A survey of employed email users finds: 22% are expected to respond to work email when they’re not at work. 50% check work email on the weekends. 46% check work email on sick days. 34% check work email while on vacation. Source: Mother Jones In several cases, non-exempt employees have sued their employers for unpaid...
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How Pharmacy Benefit Managers Help You Control Drug Costs
In October 2015 we discussed some of the forces driving prescription costs up and gave some pointers on what employers can do to control employee prescription drug costs. Here’s a brief overview of how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) help in that process. Your PBM plays an important role in helping control employee drug expenses. PBMs...
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Which Health Plan Applies?
When your employees are covered by more than one health plan, you’ll want to know which plan is “primary” — insurance jargon for the one that pays claims first. Here’s some guidance. Let’s consider two situations where dual — and dueling — coverage might occur. They both involve someone covered by two plans, but in...
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How to Avoid Common (and Costly) Immigration Mistakes
When it comes to complying with provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), you may find yourself forced into two roles seemingly at odds with each other — verifying the employment of every employee while at the same time avoiding discriminatory practices. To help you walk the tightrope, here are nine common IRCA...
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Keys to a Smooth Open Enrollment
Open enrollment can overwhelm even the most seasoned benefits manager. But the time when employees can make changes to their benefits plans doesn’t have to be a time of stress. Open enrollment for individual health plans begins on November 1 for plans that start on January 1, 2016. However, small businesses can enroll in Small...
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Coming to a City Near You: Mandated Sick Leave Benefits
More employers provide paid vacation time than paid sick leave time: 58 percent versus 52 percent, found a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. Forty-one percent provided paid time off (a combination of vacation time, paid sick leave and general paid time off). California became the first state to require employers to provide...
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Title VII Non-discrimination Protections Apply to LBGTQ Individuals
The EEOC has concluded “sexual orientation is inherently a ‘sex-based consideration’ and an allegation of discrimination based on sexual orientation is necessarily an allegation of sex discrimination under Title VII.” Translation: Title VII nondiscrimination protections apply to people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. No federal law expressly bars discrimination against people...
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A Bitter Pill: The High Cost of Specialty Drugs
The good news: Pharmaceutical companies are developing a range of drugs to treat diseases that are chronic and/or rare. The bad news: Their high (some might say outrageous) cost. Overall, prescription drug prices rose 12 percent in 2014. Sales of specialty drugs contributed greatly to the jump. Specialty drugs: Are usually self-administered, high cost, injectable...
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Critical Illness Insurance Helps Ease Cancer’s Financial Pain
The good news is the likelihood of surviving a cancer diagnosis has increased. The bad news is the cost of treating cancer has also increased…and so have deductibles and copayments. Currently, an estimated 11 million Americans are living with cancer. Although your chances of surviving cancer are better now than ever, how will your budget...
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What is Telemedicine?
Recently, the state of Washington passed a law requiring employee health plans to reimburse providers for telemedicine services. That made Washington the 24th state to require “telemedicine parity.” Parity laws remove some of the barriers to more widespread adoption of telemedicine. Knowing they will be reimbursed for services makes healthcare providers more willing to offer...
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