Tag Archives: Employee Benefits

Can Employers Offer Employees Different Levels of Contribution?

Today we want to share a hack around discrimination in employer contribution to employee benefit plans. The question we often receive is: Can you give different employees different levels of employer contribution?

The short answer is “Yes you Can.”

It’s commonly thought that employers don’t have a lot of discretion in designing and delivering health care benefits for their employees. But the reality is, there are many ways employers can enhance the delivery of their benefits by defining the class of eligibility. Thus creating legal and non-discriminatory ways to enhance employee benefits by class.

Now while it is possible, there are some complexities to setting it up because it touches on some issues regarding employment law and may not be advisable depending on workplace culture. But in general, an employer can create classes of employees and define the contributions or the offering of benefits to these select classes of employees.

Non-discriminatory ways to define an employee’s class of eligibility:

Generally employers have discretion when structuring their benefits plans and are able to make distinctions among employees and the benefits they’re offered. Plans may differ among employees only on “bona fide employment-based classifications”. A “bona fide employment-based classifications” might include: full-time versus part-time employee status; different geographic location; membership in a collective bargaining unit; date of hire or length of service; or differing occupations. Each of these can be treated as different groups of similarly situated individuals and receive different levels of employer contribution. For example, it is perfectly fine to offer three weeks of vacation to exempt employees and two weeks to nonexempt employees because the basis of the vacation benefit is their FLSA category and not any protected category.

The key is to make sure that benefits plan decisions are non-discriminatory, and that’s where we can help. We can make sure protected groups remain protected and design an employer contribution plan that delivers the best possible benefit while eliminating any unintentional discrimination that may result from these decisions.

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With the current challenges in recruiting and retaining it’s a perfect time to revisit how you deliver, what you deliver, and make sure your benefit packages are competitive in helping you attract, retain, and reward the A players to move your business forward. Need help creating classes of employees and defining contributions? Let’s talk, shoot us an email at marketing@corpstrat.com

5 Employee Benefits Tax Strategies You Need to Know

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Have you explored ways to re-engineer your Employee Benefits to maximize your dollar? If you’re spending after tax dollars to pay for medical expenses, you may not be maximizing your savings. Health benefit plans allow employers and employees to set aside funds, pretax, to help employees pay for qualified medical expenses. By combining a number of different tax strategies, we can help you find major savings for both your company and your employees.

1. Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

FSAs are more important than ever. They can reduce the amount of taxes an employee needs to pay and also help save the company money by reducing payroll taxes. A Flex Plan is a consumer-driven account that allows employees to use pre-tax money for eligible healthcare and dependent care expenses. Typically the funds in a flex plan are available during a 12-month enrollment period, however due to COVID-19 and its effects, this enrollment window has been extended, allowing employees additional time to use their FSA account balances. If you want to learn more about how COVID-19 has affected your FSA, reach out to us today.

2. Health Savings Account (HSA)

Similar to FSAs, HSAs sets aside funds into an account, pre-tax. However HSAs offer employees more flexibility and control—they can use, save, or invest the money in their account. Any unused money rolls over instead of disappearing and, because it belongs to employees not the employer, the HSA is portable and moves with the employee to their next job.

3. Medical Reimbursement

Did you know you can pay all out-of-pocket medical expenses using company deductible dollars? You may be able to claim a deduction if your total healthcare costs for the year are high enough. You can deduct your health insurance premiums—and other healthcare costs—if your expenses exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income. Owners may also qualify to write off their professional and business, out-of-pocket expenses using a discriminatory medical expense reimbursement plan. (Ask us how!)

4. Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA)

HRA plans are employer-funded medical reimbursement plans. The employer sets aside a specific amount of pre-tax dollars for employees to pay for health care expenses on an annual basis. Depending on how the plan is designed, HRAs can generate significant savings in overall health benefits.

5. Self-Insured Dental Expense Plan

A self-insured dental expense plan can “beat the heck” out of a fully-insured dental plan and here’s why: The fully insured plan offers employers peace of mind but they cost more and the rates increase every year. Self-funded plans on the other hand offer employers more control, increased transparency, and significant annual savings. Most plans have a firm cap on this liability per covered life and, assuming they don’t discriminate, can create an efficient employee benefit.

