Unicorns, flying pigs, golden eggs, and a money tree. What do these have to do with your company’s Employee Benefits you ask? Absolutely nothing. But now that I have your attention let us talk about the benefits you, as an employer, offer and how you communicate those benefits to your employees.

Whether you are a company of under 50 or a fortune 100, benefits are typically promoted at onboarding for new hires and once a year at open enrollment. That is where it usually stops. Seriously! Outside of Payroll, your second or third greatest expense to be in business is only addressed one to two times per year. Not only are employee benefits expensive for you as the employer, but a big decision for us employees too. So, would you say addressing employee benefits 1-2 times a year is sufficient? I do not think so.

The following webinar session was hosted by the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce featuring speakers from workplace wellness experts Motion Connected and Forsite Benefits.

AUDIENCE: HR professionals, Management, Operations, and others in positions of leadership. 

CONTENT:  If 2020 taught us anything, it is that the workplace is changing. How can organizations adapt to these changing needs, build a more employee-friendly workplace, and achieve long-term business success?  In this session, we discuss ways to increase engagement, boost retention, and create a positive employee experience. 

• Learn best-practice communication methods to reach a diverse workforce.
• Discover engagement strategies to attract and retain employees.
• Better understand the role of well-being in the time of COVID; is worksite wellness a solution?

Adopting and sticking to heart-healthy habits is important for everyone at every age.  With heart disease being the leading cause of death among Americans, educating yourself on heart health is of the utmost importance. There are many ways to practice a lifestyle that contributes to heart health, in turn lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Symptoms of cardiovascular disease may be different between men and women. Men are more likely to have chest pain, whereas women are more likely to have chest discomfort; shortness of breath, nausea, and extreme fatigue. If any of these symptoms occur, call 911 immediately! 

Download this month's Nav Series Newsletter to share with your team.

DOL Increases Civil Penalty Amounts for 2021

The Department of Labor (DOL) has released its 2021 inflation-adjusted civil monetary penalties that may be assessed on employers for violations of a wide range of federal laws, including:

• The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA);
• The Employee Retirement income Security Act (ERISA);
• The Family and Medical leave Act (FMLA; and 
• The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH act)

We asked the Forsite Health & Wellness Center's Nurse Practitioner, Chelsi, for her New Year Healthier Living Resolutions. 

This list of achievable healthy habits considers the whole health picture: mind and body. For any individual seeking a healthier, happier new year, here are some simple resolutions to point you in the right direction.

1. Go for More Walks.

If you are not in the habit of frequent walks, start small! Tomorrow, get up and walk for 15 minutes. Gradually increase the number of days you walk and the length of your walks. To create some motivation in your walking endeavors, track your steps using a smart device such as a Fitbit or apple watch, or even your smart phone. 

An accountability partner is also a great way to stay motivated. Ask an office mate to commit to walking with you during the day, or a family member or pet to walk early in the morning or after work hours. 

 

2. Eat Your Fruits & Vegetables.

A diet including fruits and vegetables is so important for vitamin intake. being heart healthy and maintaining an ideal weight. It is recommended to include about 5 servings of fruit and vegetables into your diet each day. Think of one serving as about the size of your closed fist. You can increase your fruit and vegetable intake by making delicious smoothies, trying some new healthy recipes, or committing to fruit and vegetables as your snacks throughout the day and sides during meals. 

3. Drink More Water.

There are countless health benefits to proper water intake. These include, but are not limited to, increased energy, brain function, gut health, and weight control. What is proper water intake? The current standard is 8 glasses a day, but everyone is different! Listen to your body, and drink more if you feel you need it. It takes approximately 14 days of proper hydration to feel the benefits, so keep it up!

 

4. Be Mindful of Your Mental Health.

If you find yourself struggling in any facet of life, do not hesitate to find help. Counselors, crisis hotlines, and telehealth options are always available if you need assistance. 

Telehealth services rapidly increased in popularity in 2020, and conveniently include counseling and mental health services. Telehealth platforms operate like video call platforms many of us are comfortable using today. This service is user-friendly, often less costly than a regular visit to the doctor's office, and allows you or your dependents, such as your children, to see a professional from the comfort of your own home.

Find your provider here to learn more about Telehealth services offered to you.

5. Schedule Your Annual Physical.

Your annual visit with your preferred, in-network physician is covered through your company-sponsored insurance plan. Aside from this routine, preventative care, meeting with your physician once a year helps establish a relationship and trust for if a more pressing health issue arises.

Hesitant to schedule your annual physical? Many worry if their simple preventative visit will result in a surprise bill in the mail. To reduce this worry, here is a quick read about the difference between preventative services and diagnostic services, and some steps you can take to ensure your intended visit is covered under your plan.

Read An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure.

