Benefits Administration Articles

Avoiding mistakes in day-to-day benefits administration

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
May 28, 2010
© HR Works, Inc.

How do employers ensure that day-to-day benefits administration is being handled correctly? Awareness and familiarity are good places to start.

In this column we’ll cover some of the basics, including ERISA, plan documents/SPDs, COBRA, domestic partner coverage and Medicare Part D.

Find innovative approaches for tackling compensation

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
May 22, 2009
© HR Works, Inc.

If your organization is tinkering with its compensation programs, you’re not alone. According to a recent WorldatWork survey of more than 1,000 U.S. companies, more than half report changing the 2009 projected salary budget increases in light of the current economic situation.

Not surprisingly, more than 90 percent of those making changes are lowering salary increase budgets, and it’s expected that the budgets will fall an average of 1.6 percentage points to 2.3 percent. The report also found that 10 percent of the surveyed organizations will freeze pay in 2009.

Get relief: automate or outsource benefits administration

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
October 31, 2008
© HR Works, Inc.

There is an expensive secret in benefits that is frequently overlooked but has significant impact on a company’s premium payments and ultimately its bottom line. The secret is that employee benefits costs are impacted not only by carrier rates but also directly by a company’s own internal benefits administration processes.

For companies seeking new cost-containment strategies, automating benefits administration either internally or via outsourcing can provide significant relief.

Communicating value of benefits package a must

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
July 4, 2008
© HR Works, Inc.

Imagine giving a big raise to an especially valued employee, hoping to enhance her loyalty -- and then forgetting to tell her about the increase.

Inconceivable, right? Why make a generous gesture and then fail to take credit for it?

And yet many employers effectively do exactly that when they fall short of communicating to their employees the total value of their compensation, the “hidden paycheck” that consists of health premiums, pension plans, vacation days and other benefits.

Objective, expert advice crucial when choosing 401(k) vendor

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
May 23, 2008
© HR Works, Inc.

Defined-contribution plans are the most popular employer-sponsored retirement plans in the United States, generating trillions of dollars in investment capital. These plans - 401(k)s and 403(b)s - provide employees with tax-efficient opportunities to save for retirement and offer employers important recruitment and retention tools.

Their effectiveness, however, is hampered by employers' understanding of the costs and risks involved, especially regarding fiduciary responsibility, and employees' ability and willingness to take charge of securing their financial futures.

What to expect from your health-insurance broker

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
May 25, 2007
© HR Works, Inc.

A major shift has reshaped Rochester's health-insurance landscape. As the cost of premiums has skyrocketed, local employers have become more aggressive in seeking relief. Many large employers are now self-insured, and many mid-sized companies have moved into experience-rated plans. Aetna and other carriers have entered the market, introducing a new array of options.

As health insurance has become increasingly more complex and competitive, carriers have moved toward retaining brokers to bring them business. While the insured group makes the final decision regarding which insurance plans to buy, the choices can be so confusing that engaging a consultant to help with the process could be helpful - but only if the consultant/broker is acting in the employer's best interests.

Small businesses sharpen and simplify compensation strategies

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
December 30, 2005
© HR Works, Inc.

Top performers are always in demand, especially at small firms where one person can make a huge difference. Unfortunately, organizations often focus too many resources on trying to improve poor performers at the expense of developing, motivating and rewarding top talent.

Successful organizations are those whose cultures recognize and reward effort and results, typically through incentive-based or variable-compensation programs tied to the achievement of collective and/or individual goals.

Benefits communication strategy pays dividends

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
August 26, 2005
© HR Works, Inc.

Research reveals that the quality of the communication about employee benefits can be more important than the benefits package itself in boosting employee satisfaction and retention. In companies that offer rich benefits but communicate them poorly, the turnover rate among top performers can be higher than at companies that provide the opposite -- less expensive packages, but excellent benefits communication.

Learn how your organization can enjoy a greater return on the benefit dollars spent by communicating more effectively.

