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EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION: WHY IT IS IMPORTANT, HOW DO YOU MEASURE IT & WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE RESULTS, PART #2

Posted on March 21, 2022 by Trinity HR

In Part 1 we identified four major reasons why understanding your employees level of satisfaction is important. Here in Part 2 we’ll identify factors that impact employee satisfaction.

Employees are not a monolithic group. Obvious you say? If so, why it is that as employers we too often act as if they are in matters such as:

  • Policies
  • Benefits design
  • Communications

An organization needs to ensure its manner of measurement properly captures the differences within employee segments. Below are some examples of factors that cause or contribute to differences in the degree of satisfaction:

  • 1) Age
    • Which takes into account generational differences
  • 2) Gender
  • 3) Marital/family status
    • Children or no children
  • 4) Stage in life
  • 5) Education level
  • 6) Position within the organization
    • Typically, the satisfaction level has a direct correlation to an individual’s/group’s level of satisfaction.
  • Do NOT make the mistake of failing to ascertain the satisfaction level of senior management or executive staff.
  • 7) Financial status (which in part is often based on their compensation)

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  • 8) Stage in career
    • Entry? Mid?  Peak?  Nearing end?
  • 9) Personal &/or family health
  • 10) Relationship with immediate supervisor
    • As I stated multiple times, for many employees their immediate supervisor IS the company
  • This is why supervisory/management training & development has so much value.

In Part 3 of this series, we will look at various ways to effectively assess employee satisfaction, followed by what we should do once we have a clear picture of how employees feel about our organization.

Author: Salvatore LoDico, CEO of Trinity HR Consulting, Inc
The HR Godfather™

Trinity HR is a provider of a comprehensive range of HR consultative services & solutions, with highly satisfied clients ranging from global corporations to small local businesses.

To learn more about how the expertise of our Team can help you with your people-related questions, challenges &/or opportunities:

Posted in Employee & Labor Relations

EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION: WHY IT IS IMPORTANT, HOW DO YOU MEASURE IT & WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE RESULTS, PART #1

Posted on January 14, 2022 by Trinity HR

With all of the emphasis on the labor shortage, what is sometimes overlooked is that one part of the solution is for employers to understand the level of satisfaction amongst their current employees.  Too often, the determination of their satisfaction is not really a determination at all, but simply the organization’s perception as to how its employees really feel.

  • Like any other business issue and the associated decision, it requires the gathering of related information — if you will, the facts, not perceptions.

Looks like at WHY a sound understanding of its employees is valuable to an organization:

  • 1) Employees are who produce your products &/or provide your services
    • In light of all of the implications of this statement, I could rightfully stop here, but I won’t.
  • 2) Multiple studies validate that employees who are satisfied at work are:
    • More productive
    • More inclined to offer ideas for improvement
    • Less likely to leave – even when approached by a search consultant such as Trinity HR
    • More likely to encourage their family, friends & others to seek employment with you
      • In effect, your employees can be utilized as a highly effective, low cost way to attract the talent you need.
    • More likely to embrace your organization’s mission
      • A survey of showed that more than 90% of employers believe it is vitally important
        for employees to understand the mission
      • Imagine the power of employees not only understanding the mission, but also embracing it via their attitudes & actions—that is, being engaged!

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  • 3) A Gallup study showed that companies with engaged employees are MORE PROFITABLE BY 147% in comparison to their competitors
    • As measured by Earning per Share
  • 4) Harvard Business Report reported 48% less safety incidents in companies with engaged employees
    • The monetary value of this size of reduction is significant.

In Part 2, we look at how do you measure employee satisfaction.

Author: Salvatore LoDico, CEO of Trinity HR Consulting, Inc
The HR Godfather™

Trinity HR is a provider of a comprehensive range of HR consultative services & solutions, with highly satisfied clients ranging from global corporations to small local businesses.

