Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Is this year's 2% reduction in FICA withholding a retirement communications golden ticket to incent sluggish plan participants? One plan sponsor thinks so.

One thing that always bugs me about this time of year is that all of my favorite shows tend to be on a “winter hiatus,” airing repeats until late January or early February. Here at EBN, we don’t believe in such a long winter’s nap; our BenefitsTV channel is rolling into the new year with four new episodes.

Today an aide to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced that the House will vote Jan. 12 to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Wall Street Journal reports. The vote is just the first step toward draining the lifeblood from the law through legal, appropriations and other maneuvers Republicans have at their disposal.

The Daily Diversion will be on a publishing hiatus for the remainder of the year. We'll be back up and running on Monday, Jan. 3, 2011.

Data show that employees are increasingly calling in sick when they aren't truly sick, and such unplanned absences cost employers a 19% net loss in productivity. Some companies are using aggressive surveillance methods to catch employees that are leave cheaters.

For every employee leave you must ensure that an orchestra of different people, laws, and systems play in perfect concert with each other. Not an easy task when you consider the following: trying to determine who and when employees are on leave, abiding by multiple, complex leave laws, and dealing with HRIS tracking shortcomings.

Start by constructing an employee education policy statement for your 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Many plan sponsors never put together this document and, as a result, have no idea if they are achieving any worthwhile education objectives.

There’s a glimmer of good news for employer-sponsored healthcare programs. Near-site and on-site clinics offering primary care, often referred to as “employee health centers,” are bringing overall plan-cost reductions along with measurable member-health improvements

How can you entice the millennials that are the best and the brightest? First, eliminate the corporate ladder and think in terms of the jungle gym. Second, show millennials key initiatives at your company where they can make a difference.

When the government announced last summer that it was delaying the employer mandate, many employers let out a sigh of relief. They relaxed. However, now it’s time to pick up the pace again. Before you know it, 2015 and 2016 will be here and the ACA will be an everyday reality for employers.