Chelsi’s New Year Resolution:

“With COVID, I am no longer going to the YMCA to work out. I’m hoping to start a home workout program this year and get out for a walk at least once a week.” 

Download this free, printable newsletter for the office.

This Month's Nav Series Newsletter is a quick and easy read about gathering and organizing your benefit resources.

Did you enjoy this educational read? 

Here are some additional Nav Series Newsletter topics to Help Your Employees Better Navigate Today's Healthcare System:

• The Flu Vaccine & COVID-19
  
• Prevention and Routine Care
  
• Forsite Assist
  
• Life Stage Support
  
• Employee Assistance Programs
  
• Difficulty Affording Prescription Drugs?
  
• Telemedicine
• What is a Health Savings Account?
• The Open Enrollment Checklist For Employees

Medicare Part D Notices Are Due Before Oct. 15, 2020

Each year, Medicare Part D requires group health plan sponsors to disclose to individuals who are eligible for Medicare Part D and to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) whether the health plan's prescription drug coverage is creditable.

Plan sponsors must provide the annual disclosure notice to Medicare eligible individuals before Oct. 15, 2020 -- the start date of the annual enrollment period for Medicare part D. CMS has provided model disclosure notices for employers to use.

This notice is important because Medicare beneficiaries who are not covered by creditable prescription drug coverage and do not enroll in Medicare Part D when first eligible will likely pay higher premiums if they enroll at a later date. Although there are no specific penalties associated with this notice requirement, failing to provide the notice may be detrimental to employees.

Employers should confirm whether their health plans' prescription drug coverage is creditable or non-creditable and prepare to send their Medicare Part D disclosure notices before Oct. 15, 2020. To make the process easier, employers often include medicare Part D notices in open enrollment packets they send out prior to Oct. 15.

Preparing For an Unprecedented Open Enrollment Period

Open enrollment following the COVID-19 pandemic will be unlike any other in recent memory. Many organizations are still trying to recover from extended closures and maintain safe working environments -- open enrollment is the last thing on their minds. Yet, procrastinating on enrollment planning can actually cause more issues than it solves.

Read this article on how to execute a safe & educational open enrollment >>>

Preparation will be a key factor for a successful open enrollment this year. Employers should talk to stakeholders early and prepare to answer any employee questions Employees will need to know exactly how they will be enrolling, when enrollment is happening and where they can find help. Solidifying this information early will keep everyone on the same page.

DOL Issues Guidance on Tracking Hours of Work for Remote Employees

On Aug. 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2020-5 to remind employers of their obligation to accurately account for the number of hours their employees work away from the employer's facilities. While the bulletin was issued in response to the high number of employees working remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the DOL is also reminding employers that the underlying principles apply to other telework or remote work arrangements.

Compensable Time

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), requires employers to compensate their employees for all hours of work. Compensable time includes any hours an employee is requested or allowed to work, including telework or remote work.

For remote work situations, the bulletin clarifies that compensable time includes any time during which the employer knows or has reason to believe work is being performed, regardless of whether the work was authorized or requested.

Employer Obligations

As a result, under the FLSA employers have an obligation to track the number of hours their employees work. For this reason, employers must provide reasonable procedures for employees to report any scheduled and unscheduled hours of work. However, the DOL is of the opinion that "if an employee fails to report unscheduled hours of work through a reasonable process, the employer is not required to undergo impractical efforts to uncover unreported hours of work."

Finally, the bulletin emphasized that employers bear the burden of preventing an employee from completing unauthorized or unwanted work.

How to Make Your Job Posting Stand Out

Filling a job vacancy is a big task. Unfortunately, you get only one chance to make a first impression, and the job posting is often your very first contact with the potential employee. But how do you make your job posting stand out above the rest? 

Watch this video and learn five fast tips to make your job posting stand out.

The content herein is provided by HR360.com for general information purposes only, and does not constitute legal, tax, or other advice or opinions on any matters. This information has been taken from sources which we believe to be reliable, but there is no guarantee as to its accuracy.

Even as things start returning to some sort of normalcy in day to day operations, societal indications show that the impact of COVID-19 on “business as usual” will be seen well into 2021.  With the ripples of the Coronavirus continuing to form, Employers are faced with challenges of managing the on-going fluctuation and frustration of their workforce.

Now more than ever, employers are struggling with employee recruitment and retention, and employees are looking to their HR and Leadership teams for organizational evolution that has their best interest at heart.  Businesses who continue with the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality of employee engagement are going to be left scratching their heads wondering why their biggest assets are funneling out the door and they can’t recover from this pandemic.

Why is an employee benefits consulting company talking about employee acquisition and retention challenges?

The answer’s quite simple and straightforward, but often overlooked by organizations: Employee Benefits play a key role in whether people decide to come to work for, or leave, a specific business.  In support, annual data from recruiting experts like Glassdoor and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) continue to show that 60%+ of job seekers report Employee Benefits (Health Benefits ranking #1) and Perks as major factors in considering a job offer.

