreciate the Value of Having a Company Sponsored Health Plan Not all employers offer health benefits, but most employees are looking for companies that do. Health and wellness is a huge part of the workplace today and it can greatly improve company culture. By explaining to employees the different benefit plans offered, it can help them

MARCH 2017 LEGAL UPDATE

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COMPLIANCE DATES APRIL 30, 2017 for new health plans on a calendar plan year: Summary Plan Description (“SPD”) Employers who offer a health insurance plan must provide SPDs to all participants within 120 days after a new plan is adopted. SPDs must also be provided to new participants no later than 90 days after the person first becomes covered under the plan. FEDERAL COMPLIANCE UPDATES NEW VERSIONS OF SBC DOCUMENTS New versions of the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (“SBC”) template, instructions, uniform glossary, and related documents are required to be used on or after April 1, 2017. Under the Affordable Care Act, group health

Building Compliant Employee Files

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Employee files can be a legal liability if they are not managed properly. The fact is companies can create risk to the business if they do not follow certain steps to protect employee information, manage access appropriately and comply with state and federal laws for record keeping, retention and destruction. Common errors associated with employee file management and creation include: Lack of controlled access – who is allowed to see what, when, why and how Poor organization or no organization – whether information be easily found Inconsistency in employee file content – collecting the same information and documents from all employees Retention guidelines not followed

JANUARY 2017 LEGAL UPDATE

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FUTURE COMPLIANCE DATES JANUARY 22, 2017: Replace Previous Form I-9 with new “Smart Form” I-9 Employers must start using the new version of the Form I-9 no later than January 22, 2017, when all previous versions will be invalid. The new Form I-9 can be downloaded, using Adobe Acrobat to open the file: Form I-9. For additional details, go to I-9 Central. JANUARY 31, 2017: Due Date for W-2 Copies to Social Security Administration Employers must provide all employees copies of Form W-2 reporting earnings and taxes for 2016 by January 31, 2017. Employers must also distribute Forms 1099-MISC to applicable vendors and contractors no

JULY 2016 LEGAL UPDATE

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COMPLIANCE DATE REMINDERS September 30, 2016 – EEO-1 Report and VETS 100 Report Due Organizations with 100+ employees and organizations with 50+ employees and federal contracts or subcontracts greater than $50,000 must submit the EEO-1 report no later than September 30. Click here for more details: EEOC Reporting Organizations with federal contracts or subcontracts of $25,000 or more must file a VETS-100 Report no later than September 30, 2016. Click here for more details: VETS Reporting FEDERAL COMPLIANCE UPDATES DOL INCREASES CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES The Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued an interim final regulation to adjust the amount of civil penalties assessed in its regulations. This

UPCOMING COMPLIANCE DATE REMINDERS

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May 31, 2016 or June 30, 2016:  Employers who were required to provide their employees with ACA forms 1095-B or 1095-C must transmit copies of each individual’s 1095-B or 1095-C along with the corresponding transmittal form (Form 1094-B or 1094-C) to the IRS by May 31, 2016 if filing by mail or by June 30, 2016 if filing electronically. (NOTE: Any employer with 250 or more forms must file electronically.) Click here for 1094-B instructions or here for 1094-C instructions. July 31, 2016 for Self-Insured Medical Plans: The annual Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute fee (“PCORI fee”), which applies only to organizations that offered self-insured medical plans and/or self-insured Flexible Spending Account

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Steve Grady Insurance Services

4540 Kearny Villa Road

Suite 203

San Diego, CA 92123

Phone: (619) 222-0119

Fax: (619) 223-2706

Steve@SteveGrady.net

CA Lic. #0E24711, 0H65110