Author Archives: CorpStrat News

Why Every Employer Needs an ERISA Wrap Document

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Heading into audit season, a simple and cost effective solution to ensure your documents are prepared correctly is having an ERISA Wrap Document. Including a wrap document will mean if there’s anything missing in your insurance policy or coverage certificate, this one document will supplement the information necessary to comply with ERISA. It’s a bit like playing defense, it’s nothing flashy but when you need it, you’re so glad you’re covered. Plus, at less than $500 a year, it’s the easiest way to save yourself a ton of headaches.

What is ERISA?

  • Employee Retirement income Security Act (ERISA) is intended to protect employees who are counting on retirement benefits or pensions promised by their employer.
  • ERISA sets guidelines and rules for how employee retirements funds must be managed, it puts strict guidelines in place for when and how employees can earn a non-forfeitable interest in promised pension benefits.
  • Every employer who maintains a health and retirement plan is subject to ERISA and must have a separate written plan document.

What is an ERISA Wrap Document?

  • It’s a relatively simple written document that “wraps” around the insurance policy, coverage certificate, or plan booklet.
  • It describes the participants’ rights, benefits, and obligations within their plans as well as the plan’s terms and conditions.
  • By using a wrap document, an employer can satisfy the ERISA Summary Plan Description (SPD) requirement by using this one document for all the health and welfare benefits offered.

What doesn’t count as an ERISA Wrap Document:

  • Summary Plan Descriptions (SPD)
  • Certificate of Coverage
  • Summary of Benefits
  • Copy of the Master Contract

Why Do I Need An ERISA Wrap Document?

  • Using a wrap document is an easy, cost-effective way for employers to show auditors that they’re in compliance with ERISA and other laws affecting the employee benefits they offer.
  • The penalties for not having one are very steep.
  • Without one, the company is left vulnerable to costly lawsuits.

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If you don’t have an ERISA Wrap Document or your company’s ERISA Wrap Document is outdated, schedule a call with us now. We can help.

5 Things You Need To Get Your HR Policy Ready for 2021!

Happy 2021, from our CorpStrat family to yours! As we dive into the new year full force, it’s incredible to reflect on how much our world has changed. It goes without saying that COVID-19 has transformed our lives and our workplaces by extension. That’s why this year, more than any other, it’s so important to make sure that you’re set up for HR success in 2021. We’re here to help you with that.

Most people only think about HR when there’s a major compliance issue, but this is the worst time to find out your HR policy isn’t properly updated. Don’t let this be you. Here are our top 5 things you should do right now to make sure your HR policy is set up for 2021:

1. Make Sure Your Team Gets Sexual Harassment Training

Recently California enacted a series of laws that strengthened the state’s protections against workplace harassment. California used to require employers with 50+ employees to complete required training every other year, it’s now 5+ employees and the deadline to complete the training was January 1st 2021. If you haven’t completed this training, let’s talk. At CorpStrat, we offer affordable Sexual Harassment Training for every company size, from 3-300+.

2. Update Your Employee Handbooks

Has your handbook been updated or reviewed recently? If not, it may not accurately reflect your company’s policies, leaving room for confusion and major compliance issues. Take the worry out of it, sign up for a free consultation.

3. Learn About Policy Changes Made Due to COVID-19

COVID-19 has changed so many things we may have taken for granted. Are you familiar with the new laws and have your company policies changed in accordance with these laws? If you’re hesitating to answer, schedule a call with us, we can absolutely help you.

4. Get An HR Audit

How can you set up your company policy if you’re not clear on what your exposures are. If you haven’t had an HR audit done in the last year, we’d advise you to get one as soon as possible to avoid red flags.

5. Rethink Your Strategic Initiatives

Are you and your employees up to date on performance reviews, job descriptions, etc.? Talk to one of our HR experts to make sure you’re on track and doing all you can.

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At CorpStrat, our HR experts will guide you through setting up your HR policy for 2021. If you’re interested, let’s talk! Call us at (818) 377- 7260 or email us at marketing@www.corpstrat.com

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5 Reasons to Love Electronic Enrollment

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Are you looking for a benefits and HR solution that can help your employees make better decisions, conduct faster enrollments, and make changes on the fly with 24/7 access?

If your answer is yes, then it’s time to take your employee benefits enrollment paperless. There has been a large shift by employers away from paper and towards paperless benefit enrollment systems, but with the events of 2020, this has accelerated tremendously. Going paperless can sound daunting but we’ve found a way to make it hassle-free and mobile-friendly with a software that makes online enrollment easy. Let’s talk about online enrollment.

1.  It Helps Ensure Your Employees Have a Flawless First Day

No more wasting hours collating, auditing, scanning, and filing paper forms for every new hire. Also, no more burying Employees in a mountain of paperwork the second they start. Electronic enrollment makes it easy. All you need to do is enter the new employees’ information and in just a few minutes, new hires can complete their forms and set up direct deposit forms, all online.