Check out this article by Jennifer Jones, 'Why Employee Experience Shouldn't Stop Short of Health Benefits'.

Whether we like it or not, times have changed, and the COVID-19 landscape has brought many of the gaps in structure and understanding of traditional employee benefit programs to the surface.  Strategic organizations understand that their team members are the biggest driver of their future growth and success.  Along with that, these businesses understand that the way they assemble and promote their Employee Benefits programs will impact the quality of their Associates.  When correctly aligned, Employee Benefits and recruitment can solidify a company’s position as an Employer of Choice on the cutting edge of the talent war. 

How can your employee benefits program tie into employee engagement and your sustainable growth strategy moving forward? 

To keep it simple, we’ve narrowed our solution down into the 3 pillars for benefit evolution that will improve employee engagement and overall employee experience:

1.  Educate: Let’s face it, the world of employee benefits can be complex and confusing.  As costly as insurance benefits are, it is imperative to ensure your employees understand what they are receiving and have streamlined access to the information they need to be intelligent healthcare consumers whenever they need it and wherever they are. Companies must ensure their employees are educated healthcare consumers and that important information reaches all employees in simple, easy-to-understand terms.  The result of employee benefit education is more informed employees who are engaged and satisfied, become better benefit consumers, and help to mitigate your company’s risk that leads to future claims. 

How can you achieve educated, engaged, satisfied employees?

a.  Offer them direct access to timely benefit experts and resources

b.  Give on-demand mobile access to pertinent benefits materials at a single point of entry

c.  Provide proactive communications for cost saving RX/Medical alternatives

2.  Engage: The days of having one in-person meeting a year at open enrollment are over.  Not only is this method expensive for employers and unsafe in current times, it is ineffective and often does not include all parties involved in benefits decisions. Employers must revamp their open enrollment strategy to guarantee accurate and practical employee benefits information can be easily accessible and absorbed by their team members. It is important that employers utilize technology to communicate with their employees on platforms where they are already spending their time, such as a smartphone, computer, or tablet. 

Are you wondering how to improve employee engagement? We believe employee engagement begins with how an organization presents their company sponsored employee benefits program. Take the following steps to modernize your open enrollment approach.

a.  Ensure your employees have access to materials that will make them the best healthcare consumers they can be. Seek a proactive, real-time option for effective healthcare system navigation

b.  Make open enrollment easy, safe, and educational by enrolling in an online, app-based enrollment and benefit election tools

c.  Let your employees know that you care about their wellbeing. Secure innovative health and wellness offerings for your employee population's physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing

3.  Empower: As companies look at a roster of team members from millennials to baby boomers, a one-sized fits all approach to benefits won’t cut it.  Employees are yearning to have the autonomy to choose the most effective and affordable program for their unique family dynamics.  The needs of a single 25-year-old, a 45-year-old with a family of four, and a 55-year-old empty nester will be drastically different.  On top of having options, your current and future workforce want a voice in continued changes that will inevitably occur for your employee benefits program to remain relevant.

Gather information on employee benefits services for your employees’ to feel empowered when making benefit decisions that are best for their unique situation.

a.  Explore Forsite’s access to non-traditional healthcare options based on stage of life for member/family that will mitigate financial risk for the employee and the company alike

b.  Ask about Forsite’s creative options to customize coverage and direction of employee investment

c.  Invest in technology and population health solutions to encourage and incentivize healthy behavior change such as a corporate wellness program

It’s no secret that all employers have challenges with talent and, since their inception in the 1940s, company sponsored employee health plans have played a huge role in helping to solve this dilemma.  We believe the problem is that in the last 70+ years, employers have transitioned from looking at this part of total compensation as a “benefit” to employees to simply an “expense” to the employer. 

Over the last 16 years, Forsite Benefits has been on a mission to flip the script and has helped our clients contain costs in their programs with an employee-first approach.  By focusing on Employee Education, Engagement and Empowerment to create the best possible employee benefits scenario for their team members, Forsite clients have seen a ripple effect that comes backwards to impact overall organizational, financial, and cultural health in their business.

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Many of us are familiar with the old adage, "An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure", as well as the benefits that accompany preventive care. A recent Kaiser Health Tracking Poll reported that 92% of Americans believe in the importance of an annual physical. That's great! But why are only 62% of Americans, according to the same survey, following through with their preventive care? 

Prevention is not only about making sure an ailment doesn’t occur. It is also about early detection, which is often a key ingredient to favorable outcomes. Despite knowing these benefits, today’s complex healthcare system can leave some of us wondering or even worrying;

Will my preventive visit result in a surprise bill in the mail that I cannot afford?