The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) is upon us and there’s a lot to do in order to be ready for the employer mandate coming in Jan 2015. It starts with determining if you should pay or play. Jennifer Kraft, gives us an update of where healthcare reform stands now and how to calculate your real cost. She’ll also cover: what steps should you be taking right now to determine whether you should pay or play; how can you ensure that you’re minimizing the financial impact of the ACA on your business?
Jennifer Kraft of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, will review this pay or play mandate and ways employers can mitigate the financial impact, including:
◾Are you even subject to the Affordable Care Act and if you are, what are your options? Which employees must you offer coverage to or pay a penalty? What are the state exchanges and how do they work with the employer mandate?
◾How is the employer penalty calculated?
◾How will the expansion of eligibility for Medicaid in your state affect the employer penalty? How do you discover whether your state’s ruling will impact your employees and who you will need to provide insurance to?
◾If your employee hours vary (i.e., part-time and fluctuating schedule workers in industries such as retail, hospitality, and health care), how do you calculate your ACA liabilities?
◾What steps should you be taking right now to determine whether you should pay or play? How can you ensure that you’re minimizing the financial impact of the ACA on your business?
In addition, EPAY will briefly discuss how a time and labor management system can help you monitor and track the data required to make these decisions and manage the ACA on an ongoing basis. Automated tools from your time-tracking system, such as reports and alerts, will be critical to managing who is eligible and mitigating the risk of non-compliance. For more than 60 years, Seyfarth Shaw has been recognized as one of the “go-to” labor and employment firms for business by providing extraordinary, cost-effective results. EPAY Systems, Inc. has joined forces with Seyfarth Shaw to educate employers of distributed labor environments on how compliance risk can be minimized
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3. EPAY Systems -- designed to meet the
needs of your complex,
distributed workforce
• Reduce your labor
costs by 5% or more
• Keep you in control
and in compliance
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4. Today’s Discussion
The Affordable Care Act is upon us and there’s a lot to do in
order to be ready for January 1, 2014.
Does your company even need to be concerned?
If so, who is eligible for health insurance at your company?
How do you calculate whether it’s better to offer health
insurance to your employees or just pay the penalty?
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56. Real Time Data Collection
Data
Collection
1
3
2
Secure web
management
Payroll
Processo
r
56
Data Export
Payroll
57. EPAY’s Mobile Expertise
Today’s Expert
John Gaudiuso
Sales Engineer
EPAY Systems, Inc.
Contact John at:
jgaudiuso@EPAYsystems.com
312-291-2032
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58. Determining FTE’s in Blueforce
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•
•
•
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Compare all employees average hours to AHA guidelines
to determine total FTE’s
Will give total Full Time Employees (> 30 hours)
Will give total Part Time Employees (< 30 hours)
Total the two to determine total FTE’s
Could also use alerting to ensure employees not going
over 30 hours per week
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59. Determining Average Hours in
Blueforce
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•
Calculate employees’ average hours per week from hire
date
Report to show the employee, the hire date and the
average hours worked per week
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60. Track Covered Employees in Blueforce
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•
•
Report to give information on average hours worked per
week
Includes whether employee has insurance
Easily identify employees that do not have coverage
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61. Upcoming Education
•
New Time & Attendance Technologies for Tracking the Mobile
Workforce Webinars. May 30: 10:00 cst
•
California Wage & Hour Labor Law--Avoiding Common Pitfalls with a
Distributed Workforce. June 26: 12:00 cst
•
How to Avoid Costly Wage & Hour Pitfalls for Healthcare Employers
with a Distributed Workforce. Sept 25: 12:00 cst
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How to Avoid Costly Wage & Hour Pitfalls for Employers in the
Hospitality Industry. Nov 6: 12:00 cst
Register at www.EPAYsystems.com
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62. Thank You!
Jennifer A. Kraft
Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Employee Benefits
jkraft@seyfarth.com
(312) 460-5983
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63. Connect With Us
Connect with EPAY:
o LinkedIn – follow our company page
at EPAY Systems
o Twitter -- @EPAYsystems
o Sign up for our e- newsletter at
www.EPAYsystems.com
Connect with Seyfarth Shaw LLP:
o Wage & Hour Litigation Blog
http://www.wagehourlitigation.com/
o Twitter - @SeyfarthShawLLP
o Twitter - @SeyfarthEBLaw
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Thanks Josh. Welcome to our first webinar in our Compliance Series “Wage & Hour Attorneys’ Best Tips for Staying Out of Trouble” presented by EPAY Systems. My name is Michelle Lanter Smith. I am the Vice President of Marketing here at EPAY Systems.I’d like to extend a warm welcome to all of you on the line with us today. We have over __ people joining us . . . From across the nation. Many of you my stem from various industries, but you all have a couple things in common –You all face a challenging, complex labor environment – one where you workers are distributed across many locations – making it difficult for consistent management policies and proceduresManaging compliance issues – such as Overtime pay, meal breaks, employee travel . . . is a real concern. And because of your distributed workforce, it’s even harder to manage.
