Tag Archives: HR

How We Help Businesses Remain Compliant

CorpStrat helps local business keep compliant and simplify their HR, Payroll and employee benefit processes.

We were introduced to Galaxy Draperies (Galaxy) in Chatsworth California about three years ago. Originally, they were unhappy and underserved by their current Employee Benefits broker. Galaxy was then referred to us to review and audit their employee plans.

In the beginning, we worked with Galaxy Draperies to help put together employee benefits plans that offered the right packages and services for their 27 employees. We then brought in one of their Property Casualty partners who uncovered unnecessary insurance and we implemented the correct insurance plans that were needed for their business.

Continue reading →

Get Informed on Rising Health Care Costs

Leave a reply

Association Based Health Insurance – A Cure For Small Group?

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), employers that do not meet the 50 or more full-time or full-time equivalent employee threshold to be Applicable Large Employers (ALEs), are not required to offer health coverage. Nor do they face penalties. Not surprisingly, as a result, smaller businesses often do not offer coverage.

New regulations proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) want to change that dynamic. And in a thriving economy, where unemployment means retention is key, health insurance is a key driver in employee acquisition and retention.

Up to 11 million Americans working for small businesses or who are sole proprietors and their families lack employer-sponsored insurance. The DOL hopes new rules on HOW healthcare plans are purchased will close the gap of uninsured Americans; without eliminating options available in the healthcare marketplace.

New Rules

The proposed regulations will allow small business health plans—known as Association Health Plans (AHP)—to expand under The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). This may allow the self-employed and other small businesses to band together to form their own associations for the purposes of providing healthcare coverage.

AHPs would be required to accept all applicants and could not deny individuals with pre-existing conditions or charge more for people who are sick. However, they could reduce prescription drug coverage and increase coverage in other categories to compensate for the reduction, the effect of which would be to increase costs for chronic care patients.

The employer members of these plans would need to be in the same trade, industry, line of business, profession, or to have their principal place of business in the same state, or, if in multiple states, in the same metropolitan area.

Under the current regulations, an AHP is considered a single plan only if the association has a purpose or function unrelated to offering healthcare benefits and the employer members have a common economic interest. So, few options exist and all have to comply with the ACA’s “essential benefit rules”.

The end result of these new rules, or so the thinking goes, is that this will make premiums more affordable. The trade-off is that these health insurance plans would be less extensive then what is usually required by health insurance plans offered by the current marketplace. Lots of review and legislation await the proposed offering of new association plans. However, they offer a glimmer of home to the problem of rising health insurance costs.

HR Technology: What’s All The Hype?

Leave a reply

Technological Innovations

Working with HR technology has never been more exciting. HR is evolving, as is the technology that supports it. It is empowering to provide businesses with technology that can help manage the people side of their organization. Technological innovations have created the opportunity for HR departments to generate a far greater impact than ever before. HR technology trends in 2018 are creating unparalleled automation for achieving stronger cohesion and communication. In addition, they will undoubtedly attract millennial workers, while also maintaining familiarity with the older generation.

HR automation technology eliminates paperwork, manages compliance, onboards new hires, tracks PTO, benefits enrollment and communication Applicant tracking, document signing, performance management, terminations, ACA compliance, documentation management, and list goes on!

Every Company Can Benefit from a Solid HR Technology Platform

In todays business world, it’s critical for even the smallest companies to be compliant and create effenciencies so they may thrive in a competitive market. Prior to the internet, HR recruiters had to rely on print publications to post jobs and find qualified candidates. Technology has revolutionized and globalized the way in which we find these qualified candidates.

Electronic imaging has made it feasible for companies to retrieve and store files in electronic format. HR technology makes it easy to simply print any necessary forms that an employee may need from a central digital library.

Increased performance management is yet another byproduct of technological improvement. With the use of metrics, companies can ensure that employees are meeting performance standards; based on these metrics, employers can either implement additional training, or transition the employee out of their position.

