Human Capital Management Blog

On December 22, 2017, the IRS issued notice 2018-06 to:

In his recent legal update to the Capital Region Human Resources Association, nationally acclaimed labor attorney, John Bagyi, shared a number of regulatory topics impacting employers across NY State. He saved the best for last: New York Paid Family Leave. Regarding the dynamic nature of the regulation, which goes into effect on January 1, 2018, Bagyi remarks, “There is a lot of inconsistent information still coming out…it’s going to be a bumpy road. This is one of those policies I would write in pencil.”

On September 28, 2017, the IRS released the new forms 1095-C and 1094-C to be used for mandatory 2017 reporting.  The 1095-C and 1094-C are used by Applicable Large Employer groups under the Affordable Care Act to fulfill IRS Code Section 6055 and 6056 reporting requirements. In laymans terms, they communicate: To whom did you offer health benefits? Was it affordable? Did it provide minimum value? Unless you're a new ALE in 2017, this should be old-hat by now. Here's what you need to know for 2017.

The new ACA affordability rate released by the IRS took a slight twist for 2018—it went down this year. For employers, this means that depending on the affordability safe harbor you are using, you may be contributing more toward employees than in previous years. Of course, in most cases we’re looking at a change in contribution of a few dollars per month. For example, an employer using the W2 safe harbor, when considering a $30,000 salaried employee, will have to pay an additional $3.25/month or $39 annually, should he or she be toeing the affordability line to stay compliant.

Applying yesterday’s health plan strategy to today’s market can produce some rotten emotions around renewal season. If you find yourself or your staff murmuring one or more of the following, you might be ripe for considering a new health plan strategy.

Dropping a quick update to clarify some recent confusion regarding the state of Affordable Care Act (ACA) Employer and Individual Mandate penalties.

The House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) on May 4. So what? Taking a “we’ll make some changes, then the Senate makes some changes” approach to repealing and replacing Obamacare, the Senate assures that the bill is far from earning the simple majority required to pass in the Senate and land on President Trump’s desk. To the contrary, many in the Senate called the bill “dead on arrival.” What are employers to take away from it all? We are a far cry from repeal and replace. For at least another year we can expect the Employer Shared Responsibility Mandate to remain intact, to include annual 1095-C reporting for employees and the IRS.

At the Capital Region Human Resource Associations 2017 One-Day Conference, nationally recognized labor attorney, John Bagyi, Esq., provided a brief overview of the draft NY Paid Family Leave regulations released last February, and discussed how the regulation will interact with FMLA. Always amazes me how Mr. Bagyi can take the dryest of regulatory topics, pepper them with story, and make them sticky for the audience.  In this brief blog, I've pulled some tables and notes from his March 23rd presentation for readers to have a quick-fact sheet on what to expect for NY Paid Family Leave come next January. Of note, the NY Workers' Compensation Board will be receiving comments on the draft regulation through April 7, 2017. Final regualtions are anticipated this June, as participating insurance companies will need ample time to finalize new products to bring to market.