To learn more about how the expertise of our Team can help you with your people-related questions, challenges &/or opportunities:

Posted in Employee & Labor Relations

FINDING EMPLOYEES: THE IN’S & THE OUT’S, PART 2

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Trinity HR

As even Captain Obvious knows, there are two basic categories of individuals within the labor force. Simply stated, there are:

  • 1) Active candidates – individuals who have their resumes on job sites, have contacted recruiters & let those in their network know they are looking for a new job
  • 2) Passive candidates – individuals who are not pursuing a new job

Too often, a company’s approach to recruiting focuses the vast percentage of its time and budget on active candidates, while essentially ignoring passive ones. Did I hear someone say, “Of course! Why would I waste time and money on individuals who are not seeking a new job?”

Like most of you, I don’t like to waste my time or my money. Yet during my 30 year career as an HR executive followed by 8 more as Trinity’s Founder & CEO, I have intentionally sought out passive candidates — and have often been successful in recruiting them.

Let’s start with why I purposely sought them for my companies during my corporate career and still do for Trinity’s client companies. It is because they:

  • 1) Comprise a significant percentage of the total labor pool
    • According to a Society of Human Resources Management report presented at its September 2021 National Conference, less than 50% of employees identify themselves as “actively searching for a new job, or plan to soon”.
    • Some other sources estimate passive candidates as being 70% of the total talent pool.
  • 2) Are often the most competent within their field
    • When asked if they feel passive candidates’ competency exceeds that of active candidates, employers clearly agree.
  • 3) Surprisingly enough, tend to be more critical of their current employer than their actively looking counterparts
    • This is clearly counterintuitive, but it is borne out in data from other sources.

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  • 4) May not be pursuing a job change, but it is a major mistake to ignore them based on the presupposition they will not be open to making a change
  • 5) Are more open to listening to an opportunity than assumed – IF the opportunity is interesting to them
    • You get one shot and about 60 to 90 seconds to pique their interest.
    • Truth be told, most in-house recruiters and many external ones working for non-search firms (see Part 1 article) have not mastered this critically important skill.

So the natural question is, “How do I/my organization achieve success in tapping into the passive market?” I’ll address this essential question in Part 3 of this article series.

Author: Salvatore LoDico, CEO of Trinity HR Consulting, Inc
The HR Godfather™

For more information about how Trinity’s team of consultants can help you with finding talent for your company (or with any other people-related matter):

YOU HAVE HR QUESTIONS … TRINITY HAS ANSWERS

Posted in Talent Acquisition, Executive Search, Employment & Employee Retention

FINDING EMPLOYEES: THE IN’S & THE OUT’S, PART 1

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Trinity HR

If you are reading this, you almost assuredly know this statement to be true – “Right now, finding good employees is as hard (or even harder) than ever.”

Let me pose some important questions:

  • 1) Is your posting an ad on one or more of the most often used job sites producing the volume & caliber of applicants that you want?
  • 2) Is your organization’s level of talent acquisition competency at the expert level?
  • 3) Do you have the necessary resources allocated to this challenge?
  • 4) Do you expect this upside-down labor market to improve soon?
  • 5) Do you think there’s a “magic bullet” solution?
  • 6) Is the adverse impact of your not being able to find & hire something you want to or can afford to continue living with?

The most common responses to these questions are:

  • 1) It used to, but this is not working anywhere nearly as well as it used to.
  • 2) We may not have been experts, but we were doing a relatively good job at it – but not now.
  • 3) Not enough because of how much more time needs to be spent on hiring.
  • 4) Speaking realistically, I doubt it.
  • 5) No, like most business challenges, the solution has multiple components.
  • 6) Absolutely not.