With all of these developments, business leaders would be wise to understand these technology trends that will shape the year ahead, and far beyond. As a result, companies are vastly improving their strategic recruiting, performance management, employee development, social networking, and internal employee communications – all vital business issues.

This is a very compelling time to be in business, especially with all of the technological options available to business owners – and they will continue to get more and more innovative!

Success and Preparation Go Hand In Hand

Leave a reply

What is the greatest exposure for most business owners? Failing to plan.

Lots of business owners wake up at 2:00 am, worried and fearful, unable to go back to sleep, because they are consumed with the challenges facing their business and their families: What happens if I get sick? What happens if I can’t meet overhead? If my largest client goes out of business? If something, happens to my partner, wife, child or a parent? How will I retire? Who will succeed my business? If my lead-sales person leaves? Do I have a backup plan? The list goes on and on, right??

It takes a lifetime to build a business and it takes a moment for it to fall apart. According to Success Harbor and the U.S. Census Bureau, 400,000 new businesses are started every year in the USA, but 470,000 are dying and around half of all businesses no longer exist after five years. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary

All it takes is an unexpected death, an unforeseen illness, or a key personnel departure. Business owners must understand the possibilities, prepare for the risks, and plan for their continuity and succession. Protecting the business means protecting the families that depend on your business. The financial stability is interconnected. We understand this because we live it ourselves.

Are You Prepared?

We don’t have to look far to see the challenges that business owners face. Entrepreneurs face these dilemmas each day and we see family members get sick, become dependents, consume assets and increase the pressure. Success and preparation go hand in hand, and things move quickly in the world these days.

As insurance brokers and advisors, we regularly council with professionals – asking the challenging questions, and provoking dialogues into uncomfortable spaces between wants, needs and priorities. We are the catalyst for business succession, key man retention, insurance planning, and retirement focus. We prompt referrals to our network of professionals and engage your advisors to help you identify and achieve your goals.

Something keeping you up at night, staring at the ceiling? Likely, it’s in our zone of comfort. Comment below or call and let’s have a conversation about the things and people you care most about.

Subscribe To Our Blog

Where Do You Draw The Line?

Leave a reply

Overly-Friendly or Sexual Harassment…Where Do You Draw the Line?

With the daily news of high profile cases of sexual harassment since Harvey Weinstein was accused last fall along with many others, clients have asked – how do you determine if someone is over-friendly verses harassment? The line between flirtation and harassment is a very fine, often, blurred one.

There is no disputing that a person’s individual and workplace culture plays a large part in this equation. Understanding what is happening (or not happening) in your organization, is most imperative for executives to take the lead on. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a clear definition of what is and is not harassment. So perhaps the question should be, what proactive things can I do to tackle this ever growing issue?

Know the facts. Review the EEOC definition and educated yourself.
Know the types of harassment. Sexual, verbal, gender, etc. and how they can play out in your culture.
Have an inclusive work culture that is diverse in ethnicity, social background, and gender.
Review and update policies that relate to harassment of all kinds.
Develop internal communication that outlines standards, a process for reporting abuse, and clear consequences for violating the policy.
Participate in regular scheduled trainings.
Create a supportive work culture where employee’s feel empowered and valued.
Support HR when a concern arises.
Don’t wait for a formal complaint. If you see or hear about it, ACT.
Respond quickly to all allegations.

Be The Solution

While there are no guarantees a company policy or training will be the perfect solution, employers can take proactive steps to address harassment and create solutions that ensure a safe and comfortable work environment for all.

For the skeptics, yes, false accusations have been made and genuine misunderstandings, easily rectified. But don’t let that lessen the seriousness of a complaint. Harassment of all kinds now have a voice and that has given people the courage to speak up, when they may have been too scared to before.

Given how little agreement exists about a clear definition of sexual harassment, employers seeking to create a comfortable work environment may need to be more explicit about the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Consider CorpStrat to help you through that next situation and in developing policies or trainings. Our HR on Demand packages can provide reliable HR support and create solutions. We are here to help.