Most U.S. employers with 100 or more workers don’t comply with ERISA regulations, which can result in some very steep federal fines that add up fast.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) has strict requirements for employers that sponsor 401(k), group life, medical, dental and disability plans to report certain financial information on these plans to the Department of Labor (DOL) using Form 5500.

However, public records reveal that of the approximately 110,000 businesses that employ 100+ individuals, roughly 60,000 (or 55%) have not ...

As many employers know, Massachusetts Regulation 201 CMR 17.00—enforceable as of March 1, 2010 requires all businesses that “own, license, store or maintain” personal information on Massachusetts residents to:

1. Digitally encrypt all records containing personal information
2. Create and implement a Written Information Security Plan (WISP) outlining administrative, technical and physical safeguards for personal information protection
3. Upda ...

Massachusetts requires all residents to have Minimum Credible health insurance Coverage or face a tax penalty. That’s why every year all employees covered on your health plan in the past year receive a 1099-HC.

Employees will get their 1099-HC forms in the mail this month and will use them to report their health insurance coverage on the Schedule HC form.

Since many Massachusetts employers will be entertaining employees’ questions on what to do with this “Important Tax Document Enclosed”, we’ve put together a few 1099-HC FAQs to help them out.

What is the 1099-HC form?

A new year is under way and companies everywhere are getting started with their 2010 resolutions. Given the rising health care costs that have plagued us all lately, it’s no surprise that improving employee wellness is a popular one.

Many employers are beginning to incorporate wellness programs and initiatives into their overall group health plan design. When implementing a wellness program, health risk assessments (HRAs) are a great tool employers can use to track employee progress and generate plan effectiveness metrics.

However, for employers that use HRAs in wellness programs, there are quite a few Federal rules to follow. Recent Federal laws such as the Americans with Disabili ...

Starting January 1, 2010, any Responsible Reporting Entity (RRE) that fails to comply with a new requirement for reporting Medicare payments to Medicare-eligible individuals for resolution of medical expense claims could face a steep penalty--$1,000 per-day the expenses go unreported.

Background on Medicare and reporting requirements:

As many of us know, Medicare is a government-funded health insurance program for individuals ages 65 and up but is not intended to be their primary health insurance (i.e. Medicare should be a “secondary payer”). In December of 2007, then President Bush signed into law the “Medicare, Me ...

And it can come from many different people, from a dishonest co-worker, to a temp working in HR, even a visitor to your office building. If you’re not careful, any of these people can have access to your personal information—and who knows what they’ll do if they get their hands on it.

To keep sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands, here are 3 steps employers and employees both should take:

1. Keep your personal property in a safe place: Don’t leave your personal belongings such as purses, wallets and laptops unattended. Either have them on your person at all times or keep them ...

Nearly all of us like to kick of the new year with a resolution; get in shape, eat healthier, break a bad habit, manage your money better, the list goes on. The new year gives us all a clean slate and our resolutions motivate us to start the year off right.

For HR professionals, one of the many ways to start the year off right is to make sure all policies in your employee handbooks are up-to-date and compliant with the latest regulations. This will help you strengthen your case in the event that an employee (or former employee) sues you for any type of bias.

When updating your handbook for the new year, employers and HR professionals should look at the following 4 policies first:

The new year is fast approaching and it will bring on many new changes for employers and employees both. However, the following are two things you can count on to stay the same.

1. Maximum contribution levels for 401(k) and other defined contribution plans: Due to the falling cost-of-living index, maximum retirement plan contribution rates will be the same in 2010 as they were in 2009. This means that plan participants will be able to contribute up to $16,500 to the plans in 2010. Also, the dollar limitation for catch-up contributions to an employer defined contribution plan for individuals ages 50 and older will stay the same at $5,500.
2. < ...

Inside the new $626 billion dollar defense bill that Congress just passed (and the President is expected to sign) is a provision extending the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) COBRA subsidy.

For assistance eligible individuals (AEIs), the new legislation will:

• Extend the eligibility for the 65% COBRA subsidy from December 31, 2009 to February 28, 2010 (making workers whose COBRA eligibility begins on or before 2/28/2010 now eligible for the subsidy)
• Adds 6 months to the 9 month period during which the federal government would pay the 65% subsidy to ...

Take our recession economy, combine it with our population becoming more and more tech-savvy by the day add yet another holiday shopping season and what do you get? You guessed it, a perfect storm for identity theft.

Identity theft costs businesses over $221 billion a year and claimed nearly 10 million victims in 2008. On top of this, when an individual becomes a victim of identity theft they’re not the only affected by the damages—their employer is too.

Employers whose workers become victims of identity theft are vulnerable to huge productivity losses.

Studies show it takes 330 hours on average to clear up all the damages after an identi ...