The Growing Cost of Ever-Increasing Benefits Administration Complexity

Health insurance premiums are expected to continue to increase:

• 77% of employers expect the Affordable Care Act will increase their company's health care costs dramatically
• 2017 premium increases are projected to be the largest in recent history (InternationalFoundation Survey)

Benefits administration complexities and increasing premiums are elevating the risk that your benefits cost will rise faster than the rate of overall premium growth.  To avoid this risk, you must carefully manage your employee benefits.  

Inaccurate or missed premium deductions are expensive, but fixable.  Understanding the causes of increasing benefits cost is half the battle.  Some of the most common causes include:  

• Competing payroll timetables vs. carrier cut-off dates and retroactive limits
• Challenges recovering lost premium dollars after the fact
• On-going age-banded rate adjustments
• Carrier customer service challenges (poor communication and follow-up)
• Numerous carrier invoice delivery methods (electronic and paper), including confusing self-bill invoices
• Inefficient, outdated, and inaccurate carrier technologies
• Matching plan premiums with employee pre- and post-tax deductions
• Competing demands of payroll and carrier invoice deadlines
• Post open-enrollment and renewal invoice confusion

Mosaic HR Services delivers customized solutions that save you time, increase accuracy, and manage your premium costs.  Our benefits administration solutions are designed to complement your benefit administration strategy. To learn more and to see how Mosaic HR Services' benefits administration service can help, visit www.mosaices.com/mosaic-hr or talk with an expert at (303) 645-4270.  

The Power of a Single-Platform HCM System

Organizations are quickly moving away from disparate workforce management systems that attempt to share data through integrations that are slow and unreliable.  The best Human Capital Management systems are those that house Human Resources Information Systems, Payroll, and Time and Labor Management functionality on a single-platform with a single database and a single user interface.  Integration between disparate systems is not only inefficient, it is becoming impractical in today's complex employment environment.  A single-platform HCM system is now the industry standard for managing your workforce.  

Benefits of a single-platform HCM solution:  

• Electronic Forms - Deploy your forms and allow employees to complete and sign them electronically.  Schedule forms for completion and the system will manage employee compliance.  Save the forms in the system for easy retrieval from any functional area of the platform.  
• HR Actions - Automate process and activities so that the software guides employees through the process.  Automatically update payroll when HR actions change benefits or payroll information.  
• Workflows - Processes that require the involvement of multiple people, including approvals, can be automatically directed by the software using the workflows that match your requirements.  Workflows can be implemented for electronic forms, HR actions, applicant tracking, employee onboarding, and other processes you want to automate.  
• Applicant Tracking - Candidates can view your job openings and apply directly through your platform and track their progress to hire.  When an applicant is hired, you can automatically make the applicant an employee without migrating, or worse, manually entering employee data captured during the application process.
• Onboarding - When an applicant is hired, the employee can review and electronically sign forms directly within the system and be immediately activated as a hired employee.  Tasks can be assigned to other employees to provision the new hire's work environment.  
• Performance Management - Manage your employee review process natively within the system.  
• Other areas of an all-encompassing HCM platform:  
• Training and Certification Tracking
• Asset Management
• Online Benefits Enrollment and EDI Carrier Feeds
• Workers Compensation Tracking
• FMLA
• Turnover, Job History, and Position Management
• Skills, Education, and Credentials Tracking
• Compensation Management

Single-platform HCM systems are imperative to comply and thrive in an employment landscape that is increasingly complex.  To learn more and to see how Mosaic's Workforce One platform can help, visit www.mosaices.com or talk with an expert at (303) 645-4270.  

6 Strategies to Retain and Engage Employees

In a recent study from the Energy Project (2013-2014) only 7% of employees have their core needs met at work with slightly over 59% surveyed not having any core needs met.  There were four core needs measured in this survey: renewal (physical), value (emotional), focus (mental), and purpose (spiritual).  These statistics are staggering given the fact that employees spend approximately 80% of their work week interfacing with clients.  If employees are not growing and being nurtured, can it be expected that they will be able to delight clients by helping them thrive?  Attracting top talent continues to be a key component of any company’s strategy.  However, the ways in which top talent is recruited and retained is a hot topic that is largely debated in today’s literature.  Too many companies hire good people only to let them flounder once they come aboard.