Here are some actions that an organization can take:

  • 1) Enhancing the skill level of your recruiting staff
    • Improving the skill level of employees is almost always a good step. However, the length of time to get the results you desire may be too long.
  • 2) Hiring an employee or employees with greater recruiting skills
    • Hiring a skilled recruiter or recruiters as employees may be very difficult because they (just like other skilled employees) are in great demand.
  • 3) Offering hiring bonuses to candidates
    • This certainly has proven to be effective in past employee shortages, and is again proving to be somewhat effective in this shortage.
  • 4) Providing retention bonuses to existing employees—at least to those in key positions 7/or hard to fill ones
    • Same comment as to hiring bonuses applies.
  • 5) Incentivizing current employees to become “recruiters” with their family, friends, other soccer parents, those at their church & others.
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    • This approach certainly doesn’t work if your employees do NOT feel good about their being an employee of yours.
    • This is a subject for another time!
  • 6) Turning to search firms since the really good ones are proving they are able to find talent even during this cycle
    • A search firm’s talent is finding talent – even in difficult times such as now.
    • Yes, it is expensive but when you count the cost of not doing so you may conclude the expense is justified, especially given the results they deliver

I would be remiss if I did not point out several important matters:

  • 1) There is a huge difference in experience & thus results between search firms & their distant relatives — staffing agencies or recruiting companies.
  • 2) There’s also a wide variance in results between firms (even those who call themselves search firms) who you hire on a contingency basis in comparison those hired to conduct a retained search – the expertise & performance results by true search firms is so much greater than the  difference in fees compared to the “wannabee” search firms or recruiting firms.
  • 3) As in all professions, the skill levels between retained search firms can likewise vary greatly.
    • As a Medical School Dean once told me, “What do you call someone who graduates last in their class?” Doctor – but are they the one you want providing critical care?”

Stay tuned for “FINDING EMPLOYEES: THE IN’S & THE OUT’S, PART 2”

Author: Salvatore LoDico, CEO
The HR Godfather™

For more information about how Trinity can help you with finding talent for your company (or with any other people-related matter):

YOU HAVE HR CHALLENGES … TRINITY HAS SOLUTIONS

Posted in Talent Acquisition, Executive Search, Employment & Employee Retention

THE RECRUITING & RETENTION PERFECT STORM, PART 3

Posted on September 27, 2021 by Trinity HR

In Part 1, we looked at several aspects of this perfect storm, including:

  • The unfavorable to employers imbalance between talent supply and demand
  • The pent up desire by employees to move to a new position
  • The cost of replacement of departing employees

In Part 2, we looked at other aspects, such as

  • The major causes of employees leaving
  • Employee expectations of their employers
  • Actions which organizations can take to improve employee satisfaction and thus retention

Now in Part 3, we will look at:

  • The specifics of what potential candidates will ask at the onset on being contacted
  • Achieving greater success in acquiring the employees you need

We all know the current labor-job market is horrific for employers and great for employees —11,100,000 vacant jobs in the U.S.

  • The media often zeroes in on certain segments of the market being so bad for employers, especially those with service-related workers such as restaurants and bars.
  • The reality is that this out of balance demand – supply is applicable for all types and levels of positions — from entry level ones to office workers to skilled professionals to management positions all the way to the C-suite positions.

In my lengthy HR career, this is by far the worse imbalance of which I’ve been a part.

In Trinity’s interaction with its clients and with potential candidates with whom we engage, here is the list of what the vast majority of candidates are expecting (often, “demanding” may be more accurate) in order to consider making a move. The typical sequence of their questions is as shown.

  • 1)  Remote work
    • If not 5 days per week, at least 3 days
  • 2) A pay increase of 15%
    • The rule of thumb of 10% no longer applies.
    • Often accompanied with a pay review within 6 months as an expectation
  • 3) A commitment to how the hiring company will develop them professionally
    • Remember what I’ve written and said before: “Loyalty by the new work force is to their career, not to any one employer.”
  • 4) The answer to their share of health care costs?
  • 5) The answer to how much paid time off?

Without the answer to these 5 aspects of the position being “positive” ones in the eyes of the prospective candidate, they will decline interest the vast majority of times.

