If you couldn’t tune into our webinar, here is an overview of what you missed.
To recap, yesterday we partnered with MPAY to host a webinar sharing information about the recently passed Families First Coronavirus Response Act that will impact businesses across the country. We reviewed some of the details regarding the emergency FMLA leave, paid sick leave, and unemployment insurance stabilization.
Click the button below to view our overview PDF.
View Overview
CorpStratHR Webinar – Tomorrow – you don’t have to be a client to jump on this call.
Tomorrow morning, we will be hosting a webinar with our strategic payroll tax partner, MPAY, to share information about the recently passed bill that will impact businesses across the country.
We will be sharing the details of the new legislation regarding the emergency FMLA leave, paid sick leave, and unemployment insurance stabilization.
– What is the Families First Coronavirus Response Act?
– When employees are eligible
– What the employer pays its employees
– What the government pays
– Refundable Tax Credits
– And how to track it all!
Dear Clients, Professionals, and Friends,
Certainly, this is the most uncertain of times our country is going through during our lifetimes. First and foremost, we hope you are all staying healthy and safe.
As employers, professionals, and businesses struggle to navigate the current COVID-19 crisis, we wanted to share some of our thoughts and provide guidance on how to manage some core business processes – especially employee health care, and address premium payment concerns, through this challenging time.
First, everyone is scared. The uncertainty is greater than ever, and no one knows what’s going to happen next. It’s crucial that companies step up and provide leadership and optimism.
If you are a business owner, your people will be looking to you to give them clarity and a sense of certainty – it will pay huge dividends for both parties. While It’s true it’s unknown what the future holds, optimism and confidence never hurt anyone.
Secondly, sales and business revenues will almost certainly suffer tremendously, and a lot of employers will be forced to close their doors, left with no choice but to layoff employees, and defer or cancel other business operating expenses. The downward spiral is steep, dark, and scary, but once we get through this, we believe the bounce-back will provide tremendous opportunities for many companies that can weather the storm. Keeping your people close is as important as ever.
Third, there are a few necessities in life right now: shelter, food, and health care. Employees on employer-sponsored health plans need their coverage more than ever. If you lay people off, furlough them, etc. due to income loss, we recommend you do not cancel their health coverage. Extending benefits seems like an ideal way to keep those people “close” – and we’re certain guidance will be available shortly to address this. We’ll call this a “wait and see” approach, as we get more clarity on the “Families First Act“.
If you are an employer and have paid March 2020 insurance premiums, you essentially do not have another payment due until April 30, 2020. If you have not made that payment yet, we strongly urge you to pay it as soon as possible, as we wait for guidance from both the government and the carriers as to what relief will be available.
Insurance carriers are deep in negotiations with the government in developing a plan to help everyone right now. This includes guidance and relief on deferral of premium payments on all types of insurance and financial services, extensions of grace periods, and preclusion on lapsing certain types of insurance coverage. We expect to get guidance in the coming days and will follow up with additional communication.
Companies and professionals will need to adhere to the new “Families First Corona-Virus Act“, and for our CorpStratHR Payroll clients who need to adapt forthcoming payrolls, we are available to help you with all payroll processing. We will work tirelessly to make sure all checks and payrolls are processed.
We want you to know that CorpStrat is working remotely and our staff is available to give you any support you need. Please reach out to us for anything regarding resources, relationships, and guidance. We promise to be responsive and give you the best support possible during these uncertain times.
We are here to help, and we will get through this together. Stay safe and positive.
#TeamCorpStrat
Since January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) has officially been in effect. In short, the CCPA imposes new privacy obligations on businesses that collect personal information of California consumers. But it doesn’t just stop at consumers. With the recent Attorney General-issued revisions, the CCPA applies to the employment relationship as well, including information related to employee benefit plans.
Here is a breakdown of how the CCPA affects the employment relationship.
Under the CCPA, the definition of “consumer” is very broad, providing that any natural person who is a California resident is a “consumer”. Therefore, this broad definition extends to cover employees who are resident in California, no matter the fact that their relationship with the business is as an employee, and not a consumer.
Since the definition of “consumer” is very broad, so is the definition of “personal information.” However, the recent revisions by the Attorney General brought some clarity about what “personal information” constitutes: employment-related information is considered “personal information” under the CCPA. There is no exemption for employment-related personal information stored and maintained by an employer.
