How’s your company’s vision?

How’s your company’s vision?

ACA Reporting & Compliance, Compliance, Health Benefits, Human Resources Software

Can you see what’s coming for employee health care reporting?  The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is burdensome and complex with changes to many different laws or sections of our tax code.   With nearly 100 provisions since its enactment, it seems to continually impact employer responsibilities and reporting.

Determining if your company is an applicable large employer (ALE) is just one of the ACA requirements.  An employer with more than 50 full-time (or an equivalent combination of full-time and part-time) employees is an ALE.  An ALE must offer affordable health plans that provide at least a minimum level of coverage to their full-time employees (and their dependents), or possibly be subject to the employer shared responsibility penalty.  Though no employer shared responsibility payments were assessed for 2014, employers must use their 2014 workforce information (e.g., number of employees, hours of service) to determine their criteria for 2015, since the number of employees is a calculated value of full-time and part-time employees over the last 12 months.

The ACA also amended the tax code, adding sections 6055 and 6056. ALEs are required to file information returns with the IRS and provide statements to their full-time employees about health insurance coverage offered by the employer.

Section 6055 Section 6056
Insurers and self-funded plans Applicable large employers
Enforce the individual mandate Enforce the employer mandate
Show all individuals who are covered Show who has been offered coverage
Form 1094 B transmittal to the IRS Form 1094 C; ALE’s transmittal to the IRS
Form 1095 B notice to the individual Form 1095 C;  ALE’s notice to the employee

As you can see, it’s critical that all your workforce data is in one location, making it easy to track critical employee and dependent data needed for required ACA reporting:

  • Required identifying information
  • Availability of required coverage
  • Waivers of available coverage
  • Affordability of plans

Highflyer HR’s Human Capital Management (HCM) technology that helps you determine your ALE status and maximum waiting periods for medical enrollments, in addition to running applicable self-funded or fully insured reports.  Highflyer HR also provides appropriate filing for companies that fall under the exception reporting for this year.  And if you’re curious about potential penalties due to the non-affordability of offered plans, Highflyer HR can show you proactive estimates.

Highflyer HR makes adhering to ACA requirements easier and more efficient. With expert support from our staff, iSolved makes sure you have all of the necessary data collection, forms and procedures so you don’t lose sight of vital compliance issues.

Contact us at 844.398.7800 for more about Highflyer HR and health care reporting compliance.

Highflyer logo

FLSA Lawsuits Are On The Rise

FLSA Lawsuits Are On The Rise

Compliance, FLSA Challenges

Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuits numbered over 7,000 in 2012 alone.  Companies such as Walmart, Staples, Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan Chase, Oracle, CVS, Tyson Foods, Lowe’s and AT&T have been subject to significant FLSA penalties.

FLSA lawsuits don’t target specific types of companies; every company could be faced with this challenge and the ensuing penalties.

Determining violations

In order to determine violations, investigators generally look at the following five areas.

Earnings codes

Your company’s earnings codes may be the easiest way to identify compensation being improperly excluded from the regular rate. In an FLSA lawsuit investigation, investigators tend to first look at safety, incentive, bonus, auto allowance, operator incentive and per diem.

Deduction codes

Looking at your list of deductions codes can also reveal existing issues such as appropriate deductions or if the deductions reduce wages below minimum wage.  Investigators will pay special attention to advances, laundry, safety glasses, tools, uniform fees and shoes and union dues.

It’s important to remember to document anything that requires employee authorization and to avoid deductions that cause pay to go below minimum wage.

Your time system

Your time and attendance rules and the resulting employee time punches can be one wage and hour issue, but there are several causes:

  • Rounding rules – make sure rounding is fair
  • Automatic meal period deductions – single largest reason for litigation; if you require employees to punch out/in rather than auto deduct, you have proof of meal periods
  • Time clock rules treat clocking in early or late the same for everyone
  • Shift hours overlaps work weeks; this may cause underpay one week and overpay the next week

Time card dangers

There are a few areas which investigators focus on as possible clues to inappropriate time clock management.

  • Identical in/out and meal period times for almost every day – is the employee actually punching?
  • No out/in and meal time punches – hard to prove if nothing is documented
  • Exact time punches when shift begins
  • Employee time punches are almost the same exact time – possibly buddy punching

Pay stub issues

  • Paid for fewer hours than shown on time record
  • Deductions for work required equipment (e.g., uniforms, tools)
  • Employee was paid a shift differential or bonus instead of overtime pay

Avoiding difficult, expensive and time-consuming business problems are now a part of our reality with FLSA lawsuits.  Proper record keeping and documentation is vital, along with a time and attendance system that integrates with payroll and other business functions.

Your systems should have consistent rules across the board, maintain documentation, have easy data management and reports to prove your compliance.