  • By the way, if the answer to the first question is not “positive”, it is highly unlikely they will even be willing to talk further.
  • The same thing is true if the answer is “positive”, but the next answer is not.

SIX WAYS TO ACHIEVE GREATER SUCCESS IN MEETING YOUR STAFFING NEEDS:

1) Recognize your need to engage an HR firm that has highly skilled search professionals (not a staffing agency) that will conduct deep dives into the potential pool of candidates.

Yes, this is a self-serving statement, but more importantly it is a true statement.

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EVEN IF YOU DISREGARD WAY 1), PLEASE DO NOT FAIL TO READ THE OTHER 5 WAYS.
  • In a normal market, you may have been successful in finding good individuals on your own. However, in this market that is not likely to be true.
  • In this market, even those who are talent search professionals have to work extra hard and devote an inordinate amount of time to find talent.

2) Evaluate your work policy as it relates to being on site or working remotely.

  • In responding to COVID, many organizations have already found that many positions can indeed effectively work remotely. Obviously, you need to make a position by position determination.

Clearly, no one knows with certainty what the new, post-COVID work environment will be. However, it is highly likely that some form of a hybrid will come to be the prevailing combination of on site and remote work for many employees.

3) Ensure you have up to date market data as to the compensation for positions you need to fill—differentiating in terms of base pay versus incentive pay.

  • Pay levels (including bonuses) are changing rapidly as companies respond to this market.

CAUTION: Be mindful of the impact of the pay for new hires on current employees — especially when you have positions with multiple incumbents.

4) Assess your approach to professional development of employees and opportunities for career advancement.

  • With today’s technology, you have options on how to do so in a cost-effective manner.

Remember what I’ve written and said before: “Loyalty by the new work force is to their career, not to any one employer.”

5) Review your health care benefits, especially: A) the % cost split between you and employees and B) what the total cost

Your benefits consultant/broker of record should be able to provide you with how you compare to the geographic market you are in.
At this time of year, that firm should have reviewed or be reviewing 2022 renewals with you. So this is an ideal time to do this review.

6) Examine your paid time off policy to determine its competitiveness with those organizations with which you are vying for the same talent.

Keep in mind for some positions you are competing with organizations not producing the same products nor providing the same services as you.

Author: Salvatore LoDico, CEO
The HR Godfather™

For more information about how Trinity can help you with recruiting and retention (or any other people-related matter):

YOU HAVE HR CHALLENGES … TRINITY HAS SOLUTIONS

Posted in Talent Acquisition, Executive Search, Employment & Employee Retention

The Recruiting & Retention Perfect Storm, Part 2

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Trinity HR

In Part 1, we looked at several aspects of this perfect storm, including:

  • The unfavorable to employers imbalance between talent supply and demand
  • The pent up desire by employees to move to a new position
  • The cost of replacement of departing employees

In Part 2, we will look at other aspects, such as

  • The major causes of employees leaving
  • Employee expectations of their employers
  • Actions which organizations can take to improve employee satisfaction and thus retention

Below is a list of the most common factors that cause employees to seek to make a change

Most common NON-ADDRESSABLE reasons to leave:

  • 1)  Job Security (e.g., change in ownership or organizational financial stability)
  • 2)  Commute
  • 3)  Spouse/Family Re-location
  • 4)  Decision to change career/industry
  • 5)  Retirement
  • 6)  Death/Disability

The above reasons are ones about which the employer has virtual little or no control – thus, we categorize them as non-addressable.

  • An exception is re-location, which in today’s world of work has demonstrated that many positions are able to be successfully performed remotely.
  • Some of you may be thinking that reason 1) is also addressable — by assuring employees they need not be concerned about their job security. Trinity’s experience is that once the seed of doubt is in the mind of employees, it is very difficult to counteract it — short of continued employment being guaranteed.
  • Likewise, 2) may sometimes also be addressable – via remote work or an in person/remote work hybrid.

Below is a list of the most common factors which employers are able to successfully address—to varying degrees.