As such, similar to consumer information, the CCPA requires employees and applicants to be notified that their personal information is being collected.
Other noteworthy revisions from the Attorney General include:
The following common types of “employment-related” data are considered “personal information” (and protected) for purposes of the CCPA:
Data from employee benefits plans are covered—and protected—under the CCPA. Employee benefit plans collect and use personal information since plans require various types of personal information, such as name, address, Social Security Number, and insurance policy information.
However, certain benefit plans may have varying compliance obligations to the CCPA, especially if they are HIPAA-covered or ERISA-covered.
compliance obligations of certain benefit plans may be: (1) limited by the CCPA’s HIPAA exemption; and (2) potentially preempted by ERISA.
The CCPA does not apply to “protected health information” (PHI) of a group health plan that is subject to HIPAA or to other personal information protected in the same fashion as PHI. Employer-sponsored HIPAA-covered benefit plans typically include a major medical plan, dental, vision, health flexible spending account, and certain wellness or employee assistance programs. One thing to note is that some information collected by a benefit plan may be personal information under the CCPA, but not PHI under HIPAA, and there may be compliance obligations concerning that information.
The CCPA does not specifically address how it applies to benefit plans not covered by HIPAA. For plans that are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), there is a possibility that the CCPA could be preempted, or prevented, by ERISA. As such, ERISA-covered benefit plans that are not HIPAA-covered (such as 401(k) plans, long term disability, and AD&D) may be able to successfully argue that personal information collected and used is not subject to the requirements of the CCPA.
When dealing with the CCPA regarding employment, an employer should apply the same steps they apply to “personal information” from customers and other consumers to employee data and employee benefit plan data (that may be subject to the CCPA).
Reach out to CorpStrat to learn how we design and manage (compliant) employee benefits at competitive rates so your company can attract, reward, and retain your employees.
Timesheets, punch cards, time clocks… it’s one of the very fundamental HR monitoring duties— confirming that employees work the hours for which they are paid. In a COVID-19 affected world where teams are still working remotely, HR departments have been met with the unique challenge of accurately tracking employees’ hours. This is where our Workforce Automation system can make a huge difference. Having an automated system with a powerful mobile app allows your company to easily track your employee’s hours, no matter where they are. Plus, it makes it convenient and accessible for your employees.
Read on for ways utilizing our technology to automate Time & Attendance can save you time & money.
A fully-integrated HR attendance module can simply make timekeeping better. Timesheets are more accurate and reliable. Accidental errors are avoided, thus having the time and effort needed for corrections. This also ensures that paychecks are accurate, ensuring your company isn’t overpaying for hours not worked, and vice versa.
Nothing’s more frustrating than unintentionally overstaffing or having to fill a shift when there’s a last minute absence. Tracking in real time makes it easier for your company to forecast overstaffing and overtime, communicate quickly and efficiently with staff members, and minimizes the financial impacts of absenteeism.
Built-in Accountability
Complicated issues can be reduced to minor levels, such as time theft and “buddy punching” (one employee clocking in on behalf of another). In turn, payroll errors and the cost associated with correcting them are reduced.
With an automated system, paid time off calculations are much less subject to human error and compliance is virtually assured. Plus, you’re able to show your work—companies can easily pull reports that accurately show employee work records and PTO requests.
As with all HR software, once the data is in the system, it can be dissected in numerous ways. The first advantage of doing this with HR system attendance is that managers receive real-time alerts. Better-informed decisions on workforce deployment can be made on the fly. Beyond basic scheduling benefits, data can be used in more strategic ways with analytics and reporting, giving manager’s insights into trends and patterns.
We live in a time when physically “punching the clock” simply isn’t a relevant solution. For many organizations, online and mobile access to time and attendance is increasingly essential. This makes it easier for organizations to log on from remote workspaces to punch-in, punch-out, and see basic time and attendance data.
Modern HR system attendance software goes far beyond the old school ways. With integrated data and analytics plus employee and manager self-service, this type of system can greatly enhance the day-to-day efficiency of your organization. This frees you up to focus on the important work of growing your business.
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To learn more about CorpStrat’s time and labor management solution, please contact us: marketing@www.corpstrat.com
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Are you looking for a 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 go paperless. Learn more
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