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These are just our top 5 hacks, but we have so many more strategies in our tool kit. To learn more about these tax strategies, schedule a FREE 30-minute consultation with an Employee Benefits experts or email us at marketing@www.corpstrat.com. We’ll see how we can rethink your benefits and save your company money.

8 Reasons Why You Need an Employee Benefits Audit

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When’s the last time you took a hard look at your Employee Benefits? If you’re running your Employee Benefits the same as it’s always been, you could be missing out on major cost-saving opportunities. We’d highly recommend getting an Employee Benefits Audit to make sure you’re not missing out on hidden benefits.

During an Employee Benefits Audit, we take a close look at your current offerings and work with you to create an efficient solution that’s better for your organization. Read on to see eight reasons why you should get an Employee Benefits Audit as soon as possible.

1. You’re not communicating clearly with your employees.

The technology around Employee Benefits continues to improve, we can connect you with better platform tech that can offer your employees a better experience and make it easier for you to communicate benefits plans to your employees more clearly.

2. You’re overpaying for the wrong benefits

A benefits audit can help you identify areas to improve your plan benefit, save you money, and reconfigure your total benefit package. Choosing to just go with a standard package can cost you—narrow networks and subtle benefit design differences can add up to big savings.

3. You’re not taking advantage of tax opportunities

If you’re not taking advantage of tax opportunities, you’re leaving money on the table. During an Employee Benefits Audit, you’ll work with an experienced benefits broker who knows their way around the various tax benefits.

4. Your Employee Enrollment Experience Isn’t Great.

Employee satisfaction is so important and surveys show that when the benefits enrollment experience isn’t approachable and easy to use, employee satisfaction begins to trend down. A benefits audit can help you find where your tech is lacking so you can take advantage of the best technology in the market to produce the best enrollment experience possible for your staff.

5. You’re not sure if you’re compliant.

Why stay up late worrying if you’re compliant. After a quick audit, we can ensure that you are compliant with COBRA, ERISA and other areas of exposures employers need to cover.

6. Your Team is Work From Home and Benefits details aren’t being communicated.

There’s no question, COVID has changed how we work. Now that most employees are working from home, it’s more difficult to make sure the value of your benefit program is being recognized. Not only are there benefits you can add to your package, designed for remote teams, there are also new tools that can help you better communicate with your employees, virtually.

7. You’re putting off a Benefits Audit because you don’t have time.

Don’t wait until enrollment is around the corner to do a benefits audit. You might be putting off big savings and you’ll be rushed to enroll may not have enough time to do critical analysis.

8. You don’t want to be met with hefty fines or costly litigation

Rules, policies, and plans are constantly changing, if you don’t do regular audits of your employee benefits package, you could be met with hefty fines or costly litigation. As an employer, you’re a fiduciary, which means you have compliance and legal obligations that can cost you if you fail to comply, communicate, and file.

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Need an Employee Benefits Audit? We can help you with that. Email us at marketing@www.corpstrat.com or schedule a call with one of our experts today.

When’s the Best Time to Choose an Employee Benefits Broker?

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Open enrollment is now over and we hope you’ve chosen a benefits package that works well for your team. However, if you found the process of choosing the right benefits tedious, you’re not alone. With so many options in the market, you might be looking for an Employee Benefits Broker to guide you through and help you make smarter decisions. You might be thinking “I’ll just wait until the next open enrollment to choose a great Employee Benefits Broker”. Here are a few reasons why we’d advise against that:

Don’t wait until the last minute and scramble ahead of Open Enrollment.

Before you know it, Open Enrollment is just around the corner. Waiting until the last minute can really cost you because you may not have time to carefully compare and contrast plans. Or worse, you opt to renew what you already have without taking a hard look at your other options. Choosing a broker to partner with well ahead of enrollment cuts down on your stress and allows you to build a benefits package that works best for your team. Plus, you’ll rest easy knowing they’ve found you the lowest cost plan in the market.

You want to save money and choose the best possible plan for your team.