Most common ADDRESSABLE factors to seek to leave:

  • 1)  Specifics of their job
  • 2)  Career Development & Advancement Opportunities
  • 3)  Work-Life Balance
  • 4)  Relationship with Immediate Supervisor
  • 5)  Work Environment
  • 6)  Pay & Benefits

Let’s now turn our attention to each of these.  Before doing so it should be recognized that often no one single factor may be the reason an employee decides to look elsewhere or to be willing to listen to external opportunities.

  • 1)  Job Specifics
    • This factor frequently entails several different aspects, such as:
      • a) Mismatch of an employee’s areas of interest, education and/or experience
      • b) Capability of the employee to perform the position’s duties and responsibilities – including both their being unable to do so as well as their being able to perform higher level work
      • c) Workload that is too great and so can overwhelm them or be too stressful
  • 2)  Career Development & Advancement
    • This occurs when an employee is not being given opportunities to grow their knowledge and skills (in terms of their depth &/or breadth).

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    • In turn, this leads to an employee believing their career is dead ended & thus leaving.
  • 3)  Work-Life Balance
    • If an employee feels their workload or schedule is such that their life is consumed by their job, the person eventually decides that leaving is the answer to restoring work-life balance.
  • 4)  Relationship with Supervisor
    • For employees this relationship typically serves to form their perception of the organization as a whole – not surprising given that an employee has more interaction with their immediate supervisor than anyone else.
    • A relationship characterized by an employee having any of the following feelings often is the trigger or the tipping point in their decision to leave.
  • 5)  Work Environment
    • This generally consists of a wide-ranging collection of factors, such as:
      • a) Organizational culture
      • b) Leadership style
      • c) Communications
      • d) Policies & procedures
      • e) Physical facility
      • f) Flexibility & receptivity to ideas, change & the like
      • g) Social norms
  • 6)  Pay & Benefits
    • These two go hand in hand, & today’s world employees are able to get information as to what other organizations provide – such information may or may not be accurate, but employees use it as their measuring stick
    • Pay & Benefits have two key facets:
      • a) Internally equitable
      • b) Externally competitive

In Part 3, we’ll delve into what actions employers should take to address the expectations of employees, and therefore be an employer where current employees want to stay & to which potential employees are attracted.

Author: Salvatore LoDico, CEO
The HR Godfather™

For more information about how Trinity can help you with recruiting and retention (or any other people-related matter):

  • Email Trinity at Info@TrinityHR.net
  • Visit our website at www.TrinityHR.net
  • Call us at 856.905.1762 or Toll Free at 877.228.6810

 

YOU HAVE HR CHALLENGES … TRINITY HAS SOLUTIONS

Posted in Talent Acquisition, Executive Search, Employment & Employee Retention

The Recruiting & Retention Perfect Storm, Part 1

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Trinity HR

This is a series that continues Trinity’s May 17th article related to the labor market. In this 1st part of this series of articles, I’m focusing on turnover & its cost to employees.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there are now over 9 million jobs unfilled in the U.S.—up from 8.2 million’s prior report. This represents the highest number since the BLS started its reporting in 2000. Without talking about the reasons for so many vacant jobs (which I will do at a later point), the demand for workers far exceeds their supply.

  • This has multiple implications, which I will also talk about in a subsequent article in this multi-part series.

Based on the last “normal” year (that being 2019), Mercer reported a U.S. average turnover rate to be 22%, with 15% of that being voluntary, 6% being involuntary & 1% being retirements.

  • Suffice for now for me to say that as a result of the current supply & demand imbalance:
    • With the economy rebounding, employees have choices & are taking advantage of those choices—after being afraid to leave for the last eighteen months.
      • A Robert Half survey reports that 38% of workers say they have felt stuck in their careers since the pandemic began.
      • According to several surveys, it appears employees are ready to leave their current jobs behind in 2021, right along with the pandemic restrictions we’ve all had to live with for so long. The numbers range from 26% to 40%
    • We can expect to see more voluntary turnover.
    • Employees are in control of the employee – employer relationship.
      • Employers need to not accept this reality & listen to employee preferences & expectations, but also need to take action.
      • If not, they will almost certainly be dealing with an insufficient supply of the talent they need.
      • They’ll also incur significant expenses in order to replace exiting employees.

