Business Management
Construction Contracts – Insurance and Beyond
It goes without saying that any contract should be carefully reviewed before signing. But construction contracts can be especially tricky, given their unique language and the potentially far-reaching consequences when something goes wrong. This is why we highly recommend a lawyer or in-house counsel review all contracts. Here’s an overview of the highlights – and…
Read MorePay or Play Enforcement for Health Insurance Begins
As 2018 drew to a close, the IRS began sending enforcement letters related to employer compliance with shared responsibility rules under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for calendar year 2016. Let’s take a look at what this means. The document in question is known as Letter 226-J and informs employers of their potential liability for…
Read MoreEmployer’s Alert: New Health Insurance and other Benefit Plan Limits for 2019
Annual dollar limits affect many employee benefit plans, and are periodically adjusted to allow for inflation. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced a series of such cost-of-living adjustments for various welfare and retirement plan limits for 2019. Annual limits for these benefits vehicles will increase for the coming year: High-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and…
Read MoreWorkers’ Compensation Audits – Don’t Get Hit in the Wallet
One unhappy trend we’ve been seeing lately is more and more employers being hit with audit noncompliance penalties from their workers’ compensation carriers. These penalties can be very significant, up to twice the annual premium, so let’s take a look at how to avoid them. Like any insurance policy, a workers’ compensation policy is a…
Read MoreNew I-9 Form In Effect September 18th
In July of 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an updated version of Form I-9: Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9). Under federal law, every employer that recruits, refers for a fee or hires an individual for employment in the United States must complete a Form I-9. While there has been a grace period…
Read MoreControlling Workers’ Compensation Costs
Fourth in a series of installments on workers’ compensation coverage In previous posts on workers’ compensation, we’ve covered experience modification factors, what makes a claim compensable and signs of fraud. Now, let’s get to the bottom line – literally – and talk about controlling your workers’ compensation costs. The first thing to understand about cost…
Read MoreMinimum Wage Increases in MD and DC
As noted here at the start of this year, some 19 states plus the District of Columbia enacted new minimum wage laws in 2018. These laws supersede the current federal minimum wage rate of $7.25 per hour, and the vast majority of the increases took effect on or about January 1. The exceptions were Maryland,…
Read MoreFlood Insurance
The sudden and tragic flooding in Ellicott City over Memorial Day weekend was a sobering reminder that sometimes lightning does strike twice in the same place, so to speak … we saw similar flooding there in 2016, and this time around the damage was even more severe. The forecast that day called for a chance…
Read MoreHealth Plan Audits: What You Need
Much as the Internal Revenue Service has the authority to audit tax returns, the Department of Labor (DOL) has a broad mandate to investigate and audit an employee benefits plan’s compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Audits are performed by the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), and will often focus on…
Read MoreHR Hotline: Real People, Real Answers
In a recent post we discussed MyWave Connect, our online portal for convenient access to resources on safety, compliance and much more (read about MyWave Connect here). While MyWave Connect is a vast and searchable resource, sometimes you need a little personal guidance, especially when it comes to matters of Human Resources. Chances are that…
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