Quality onboarding practices embraces ideas such as making new hires aware of company history, their specific services that are unique to the marketplace, and intensive job-specific training.  Driving high performance, creating a common language across the company, and strong cultural buy-in are essentials in today’s employment landscape.

In the last several years, employee dissatisfaction has become a major hot-button issue for many employers.  This is supported by a Kelly Services survey that reports that around 44% of respondents feel valued by their employer, yet they actively are looking for better job opportunities.  Employees who are content with their current position are actively seeking greater meaning and engagement from their positions; an attitude and activity that must be nurtured and encouraged. 

Here are 6 strategies to increase retention and engagement amongst employees:

1. People want to be valued, cared about, listened to, appreciated, respected, and involved. These values directly relate to basic human needs that, if nurtured, will contribute to an employee that exhibits ‘leadership from the heart’.
2.  ‘Face to Face’ appreciation for a job well done carries clout and strengthens workplace relationships.  People need to feel that their work is valuable and makes an impact. 
3. Create a healthy work environment by committing to positively blend the different generational needs and values of the workforce to leverage their diverse strengths of knowledge and skills towards productive activity.
4. Set reasonable expectations for work-life balance and affirm them with positive reinforcement and incentives.
5. Communicate company values and strategy often to maximize employee buy-in.
6. Encourage creative out-of-the box thinking.  Let employees know you’re receptive to new ideas.

Your employees directly affect client experience and the bottom line. The moral of the story is if a company does right by the employees, they will do right by the clients, and new business will follow as a consequence.  A simple statement that requires a complex approach.  

Health Coverage Information Reporting Deadlines for Applicable Large Employers are Approaching

Who Must Report?

As a governmental, Tribal, tax-exempt or for-profit employer, if you are an applicable large employer you are subject to the Affordable Care Act information reporting requirements. These requirements apply to you whether or not you offered health coverage to your employees.

You are an applicable large employer for 2015 if you had 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, in 2014.

What Must You Report?

If you were an applicable large employer in 2015, you must file information returns with the IRS and provide statements to each employee who was a full-time employee for at least one month of the year about health coverage you offered or to show that you did not offer health coverage.

What Forms Must Be Used To Report?

Form 1094-C, Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Return: used to report to the IRS summary information for each employer and to transmit Forms 1095-C to the IRS.
Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage: used to report required information to your employees and to report information about each employee to the IRS.

What Are The Due Dates For Reporting?

Forms 1095-C must be provided to your employees by February 1, 2016.
Forms 1094-C and 1095-C are due to the IRS by February 29, 2016, if filing on paper, or March 31, 2016, if filing electronically.

More Information

For more information, visit our page about what our ACA manager can do for you or give us a call at 303-645-4270.

Also, make sure to check out the questions and answers about Reporting of Offers of Health Insurance Coverage by Employers on IRS.gov/aca.

Helping Businesses Manage Overtime Costs in the Wake of FLSA Changes

You’ve likely heard a lot in recent news about the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed regulations that are expected to affect the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regarding new white-collar exemptions in the near future.

With minimal revisions since the FLSA was enacted almost 80 years ago, significant adjustments regarding overtime pay and minimum wage requirements have been proposed by the DOL. The DOL has proposed these updated regulations to better align with the present-day workforce and economic climate.

To put things into perspective, the current FLSA requirement states that an employee that makes at least $455 per week ($23,660 per year) either hourly or salary and who meet a duties requirement test is considered “exempt”. These exempt employees do not qualify for overtime pay. If passed, the DOL’s new regulations would require that:

• The minimum salary threshold to be $970 per week ($50,440 per year) in order to be considered exempt from receiving overtime pay.
• The salary threshold be updated annually to stay level with rising inflation and wage costs.

These new regulations would undoubtedly have a significant impact on most US businesses within the coming months. It would require employers to reassess their entire workforce classification as exempt/non-exempt, increase minimum annual wages of exempt employees, and track all hours worked by non-exempt employees. As a service provider, it is critical that you help to guide these businesses during these potential changes. By providing your expertise in conjunction with a workforce management solution, you can help your clients keep in compliance with the new FLSA regulations and control overtime costs.