The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) estimates organizations can pay six to nine months of a worker’s salary to replace them.

  • Replacement costs include recruiting and training.

Let’s look at those estimates in terms of dollar costs associated with

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Job Level Annual Pay # of Months of Pay Estimated Cost to Employer
Low $   40,000 3 $10,000
Middle $   70,000 6 $35,000
Management $100,000 9 $90,000

We all know that meeting or exceeding the expectations of our customers/clients is a much better outcome that having to secure new ones. The same thing is true with respect to our employees.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TRINITY’S TEAM OF CONSULTANTS CAN HELP YOU WITH RECRUITING, RETENTION OR PEOPLE-RELATED MATTERS:

Author: Salvatore LoDico, Trinity CEO (aka “The HR Godfather”)

YOU HAVE HR CHALLENGES…TRINITY HAS SOLUTIONS!

Posted in Talent Acquisition, Executive Search, Employment & Employee Retention

THE LABOR SHORTAGE: REASONS & TRINITY SUGGESTIONS TO MEET THIS CHALLENGE

Posted on May 17, 2021 by Trinity HR

We are in an extremely challenging time in terms of the labor market. The economic recovery has many employers hiring, but they cannot find nearly enough qualified applicants.

  • The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of May 11th shows almost 8,200,000 (yes, 8.2 million!) job openings.
  • That’s the highest number of job openings in the history of the Bureau’s Report.
  • The table below shows the parts of the labor market that have been hit the hardest:
INDUSTRY # OF UNFILLED JOBS
Trade, Transportation and Utilities 1.5 M
Education and Health 1.4 M
Professional and Business Services 1.4 M
Leisure and Hospitality 1.2 M
Manufacturing 0.7 M

Source: Statista

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

Here are some of the factors causing this shortage:

  • 1)  Receipt of Covid-19 stimulus checks
    • This is obviously true for workers at the lower pay rates for which the stimulus checks equated in some instances to multiple months of their take home paycheck.
  • 2)  The financial decision by some that they are better off receiving state unemployment compensation benefits plus the federal unemployment benefits supplement of $300 per week (which some states have already begun to put an end to)
    • The sharp rise in gas prices has exacerbated this—as has now (and hopefully only temporary) gas shortage in many states
  • 3)  Individuals concern about the safety of returning to work despite the:
    • The large number of working age adults who have been vaccinated
    • Safety measures employers have in place
    • CDC’s recent announcement about the safety of the resumption of normal activities
  • 4)  Issues with child care—even though we are seeing the return of in school attendance in place of virtual school
    • The past and current societal reality is that this issue impacts females (especially single moms) to a much greater degree than it does males.
  • 5)  As technology has made and continues to make remarkable advances, it changes the skills needed to perform many of today’s jobs.
    • This results in a mismatch between employers’ needs and applicants’ qualifications.
    • Almost all projections indicate that this gap will continue to widen markedly unless and until there are significant collaboration efforts between employers, schools (both colleges and technical schools) and government agencies.

Although it’s not possible to assign a weight to these and other contributing factors with a high degree of accuracy, individually and collectively they have a negative impact on organizations acquiring the talent they need now and for some unknown future time period.

