Human Capital Management Blog

Bottom line, if you are a general or maritime employer subject to the new OSHA Silica Standard, OSHA is offering a 30-day grace period for employers who make “good faith efforts” to comply with the new rule. OSHA will extend compliance assistance to applicable employers.

On May 21, 2019, the IRS issued the new affordability rates for determining compliance with the ACA’s affordable coverage requirements. For plan years starting in 2019, the new affordability rate will be 9.86% of an employee’s household income for both the pay or play guidelines and premium tax credit eligibility. The .30% increase from 2018’s affordability rate (9.56%) is the largest increase since the ACA became law in 2012.

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.