Well, that’s where EPAY comes in. EPAY is in the time and labor management business. And we specialize in dealing with companies that have very complex and distributed labor environments. Our organization understands all of the challenges and limitations a company with employees scattered everywhere deals with as it relates to deploying new technology in the field, as well as managing and tracking it’s labor force.Distributed labor can present many challenges. Yet, labor is probably your largest cost.Complex pay rules, shift differentials, employees working one task in the morning and a different one in the afternoon. Employees working at customer sites or moving from job to job.These are tough for most time and attendance systems. But not for us. Our uniquely flexible pay rules engine can handle complex union rules and state regulations, not to mention your own complexities because of the nature of your business.Our web-based system, Blueforce, drives two main benefits for our clients:We help them reduce their total labor costs by more than 5%We help them lower their overall risk in facing compliancy issues – we have a built-in compliance orientated features . . . Right in our system
The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) is upon us and there’s a lot to do in order to be ready for January 1, 2014. Depending on the number of employees you have, do you even need to be concerned? If so, who is eligible for health insurance at your company? And finally, how do you calculate whether it’s better to offer health insurance to your employees or just pay the penalty?In this webinar, Jennifer Kraft of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, will review this pay or play mandate and ways employers can mitigate the financial impact, including:Are you even subject to the Affordable Care Act and if you are, what are your options? Which employees must you offer coverage to or pay a penalty? What are the state exchanges and how do they work with the employer mandate?How is the employer penalty calculated?How will the expansion of eligibility for Medicaid in your state affect the employer penalty? How do you discover whether your state’s ruling will impact your employees and who you will need to provide insurance to?If your employee hours vary (like in part-time and fluctuating schedule workers in industries such as retail, hospitality, and health care), how do you calculate your ACA liabilities?What steps should you be taking right now to determine whether you should pay or play? How can you ensure that you’re minimizing the financial impact of the ACA on your business?At the end, John Gaudiuso from EPAY will join us and discuss how a time and labor management system can help you monitor and track the data required to make these decisions and manage the ACA on an ongoing basis. Automated tools from your time-tracking system, such as reports and alerts, will be critical to managing who is eligible and mitigating the risk of non-compliance.For more than 60 years, Seyfarth Shaw has been recognized as one of the “go-to” labor and employment firms for business by providing extraordinary, cost-effective results. EPAY Systems, Inc. has joined forces with Seyfarth Shaw to educate employers of distributed labor environments on how compliance risk can be minimized.
Jennifer is a partner in the Employee Benefits Department and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Welfare Benefits Practice Group. With broad experience assisting Fortune 500 companies with all aspects of their employee benefits plans, she helps clients understand the myriad of complex laws impacting employee benefits.Jennifer is a member of the firm's cross-departmental Health Care Reform Team. This team of firm lawyers from different practice areas works together to assess the different ways health care reform will impact our clients and create cutting-edge strategies for a holistic response. Ms. Kraft has guided clients in the design and administration of their health plans and also helps clients consider alternatives for keeping health care costs contained such as the implementation of health savings accounts and wellness programs in light of a shifting legal landscape.Jennifer is frequently quoted on health care reform issues in publications as diverse as CNN Money, Yahoo! Finance, National Law Journal, Benefits Pro and Modern Healthcare and Scrip.Welcome Jennifer, thanks for joining us today!
Now I’m sure many of you are going to have questions for Rebecca and Noah today. If you have one, simply type it in the Question box in bottom right section of your screen. We’ll be monitoring the questions and Noah and Rebecca will attempt to answer your questions throughout their presentation.So let’s get started . . .Noah, let me turn it over to you to discuss some of the trends you’re seeing in wage and hour litigation.