TRINITY’S THOUGHTS

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Below are some potential actions for you to evaluate in order to achieve greater success in meeting your staffing needs:

  • 1)  Re-assessing your recruiting process and what potential labor pools are being ignored
    • A Trinity client is discovering that many retirees are willing and able to work.
    • Another company is tapping into those who are re-entering the work force after military service.
  • 2)  Hiring search consultants for certain professional and management positions
    • Do not confuse search consultants with staffing agencies
      • The expertise of search consultants are as different from staffing agencies as a major league baseball player’s skill is from that of a high school player’s skill.
  • 3)  Re-evaluating your use (or non-use) of current employees as “recruiters”
    • This is often an undervalued source of new employees.
      • Trinity has created innovative “employee recruiter” programs.
  • 4)  Expanding the use of part-time and contingency jobs
  • 5)  Further re-evaluating which jobs can be performed from home
    • Including taking into account the amount of space owned/leased as less employees become on site ones
  • 6)  Creating or greater relying on internships and internal training opportunities
    • The latter includes the “old school” model of hiring trainees who receive on the job training to gain the necessary knowledge and skills.
  • 7)  Increasing pay rates
    • Behemoths such as Amazon and Walmart have already done so, but so have “mom and pop” businesses, as well as employers in between
  • 8)  Providing “hiring” bonuses
    • Keep in mind: a) The amount can vary based on the degree of difficulty to hire and b) Bonuses should not be paid until after a certain length of employment
  • 9)  Offering 100% company-paid healthcare benefits
    • This is after decades of employers having moving to a cost-sharing approach to healthcare benefits.
      • If you are considering this, keep in mind the implications for your existing employees.
  • 10)  Initiating or expanding child care assistance
    • Since some jobs cannot be performed remotely, response 3) falls short of a total solution
    • This may (but does not necessarily) mean creating on-site child care services through a third party or even making an employer contribution toward the cost of child care.
    • It may include actions such as: a) Identifying area providers and negotiating employee discounts and b) Having a Dependent Care Assistance Program under IRS regulations

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TRINITY’S TEAM OF CONSULTANTS CAN HELP YOU WITH YOUR TALENT ACQUISITION OR OTHER PEOPLE-RELATED MATTERS:

YOU HAVE HR CHALLENGES…TRINITY HAS SOLUTIONS!

Posted in Talent Acquisition, Executive Search, Employment & Employee Retention

BENEFIT PLAN NOTICES…NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED, Part 3

Posted on April 26, 2021 by Trinity HR

Sadly, one of your employees has decided to move on for a new opportunity.  Now that they have left, you have no further responsibilities for benefit plan notices, right?  Nope, there are still several required notices for which you are responsible.

REQUIREMENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS

  • COBRA Election Notice –This is sent to all medical, dental, vision care plan, Health Care FSA, and/or HRA, participants – employees, spouses, and children.  Timing depends on whether there is a separate plan administrator.   Note: this applies to losses of coverage while employed as well.
  • Notice of Unavailability of COBRA – If for any reason the qualified beneficiary is not eligible for COBRA this notice must be sent within 14 days of being notified of the event. For example, if a former employee notifies you that their divorce is final, then you must send the Notice of Unavailability to the spouse.
  • Notice of Early Termination of COBRA – Sent as soon as practicable following the determination that coverage will termination early. Typically, this would be sent for such events as failure to pay premiums, coverage under another plan or coverage under Medicare.
  • Life insurance conversion/portability notice – if you offer group life insurance and/or Accidental Death & Dismemberment insurance, covered employees, spouse and children must be offered the opportunity to convert or port to employee-owned coverage within 30 days of the date of termination.

Oddly, there is no requirement for employers/administrators to send monthly invoices to COBRA beneficiaries.  However, it is a good idea to send them as it helps prevent a lot of drama in the event the beneficiary is terminated for failure to pay.

Although the person is no longer employed, you may also need to send the certain documents while they are covered under COBRA.  These include: SAR, SMM, Summary of Material Reduction in Covered Benefits or Services, SBC, SBC Notice of Modification, and possibly an SPD, depending on timing and circumstances.

Compliance is hard and willful failure to comply with reporting and disclosure requirements can result in financial penalties.   For example, willful failure to provide a:

  • CHIPRA notice can result in up to a $119/day penalty for each violation.