You can reduce a business’ compliance risk and overtime costs by offering them a workforce management solution, complete with Time and Attendance, that accurately tracks and documents all employee hours worked, delivers proactive alerts that notify employers of employees breaching overtime, and includes insightful reporting capabilities for both ongoing analysis and proof of compliance.

In this recorded webinar, held on August 20, 2015, by ChrysMarie Suby of the Labor Management Institute and titled “Overtime Best Practices”, you’ll learn 10 helpful strategies to bring to employers for minimizing their overtime costs.

1. Define the department budget and address OT in hours & percent of Total Worked hours.
2. Identify a pattern for the use of resources developed from workload demand data.
3. Define and standardize terms & formulas with division of direct, indirect, education, orientation, and paid not worked benefit hours and FTE’s.
4. Clearly identify pay incentives, premium pay, bonuses, on-call/call-back.
5. Monitor OT for both “regular” and “EOS” or incidental occurrences & trend for use & abuse patterns.
6. Publish schedules with at least 85% of work from “core” employees in the unit.
7. Require managers to publish schedules with <5% “holes” where shifts didn’t meet target requirements.
8. Monitor for the 6 underlying drivers for OT bi-weekly & compare to specific criteria.
9. Identify a pattern for the use of resources developed from workload demand data.
10. Monitor for the Labor Management Institute’s Target Thresholds to Total Worked Hours.

To get more information on the Labor Management Institute’s 10 overtime best practices, please watch this recorded webinar.

4 Reasons Businesses Need to Be Outsourcing Workforce Management to a Local Service Provider

No matter the size, all businesses are required to manage their workforce in one way or another. Whether that’s through processing payroll, recording employee work hours, or even performing HR functions. It’s an ongoing process that has to be done promptly and more importantly, it has to be done right.

For small to mid-sized businesses, dealing with the everyday challenges of maintaining a successful operation can be stressful enough, let alone adding back office tasks to the mix. The one way for businesses to eliminate these often mundane and time-consuming tasks is to automate and outsource them to you, a trusted service provider. By offering your services and expertise in combination with an automated workforce management platform, businesses can finally get back to focusing on what they do best.

As you may know, the benefits of outsourcing workforce management functions are plentiful. However, we have included the top four reasons why outsourcing is beneficial (if not essential) to the success of small to midsized businesses.

1. Lowers business expenses by reducing labor costs.

Automating and outsourcing workforce management processes results in fewer responsibilities for a business to have to worry about. This eliminates the need for unnecessary labor, such as bookkeeping or administration and allows the business to invest their money where it really counts.

2. Helps businesses to minimize liabilities.

With constant changes in labor laws and regulations, and the intricacies of processes like tax filing, it becomes nearly impossible for smaller businesses to stay abreast of every detail involved. Noncompliance can become a huge problem for businesses, costing them thousands of dollars in penalties and legal fees. However, businesses who outsource these processes can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their service providers stay well-informed with all current laws and regulations to help them remain in compliance.

3. Increases overall workforce productivity.

Outsourcing workforce management processes enables staff to concentrate on the core of their business’s success by freeing up their time from unnecessary tasks. With increased flexibility, a business can worry less about making sure things like payroll are processed on time and focus more on strategic initiatives that can improve their bottom line.

4. Allows businesses to take advantage of service providers’ expertise and knowledge.

There are no better experts in the workforce management field than skilled, regional service providers. Equipped with tools and other valuable resources, they serve as local specialists to their clients. Automated workforce management platforms provide a great solution for routine tasks but service providers offer an extra advantage by giving professional insight and tailoring solutions to the specific needs of a business.

It’s hard to imagine businesses not seeing the value of outsourcing and automating workforce management functions. It’s cost-effective, reliable and better yet, it’s stress-free. 

To get further insight from experts on the benefits of outsourcing, give us a call at 303-645-4270, visit us at mosaices.com or email us at info@mosaices.com. We are excited for the opportunity to talk with you and see if there are ways to help your company thrive.