As we get closer to 2015 employers that are close to 100 employees (or those in 2016 that are close to 50 employees) should to decide if they want to be a large or small employer under the Affordable Care Act. If you already offer health insurance many parts of this article will not apply to you. You should however check to be sure that your plan meets the definition of health insurance – Ask […]
A recent headline reads, “Average health insurance rates lower in 2015.” In aggregate this is great news for all Oregonians that utilize the health insurance exchange, CoverOregon. One year is not a trend but after years of double digit increases Oregon businesses would welcome rates stabilizing like workers’ compensation did in the 1990s. Oregon is still benefiting from those changes. A closer examination of the approved rates shows some insurers with increases but others with […]
If you have 100 Full Time employees and Full Time Equivalents in 2015 or 50 Full Time employees and Full Time Equivalents in 2016 you will be subject to the $2000 tax/penalty under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) if you do not provide health insurance. Often the option to pay a tax or provide health insurance is framed as two options-pay or play. Either you pay the $2000 tax or provide health insurance to your […]
Paying an employee salary instead of hourly is just easier, right?! No more dealing with figuring and paying overtime and turning in time cards. Actually, legally some employees that you may want to pay salary may still be entitled to overtime pay and unpaid meal breaks. Interested in paying your employee salary In order to stay compliant by classifying employees correctly, first you’ll need to determine if the employee is exempt or non-exempt. Exempt simply […]
If an employee is driving a company vehicle, there are additional vehicle liability risks the you should be aware of. This includes, but is not limited to, vehicle insurance coverage. If an employee is driving any company vehicle we advise you to check with your insurer to review coverage details. We have two great tools Cardinal provides to help curb driving liabilities: DMV Check Cardinal reviews a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Drivers Record Printout […]
Think of all the driving that your employee may do in a day. Driving to work, running errands, jobs or maybe training attended out of town, … Which in all these situations are employers required to pay as travel time?! There are 4 different categories of travel time: Portal-to-portal Travel between work sites Special one-day assignments Overnight travel Portal-to-Portal Travel Portal-to-portal travel consists of an employee´s normal home-to-work and work-to-home travel at the beginning and […]
Google and Yahoo have recently admitted that they scan user’s email to make their advertising more relevant. Google points out that “no humans read your email” but it is not clear what limits there are on these companies’ ability to use the information they receive by scanning your email. Their terms of use agreements provide some direction but appear to offer wiggle room on what can be done with your content in their system. It […]
It seems like it would be straight forward but in the real-world of employment there are some quirky circumstances! It can be confusing and you may end up unsure if you need to pay an employee or not. Learn the rules behind what the law considers Paid Time. Working Time Under federal and state rules, ‘hours worked’ includes both time worked and time of authorized attendance. This means that you must pay for anytime an […]
There are plenty of conversations about the rise in health insurance rates. Politicians on both sides debate the merits of the ACA and its role, or lack of a role, in shaping the direction of health care costs. Health care providers, insurance companies and malpractice attorneys are just a few of those taking some or all of the blame for rising rates. One area that deserves more attention but is over looked is the consumer. […]
At the Federal level there are two big items related to labor law. The first is in regards to a Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The court ruled that benefits must be extended to same sex couples if the state they reside in recognizes same sex marriages. What is unclear is how that applies in states that do not recognize same sex marriages. Even more unclear is if a same […]