Consumer-driven health care: Will it ease skyrocketing costs?

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
October 1, 2004
© HR Works, Inc.

Containing out-of-control health insurance premiums is one of the major challenges facing U.S. employers. Coupled with high-deductible health plans, proponents anticipate that the consumer-driven HSA (health savings account) model will offer many advantages and will save money for employers and employees.

Test your employee benefits knowledge

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
August 27, 2004
© HR Works, Inc.

Managing an employee benefits program involves many technical complexities and exposures. Particularly at smaller companies, which often do not employ a dedicated HR professional, the CFO or CEO bears the burden of continually updating his or her knowledge. To gauge your level of understanding, try this quiz.

Compensation 101: Building a strategy that supports small-business success

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
July 23, 2004
© HR Works, Inc.

Successful organizations view a sound, unemotional compensation strategy as an indispensable management tool. Aware of the high costs of payroll and benefits, these companies strive to get the most out of their investment in employees.

Web-based salary information: The untold story

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
June 25, 2004
© HR Works, Inc.

As internet technology has blossomed, a flood of free but often unverified information regarding salary and other compensation has generated new challenges for employers. Employees often rely on that information to develop expectations--perhaps unrealistic--about what they're worth. In response, employers must manage the tensions this information creates.

Unearthing the real costs of 401(k) plans

Published in the Rochester Business Journal
May 28, 2004
© HR Works, Inc.

Remember the six blind men who traveled to meet an elephant? Using their incomplete powers of observation, each firmly declared his own conclusion -- that the elephant was like a wall, a spear, a snake, a tree, a fan or a rope. None captured the true nature of the beast.

In the world of 401(k) plan costs, a similar principle applies: By using a narrow perspective to look at only one facet of a plan, an employer can easily miss the big picture - and may suffer potentially severe consequences for that ignorance.

Want to see executive pay rise even faster? Then push for more regulation.

As a society, angst over such “injustices” quickly consumes us, and we become determined to correct these excesses promptly. Eager to appear responsive to their constituents’ concerns, lawmakers rush to add regulatory constraints that are intended to “control” executive pay.

But history consistently tells us that this is a bad –- really bad –- idea. Regulations that are meant to limit rising compensation in fact often generate precisely the opposite effect.

To control health costs, show consumers the price tag

The proliferation of HMOs and third-party providers has insulated consumers from the true cost of health care. Our payments are fixed based on deductibles or maximum out-of-pocket expenses. The typical patient doesn’t know whether an MRI costs $200 or $2,000. Ask employees how much an annual physical costs, and their answer is probably $10 or $15, which represents the token co-pay.

And even if we knew the price tags, what would we do differently? Few incentives are in place today to encourage an employee to control health care expenditures. Why question the need for the MRI when “someone else” is paying for it?

Getting the most out of pay increases

Countless articles have been written about the exorbitant salaries and stock options sometimes found in corporate America. Although it is interesting to read about the executives who earn millions each year, such information has little relevance for most smaller and mid-sized companies. For typical employers, the issue is: In tough economic times, how do we leverage our limited financial resources to create and motivate top performers?

Do variable-compensation plans for employees really work?

Once the domain of executives and key employees, variable-pay plans are now being designed to work at lower levels, as organizations seek to motivate their staffs to produce better bottom-line results in tough times.

But does variable pay work? It depends on several factors, including the company’s culture and the plan’s design.

HR Works, Inc., located at 246 Willow Brook Office Park in Fairport (Rochester), New York, is a human resource management outsourcing and consulting firm serving more than 700 clients. HR Works provides benefits administration outsourcing; full-time, part-time and interim on-site HR managers; HR audits; legally reviewed employee handbooks and supervisor manuals; affirmative action programs; compensation programs; training of managers and HR professionals; and HRIS and self-service technology.

From now on, we’ll call HR Works first with our HR management outsourcing needs.