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  • COBRA notices can result in penalties from both DOL and IRS of up to $110/day and $100/day respectively (capped at $200 if multiple qualified beneficiaries).
  • SBC can result in a penalty of $1,176/day.
  • Forms 1094 and 1095 can result in a $270 penalty per statement/return.

These are not insignificant penalties and compliance issues can put you on the DOL or IRS radar.

Trinity HR Consulting can help you with a compliance review to help ensure that you are meeting your obligations for these as well as other reporting and disclosure requirements. As well, if you need assistance with developing any of these notices, communicating with employees or carriers about the notices, or developing checklists, Trinity HR Consulting can help.  

Author: Kathleen Sholinsky, Senior Consultant

You have HR challenges…Trinity has solutions!

Posted in Benefits Management, HR Legal & Compliance

BENEFIT PLAN NOTICES…NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED, Part 2

Posted on April 19, 2021 by Trinity HR

Your employee has been onboarded, you provided all of the disclosures for health and welfare plans as required, and now you can sit back and contemplate a job well done. Don’t contemplate too long because your disclosure tasks have just begun. Throughout the year, there are additional disclosure notices required. This article outlines those that must automatically be sent.

REQUIREMENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS

  • Summary Plan Description (SPD) –You must distribute every 5 years to existing participants if made change or every 10 years if they have not. Assuming that you have made changes, the five-year distribution is a good opportunity to remind employees of the major provisions and Updates.  Remember, the SPD that you distribute must reflect the provisions in effect not more that 120 days prior to the date you distributed.
  • Summary of Material Modification (SMM) – Must be distributed within 210 days after the end of the plan year in which you adopted a change. It is far better to announce changes and update your SPD well before this point.
  • Summary of Material Reduction in Covered Service or Benefits – if you make material reductions in health plan benefits or services, you must distribute this within 60 days of the date of the change. Ideally, this should be distributed with your annual enrollment materials or, if you are making a mid-year change, in advance of the effective date of the change.
  • Summary Annual Report (SAR) – Summary of your Form 5500 or 5500-SF. Must be distributed to participants within nine months after the end of the Plan Year or two months after the due date for filing your 5500 if you have an approved extension.  Strongly recommend that you send clarifying information along with the SAR explaining what it is.
  • Employer CHIPRA Notice – informs employees of premium assistance available in their state. This must be distributed annually, preferably during annual enrollment.
  • Women’s Health & Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA) Notice – describes benefits for post-mastectomy services. This must be distributed annually, preferably during annual enrollment.
  • Summary of Benefits Coverage (SBC) & Uniform Glossary – your insurer or plan administrator will provide this to the plan, and you must distribute with enrollment materials. It must also be provided to special enrollees within 90 days of enrollment
  • SBC Notice of Modification – if you make a material modification that would affect the SBC. This must be provided 60 days in advance of the change.
  • Notice Regarding Designation of Primary Care Provider – if the plan requires a participant to select a PCP, this must be provided, generally with the SPD or other descriptive materials.
  • Notice of Benefit Determination or EOB – your carrier or claims administrator will provide these to claimants. However, it is the Plan’s responsibility to ensure that your carrier or claims administrator is including all required language.
  • Wellness Program Disclosure – if you offer a Wellness program that includes rewards, this notice outlines the availability of alternate standards. Must be distributed with all plan material.

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Employers may also want to include additional communications explaining what all of these notices are and that the employer is mandated to provide them.  You also must keep records showing when and how the notices were distributed.

If you need assistance with developing any of these notices, communicating with employees or carriers about the notices, or developing checklists, Trinity HR Consulting can help.

  • This includes conducting an audit of your benefit plans to identify issues & provide specific corrective actions to avoid the consequences of violations.

Author: Kathleen Sholinsky, Senior Consultant

You have HR challenges…Trinity has solutions!

Posted in Benefits Management, HR Legal & Compliance