The National Labor Relations Board has taken a big step in deciding that non-disparagement and confidentiality clauses in employee severance agreements are illegal, a move that will require most employers to rewrite theirs. The board ruled that these provisions stifle employees’ and ex-employees’ rights under Title 7 of the National Labor Relations Act to discuss…
A new state law that allows for digital license plates to be installed on vehicles in California, may have created a privacy nightmare for employers. The Motor Vehicle Digital Number Plates Act, which took effect Jan. 1, enables fleet and commercial vehicle owners to purchase and install digital license plates and soon-to-be-approved alternative devices for…
The IRS has released the 2023 maximum contribution amounts for health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts. You’ll want to make note of the changes when discussing your employee benefits during annual open enrollment. The changes, which the IRS releases in November each year, will affect contribution limits for HSAs, FSAs and 401(k) and other…
A new law will require almost all contractors in California to carry workers’ compensation coverage, regardless of if they have employees or not. According to the author of the bill, State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, the new law was necessary due to the tendency of many small contractors to claim they have no employees, when…
By now you will know about the rapid uptake in telemedicine after the COVID-19 pandemic drove patients to use virtual appointments with their doctors. While this form of medicine seems like it’s here to stay, there are other technologies that employers can look to include in their group health plans to help employees get the…
Office and commercial building vacancies have exploded since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, leaving many buildings completely empty of tenants or partially occupied. According to the website Statista.com, the average vacancy rate for offices nationwide in the first quarter of 2022 was 12.3%, which is an improvement from 17.4% in the first quarter of 2021. Unfortunately,…
As group health plan open enrollment looms for most companies, communicating your offerings to your staff is key to getting as many of them as possible to sign up for coverage. That requires a solid strategy aimed at helping your employees understand their choices and the financial implications of them. Most importantly, you want to…
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought mental health to the forefront for many people, as they tried to cope with abrupt changes to their work and social lives, isolation, fear of getting sick and losing loved ones to the disease. Even now, as the pandemic ebbs, the mental health crisis has not. A recent National Safety…
When you have driving employees, you have to ensure they drive safely not only to avoid an accident and injuring themselves, but also injuring other drivers or pedestrians. While your workers’ compensation insurance will cover an employee’s injuries, your commercial auto insurance would have to cover any claims for third party injuries. An accident can…
Even though the majority of workers receive health insurance coverage on the job, a new survey has found that many of them understand surprisingly little about their health plans and are leaving money on the table. The “Health Insurance Literacy Survey” by Healthcare.com found widespread misunderstanding about how copays and deductibles work, and what premiums and…