Author Archives: CorpStrat News

How CorpStrat Helps Employers Manage Open Enrollment

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Open enrollment season is upon us and if you are like most employers, you’d like to bury your head in the sand and pretend that it’s not happening.

What is Open Enrollment?

Open enrollment season occurs annually and is the time when your employee benefit plans renew. During this time, you, as the employer, should reevaluate your plan offerings and employer contribution. This is the time to choose a benefits package for the new plan year that balances cost and value. In addition, carriers typically implement rate and benefit changes during open enrollment.

This all needs to then be communicated and rolled-out to employees. As employer-sponsored benefits transition to more voluntary, employee-paid or employee-subsidized offerings, employees must assume more control in making smart decision. Benefit information should be provided and communicated to employees in an easy to understand way.

All in all, this is typically a 60 – 90-day process and can become quite cumbersome.

How a Cutting Edge Broker Can Facilitate the Process

This is where an OUTSTANDING benefits broker comes into play. Leave it up to the team at CorpStrat to make the open enrollment process smooth for both you and your employees.

Following are just some of the tasks CorpStrat’s Employee Benefits Specialists can handle for you during open enrollment:

Collect, negotiate and communicate the renewal specifics to you, the employer
Shop the insurance market to ensure your company is set-up with the benefits that fit your needs, at the most competitive rates
Present clear options, discuss each and make a recommendation of how we suggest you should proceed for the upcoming plan year
ALWAYS ensure you are in compliance with benefit mandates
Communicate all changes and options to your employees in an easy to understand manner
Answer all questions and concerns employees may have – ‘handhold’ them through the process
Process all changes and follow-up until all are completed

Working with CorpStrat will help you develop a strategic benefits package that works for your budget and offers attractive options to your employees. We can also give you access to educational materials for your employees as you launch your new or improved benefits package. Contact us at 800-914-3564 or send an email today.

10 Payroll Risks Your Business Can’t Afford to Take

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Payroll compliance tips

Running a business is complicated work – a lot of old-school processes can slow down the progress of even the most cutting-edge businesses. One of the biggest sources of this red tape is payroll. Your payroll system may be complex, be hard to use, and lack one-on-one support.

At CorpStrat, we do payroll with a big difference – dedicated support from a payroll account manager, so that your payroll is in the hands of someone you know you can rely on. Continue reading →

The Benefits of Employee Benefits

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Remaining competitive in the hunt for the right job candidates who will propel your business to success is a struggle. Once you find the people you need, you have to convince them that your company is a better place to work than your competitors. A strategic, quality benefits package can help you attract and retain your top employees.

Employees value a well-rounded selection of benefits, and health insurance, a 401(k) plan, life insurance and dental coverage are a few of the plans that you can consider offering.

Employee Benefits Plan Examples

Benefits packages offer value to your employees and help you boost productivity and retention in a cost-effective manner. Here are a few of the advantages of offering employee benefits as part of your compensation package.

Talent Attraction and Retention

Employees highly value a good benefits package. Developing a strategic benefits package that targets specific types of employees can help attract the right job candidates to keep your organization running at peak efficiency.

Once you have these top-performing employees at your company, providing a tailored employee benefits package will serve as a barrier to them leaving—a great benefits package can be a huge advantage when looking at retention strategies because it holds more than just monetary value for the employee. A bigger salary at another company likely won’t be as strong a pull for an employee tempted to leave if the other company’s benefits package isn’t as attractive as yours.

Healthy, Productive Employees

When your benefits package includes a combination of health insurance and dental and vision coverage, you will have employees who are able to take a proactive role in managing their health. They will have easy, affordable access to health care, reducing absenteeism due to illness.

When they are on the job, healthy employees are more productive than sick ones. It’s beneficial for your company’s productivity and your employees when they have access to medical coverage and time off when they are sick.

Satisfaction

A good benefits package leads to satisfied employees with higher morale. Employees who find value in their benefits are typically more willing to commit to their company because it helps make them feel valued—which leads to increased productivity and decreased absenteeism.