I need to read our disclaimer here, which basically tells you that . . . The Co
Let’s spend a couple of minutes discussing Medicaid expansion. As I’m sure you all know by now, the Supreme Court has left it up to the individual states to decide whether they will expand Medicaid availability to those individuals in their state who make below 133% of the FPL. Currently, Medicare is only available to certain individuals (ex. children, working parents, the disabled, the elderly) who make less than certain levels of the FPL.Expanding Medicaid comes with Federal funding for a few years, so even some Republican-led states have decided to expand their Medicaid eligibility to access those funds. Other states, most notably, Arkansas are looking at using the Federal funds to insure Medicaid-type offerings. This week Arkansas’ governor signed legislation doing that, and they are waiting for Federal approval of that alternative.
This is a very fluid map of what the states look like (or are leaning toward) in their Medicaid expansion decisions. Voting Choices: Cal, Fla, Tx, Ill, Ny and other
Bit more solid map on the decisions by the various states on the Exchanges. As enrollment starts October 1st, plans are set as of the end of last year. Source: http://ahlalerts.com/2012/07/03/medicaid-where-each-state-stands-on-the-medicaid-expansion/Last updated: 4/1/13. http://statehealthfacts.kff.org/comparemaptable.jsp?ind=962&cat=17
How will individuals pay for coverage? (cont’d) Reference slide for you on the various FPL thresholds.
Read through slide. Affordability safe harbors. Set employee-only premium at no more than 9.5% of one of the safe harbors listed. Review W-2 wages for lowest-paid full-time employeeAssume lowest-paid full-time employee makes $30,000 in W-2 wages per year. If the employee-only premium for health coverage is $2,850 or less (i.e., 9.5% of the lowest W-2 wages), then no employee will ever become eligible for tax credits through the exchanges, and the employer will not be liable for the play or pay penalty. Or, set premium at 9.5% of FPL2013 FPL is $11,490 for a single person9.5% is $1091.55 Number does not vary with employee wagesMV = Calculator on line. Safe harbor checklist includes 4 core benefits with minimum cost sharing for each. This one is not available if you have non-standard benefits. Actuarial certifications include HRAs and HSA contributions.
Thanks Rebecca. Wow – what a lot of great information you’ve give us in such a short time. Now if you have question for Rebecca or Noah, just let us know. We’ll see a short survey when you close out today’s session. Just let us know and we’ll try to help get your question answered.I’d like to wrap up our time together today with a few words on EPAY and how we address your compliance needs.
We’ll provide multiple options to collect that data to ensure the lowest cost of ownership for our clients (WALTER, Mobile App, IVR, Web App)Biometric time clocks ( biometrics - specifically for sites over 15 ee) – BEST OPTION TO PREVENT TIME THEFTIVR (developed with caller id tracking – smaller sites 1-14 ee)Mobile Application ( gps coordination – smaller or very mobile ee sites)Web Application (IP tracking – office environments)
Today’s expert joining me today is John “God i you so”. He’s been a pioneer in the high-tech industry for 10 years. Schooled and trained as an electrical engineer, John has advanced his career working in product development in some of the nation’s thriving technical companies. His technical expertise spans a number of technologies from solar cells to RFID. He also is intimately familiar with ERP, implementing wide-scale ERP systems for large, regional tech firms. Time and labor management has been his new focus for the last two years working closely with EPAY’s customers in the HR and Payroll functions. Since mobile technologies have come into play, John has embraced the technology and its application within time and labor management. He is now responsible for deploying EPAY’s mobile solution to our customers, demonstrating EPAY’s innovation in this area and driving creative solutions to our client’s time and attendance issues.
Wage and hour cases continue to be a source of potential liability for employers. Indeed, the vast majority of class and collective actions filed in state and federal courts continue to be wage-hour cases. Additionally, the Department of Labor has hired more investigators and continues to aggressively investigate company’s wage-hour practices. Companies hit with these cases may face significant exposure and, even if their policies are lawful, defending a class or collective action can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more. As a result, it is critical for a company facing a lawsuit to quickly assess its risks and determine its litigation “goals.” Even if not currently facing a lawsuit, a company should take measures to avoid litigation and to minimize its legal risks. To do so, companies need to keep abreast of changes in the law and litigation trends. Wage-hour law continues to develop and change, and these developments may impact your organization or industry.
That’s all the time we have today. John and I would like to extend a big thank you to all of you for joining us today. We’d like to be your time and labor management provider. At EPAY, we’re IN TIME WITH YOU.Until next time, then, have a wonderful rest of your day. Good-bye.