Business Management
Distracted Driving is a problem! We have a solution…
You probably don’t need statistics to tell you that distracted driving is a huge problem. Take a glance at other drivers and you’ll almost always find someone looking down at his or her phone instead of watching the road. For many, “distracted driving” translates to “teens texting.” And while it is a huge problem with…
Read MoreClearing the Air about Pollution Insurance
Pollution insurance? Who needs it? If you’re just about any type of contractor, you probably do. The word “pollution” conjures up images of huge smokestacks belching contaminants into the air, or factories draining waste into nearby bodies of water. That’s not us, you say. But change the word “pollution” to “contamination” and you begin to…
Read MoreHealth Insurance Plan Compliance Deadlines for 2019
Employers that sponsor group health plans face a number of reporting deadlines throughout the year. For your convenience, here’s a brief reference of key deadlines for calendar year 2019. January 31 Most everyone is aware that W-2 forms for the previous calendar year must be issued by January 31, but employers that filed more than…
Read MoreConstruction 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,…
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