Efficient Use of Resources

Offering valuable benefits can help lower top employees’ expectations for salary. Many employees are willing to accept good benefits in lieu of a slightly higher salary.

This is an advantage to your budget because the value you present to employees with benefits, especially health insurance plans, can be monetarily equal to a raise in salary for them, while costing you less due to group rates and lower payroll taxes. Employers can avoid the hidden cost of paying extra payroll taxes on higher salary by instead offering benefits to provide similar value to employees.

Thinking Long-term

Even if you think you can save a little money in the short term by skimping on employee benefits, you will eventually face the consequences through a lowered ability to attract high-achieving employees, increased difficulty retaining your top performers, and lowered morale and productivity.

Offering a quality array of employee benefits will pay off through a stronger, more productive workforce with employees committed to your company.

How Outside Resources can Improve Management Compliance

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Employer HR Compliance

The compliance landscape is ever changing, and will become even more challenging over time. Maintaining HR compliance is a complex, but necessary task. It involves many departments, and much coordination. Without the proper process in place, a company is potentially exposed to an array of penalties, on multiple levels.

Legal Protection Options for Employers

Many organizations are now embracing the idea of outsourcing their HR functions entirely, to minimize this risk and maximize their bottom line. That said, there are many ways to stay ahead of compliance related issues, while simultaneously gaining that competitive edge.

In an age of growing employee litigation, and compensatory awards, there are steps businesses can take to navigate this maze. Familiarize yourself with the laws and regulations pertaining to healthcare, labor and employment, retirement, injury and worker’s compensation, and unemployment.

If these laws and regulations are not followed, the risk could be substantial. Obtaining sound legal advice is a critical piece of the puzzle. Having an attorney who understands not only employment law, but also your company culture, is important.

CorpStrat helps business owners stay compliant with our unique mix of HR Management Software, Guardian HR, Payroll, and Employee Benefits.

Continue reading →

Managing Employee Benefits Through ACA & AHCA Uncertainty

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Health insurance changes in california

When Bill Clinton spoke about the ACA, (more commonly known as ObamaCare) during the 2016 presidential election, he said: “You’ve got this crazy system where all the sudden, 25 million more people have healthcare and then the people are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half,” Clinton said. “It’s the craziest thing in the world,” He wasn’t far off.

Political opinions set aside, the ACA overturned an entire industry and now California businesses and professionals are in still in a state of uncertainty, as they await the outcomes of legislative issues pending before federal and state levels:

What Does 2018 Hold For Employee Benefits?

The American Health Care Act (AHCA), or “TrumpCare”, would overturn and relax many if the mandates, reporting and plan designs of the ACA. While there is much left to be negotiated and detailed before we have a change in Federal law, the basics of AHCA are now widely known. In anticipation of these changes, carriers in California have filed several sets of rates for 2017, in anticipation of the law passing and potential overturn of the ACA.

Many states across the nation are facing a challenge with a single, or in some counties, even no choices with respect to carriers. Individual markets are challenged with rising premiums and carriers pulling participation. In spite of the multiple attempts to overturn it, the ACA is still the law of the land.

More Healthcare Uncertainty: Single Payer for California?

The State of California has their own (mysterious) plan: a proposed $400 billion dollar single-payer plan, that would take the place of all federal and state run healthcare systems, including Medicare and MediCal. It’s currently making its way through the State Assembly, and has a long way to go before it becomes law, including a funding structure for the plan’s expense.

With all of this potential upheaval, in the meantime the status quo will continue – plans will change/adapt each year to adjust to the ACA’s annual increases in out-of-pocket costs, rates for individuals will continue to be in flux, companies with 50 or more employees will need robust systems to allow them to comply and report to IRS, and companies will need to continue to manage their healthcare care expenses. Balancing the challenges of rewarding and engaging employees, while managing their bottom line, in an increasingly complex and changing regulatory landscape for all industries.

Health care in the USA, or California, won’t be solved by any one piece of legislation, and will remain a complex task for all participants. CorpStrat is dedicated to helping our clients address the challenges of delivering the most effective employee benefits strategies and products, and to help them deploy integrated solutions for payroll, benefits, HR, and compliance.