2. It Simplifies Enrollment for Everyone

Tired of manually determining eligibility or having to distribute stacks of brochures to help employees understand and compare plan details? With electronic enrollment, simply send employees a unique login for their company benefits account and they can log in to make selections. Once logged in, they’ll be able to browse just the benefits they’re eligible for and calculate the cost per pay period.

3. It Makes Benefits Elections Easier Than Ever

During enrollment, if chasing down and auditing paper forms or decoding illegible handwriting is taking up a bulk of your time, something’s got to give. Not only are you left frustrated and overwhelmed, employees might be unsure if they’ve made a good decision. Electronic enrollment brings it all online so there’s no confusion and employees are empowered to make good benefits decisions because they can easily comparing options and plans.

4. It Gives Employees Easy Access

When you use electronic enrollment, employees get 24/7 access to their benefits information and makes it easy to update information on the fly. This means no more dealing with lost ID cards or billing problems, they can access all their information year-round via the desktop or mobile app.

5. It Offers Robust Reporting and Metrics

For many HR teams, building reports and graphs across multiple excel sheets with different deliverables to different teams is the bane of their existence. Electronic enrollment lets you automatically generate and view standard reports, and empowers you to create custom reports for plans, enrollment summaries, beneficiaries, and more!

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Interested in switching to electronic enrollment? Let’s talk. Give us a call at (818) 377-7260 or email us at marketing@www.corpstrat.com?

Everything You Need to Know About California’s Sexual Harassment Training Laws

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On September 30th, 2018, California enacted a series of laws that strengthened the state’s protections against workplace harassment. California previously required employers with 50+ employees to complete required training every other year. This has changed and the deadline to complete the training is fast approaching. Read on to learn more.

What are the requirements?

Starting January 1st, 2021 the new law:

  • Requires employers with five or more employees in the state to provide sexual harassment prevention training to all employees.
  • Expands and clarifies employer liability for workplace harassment
  • Prohibits employers from entering certain agreements related to sexual harassment and other unlawful acts in the workplace.

How does this affect me?

All California employers should become familiar with the laws and ensure that each of their employees receive the required training. Sexual Harassment Training is required within six months of when each employee assumes a position. Employers must provide the initial training after January 1st, 2019.

What does this mean for temporary employees?

There are also requirements for seasonal and temporary employees. For these employees, the employers must provide the required training within 30 calendar days after the employees’ hire date or before the employee has worked 100 hours, whichever comes first. These rules went into effect on January 1st, 2021.

What is the expanded employer liability for workplace harassment?

Employers may also be held liable for nonemployees’ acts of any type of unlawful workplace harassment. An employer may be held liable if:

  • A nonemployee commits harassment against any of the employers’ employees, applicants, unpaid interns, unpaid volunteers or people providing services pursuant to a contract in the workplace.
  • The employer knows or should have known of the conduct
  • The employer fails to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.

Make sure you’re up to date with all the requirements so your company remains compliant. Sign up for CorpStrat’s Sexual Harassment Training today!

At CorpStrat, we offer affordable Sexual Harassment Training for every company size, from 3-300+. If you’re interested, let’s talk! Call us at (818) 377- 7260 or email us at marketing@corpstrat.com. 

3 Things That Set Us Apart

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At CorpStrat, we’re not just insurance brokers, we’re business advisors with extensive knowledge in Payroll, Employee Benefits, and Human Resources. We want to become your go-to advisors and we’re in it for the long haul — we’ll help you find and maintain state-of-the-art HR and Workforce solutions, tailor-made for your company. We promise to always go the extra mile for you and your business.

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Here are three key things that set us apart:

1. We Think Differently

We’re all about tackling old problems with new approaches. From creative tax planning ideas to out-of-the-box Benefits solutions, we’re always going to push the limits of the industry standard. We think that complacency in our industry absolutely means money down the drain. We work hard every day to find the best possible solutions for our clients, we don’t settle for anything less than the apex of both quality and value.

 2. We Simplify the Complex

Human Capital and Benefits management is a layered and complex business. We’re fortunate to have a team with a variety of strengths that can help you no matter the issue. Our experts will always take the time to explain things plainly and transparently. If anything goes over your head, we get it, it’s a confusing business. We’ll loop back together until things are clear. We promise we’ll always be available to you. This means you’ll never get stuck with 800 numbers, instead you’ll always reach a team member that knows your name and everything about your business. We’ll work tirelessly to take care of the nitty gritty so you can focus on running your business.

3. We’re Multidisciplined

We don’t just think of solutions for specific aspects of your business, we consider your business as a whole. Our team of experts have specialties ranging from time and attendance to insurance to employee benefits to compliance—no matter what it is, we’ve got you covered. This means no more piecemeal hires, you’ve got a full house at the ready to help you no matter what the issue happens to be. Also, we’re not in it for the short term, we want to be your long-term partners and we truly view your success as our success.

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We’d love to help you. Contact us today and schedule a FREE consultation.