If you don’t have a Benefits Broker, you may completely miss out on cost-saving opportunities, new plan updates, or simple ways to make your benefits package more appealing to your employees. Having an ongoing advisory relationship with your broker means they can give you a better evaluation of your current plan and help you eliminate plans that aren’t as effective.

Every broker gets paid the same 5%.

Now that you’ve decided on working with a great broker, be aware that not every broker is created equal BUT all brokers cost you the same amount. You should shop for a broker just like you shop for anything else—when you buy a TV, you shop around for the best quality at the best value. Ask yourself: Am I getting the best value for my money when it comes to my Employee Benefits Broker? The best and worst health brokers get paid exactly the same percentage so make sure you’re getting one who gives you the best value: high advisory support and data driven tools to help you with your business.

You’re not just choosing a Broker. You’re choosing an advisor.

In looking for the right Employee Benefits Broker, remember you’re not just choosing someone to manage your benefits, you’re choosing a long term advisor. When you work with CorpStrat, you get a number of value added services—we essentially become an extension of your HR team. We also have a bevy of tools that can help you choose the right plan, save money, communicate and deliver the plans to your employees, and remain compliant. A good Broker has your back, you don’t just hear from us when it’s time for enrollment, we’ll reach out to you with answers before you even think to ask the question. You’ll never have to call the carrier, we’ll solve any claim issues and billing issues. We’re always looking for how to better manage these plans and better serve you.

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Looking for an Employee Benefits Broker? We can help with that. Schedule a FREE 30 minute consultation with us today.

8 Things You May Have Missed In Your Benefits Plan

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Open enrollment is over, are you confident in your benefit planning for the year? At CorpStrat, we’re not just experts in Human Capital Management, we’re actually health insurance brokers first. Many employers or individuals shop for health care plans on their own, which is fine but can quickly become overwhelming. What we want to do is understand your exact situation so we can help you choose a benefit plan that aligns with your medical and financial needs.

As health insurance brokers, we’ll aid you in the selection process from start to finish. On top of that, you won’t only hear from us during Enrollment Season, we’re here to advise you all year round. We can also help you find coverage and hidden benefits that will keep you and your team healthy and happy. As brokers, we’re able to freely shop plans in the market, we’re not tied to any one insurer, meaning you can rest assured you have the right coverage for your team at the most affordable price.

Here are a few things you may have missed when benefits planning for 2021:

1. Talking to an actual human

After page 7 of browsing healthcare plan options, you may feel overwhelmed and nowhere closer to choosing the right plan for your team. This is where we as health insurance brokers can really step in and take that stress off your plate. You’ll have quick access to support, personalized recommendations, and our specialized health insurance knowledge.

2. LifeBridge

LifeBridge is an affordable, basic term life insurance policy with guaranteed acceptance. To learn more about LIfeBridge plans, please email us at marketing@www.corpstrat.com.

3. Paperless enrollment

If you haven’t gone paperless yet, 2021 is the time to make that change. Using an online enrollment system streamlines your processes, ensures nothing falls through the cracks, and makes it easier for your employees to make an informed choice.

4. Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

FSAs are a pre-tax benefit account used to pay for eligible medical, dental, and vision care expenses that aren’t covered by your insurance plan. With an FSA, as long as you have relatively predictable medical expenses each year, you can expect to save around 20-25% in taxes on every dollar you put in.

5. Extra Plan Benefits

There are often extras that carriers provide that your team may not be be taking advantage of. We can help make sure you’re not missing anything.

6. ERISA Plan Document Updates

There are various reasons why keeping your ERISA Plan Documents updated is so important. Check out our full blog post on why.

7. Open Enrollment Support

We want you to have a health insurance broker during Open Enrollment that can answer any questions you can have, help you choose the right plan, and make sure the plan you land on is executed properly. From being available by phone or email at all times to providing you side-by-side comparisons so you can evaluate different plan options, we make choosing a plan painless and easy.

8. Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

EAP is a voluntary, work-based program that provides benefits for people with real problems and no one to turn to. If an employee is undergoing personal or work-related problems that might impact their job performance, mental health, or emotional well-being, an EAP can offer confidential assessments, short-term counseling, and more.

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To learn more about these things you may have missed in your benefits plan and how CorpStrat can help, schedule a call with us today.