04 Dec 12.04.20 – Weekly Summary
04 Dec Holiday Celebrations in Your Workplace in the World of COVID-19
At the end of the calendar year, workplace holiday celebrations are an experience that many employees look forward to as a highlight of the season.
These celebrations are often a long-standing tradition allowing employees to celebrate with their colleagues—and sometimes family and guests.
04 Dec How to Drive Human Resource Efficiencies with Technology
Improving workplace efficiency is about helping employees work smarter, not harder. Fortunately, in today's world, technology can help improve efficiency and productivity in the workplace —especially for HR professionals.
No matter the size of the company, its needs can feel overwhelming for HR leaders, especially when they are faced with normal factors like team vacations and evolving role duties—or new responsibilities due to COVID-19.
04 Dec Is It Time To Replace Your Cloth Face Mask?
Wearing a cloth face mask or covering when you’re out in public is essential for preventing the spread of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
While many Americans are following CDC, state and local guidance for wearing cloth face masks when they’re out in public, some may be wondering whether the masks they wear are still as effective. In addition, many may be forgetting to wash their mask after each use.
03 Dec IRS: Unused Transit Benefits May Be Used for Parking
In response to a question from a worker who, due to COVID-19, opted to drive to work instead of using public transportation, the IRS has issued a letter saying that employees may apply unused commuter transit benefit amounts to parking benefits in certain circumstances.
02 Dec Important Employee Skills for the Post-pandemic Workplace
As the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly changed workplaces, workers’ skills have changed as well.
Job skills were evolving before the pandemic, but it has prompted more change in a much quicker manner. In fact, the number of skills required for a single job is increasing by 10% per year, according to Gartner data. In response, organizations should embrace a dynamic approach to reskilling talent in order to shift vital employee skills and help develop skills as they become relevant and necessary.
02 Dec How To Encourage Employees to Use Telehealth Services
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven just how convenient telehealth services can be.
According to a survey from FAIR Health, there was a 4,347% increase nationally in telehealth utilization from March 2019 to March 2020. In addition, many providers and hospitals are encouraging patients to utilize telehealth services instead of coming to the office or hospital for non-life-threatening care.
01 Dec PCORI Fee Amount Has Been Adjusted for 2021
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) imposes a fee on health insurance issuers and self-insured plan sponsors in order to fund comparative effectiveness research.
These fees are widely known as Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fees, and were originally scheduled to expire for plan or policy years ending on or after Oct. 1, 2019. However, a federal spending bill enacted at the end of 2019 extended the PCORI fees for an additional 10 years.
01 Dec Trends At A Glance: Employee Benefits Costs by Industry
Employees again this year contributed about 32% of the premiums while employers covered approximately 68%, quelling fears that we were moving rapidly away from the typical 70/30 employer/employee split.
As the Coronovirus pandemic sweeps the nation in 2020, a crucial pillar supporting the U.S. workforce is employer-sponsored healthcare. While we wait to see how postponed preventive care and delayed elective surgeries will affect the health of the nation's workforce, and how the total costs of COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccinations will be financed, we are already leveraging our local knowledge, as well as the data from this survey to recommend renewal strategies for 2021.
20 Nov 11.20.20 – Weekly Summary