Benefits Administration

The Employee Retention Tax Credit: How Do You Claim It?

2023-04-17T11:22:47-04:00August 31st, 2021|2021, Benefits Administration, Employee Benefits, Employee Benefits Legislation, Labor News, Legislative News, Tax News|

Congress created the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) in March 2020 to provide financial relief to small businesses during the pandemic. Here’s some key facts about the ERTC and how to benefit from it. What is the Employee Retention Tax Credit? [...]

Commonly Asked Question: Does enrolling in Medicare trigger an offer of COBRA?

2023-04-17T11:22:49-04:00July 29th, 2021|2021, Benefits Administration, Employee Benefits|

The answer to this question is, NO, enrolling in Medicare does not cause COBRA to start. Under the federal rules, COBRA must be offered to persons enrolled in the employer’s health plan only if they lose coverage because of [...]

2022 Changes and Increases to Health Savings Account and HDHP Limits

2023-04-17T11:22:53-04:00June 17th, 2021|2021, Benefits Administration, Employee Benefits, Employee Benefits Legislation, Health Savings Accounts, Legislative News|

In May, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the 2022 health savings account (HSA) annual contribution limit and the 2022 high deductible health plan (HDHP) definitional limit per Internal Revenue Code Section 223. Under Revenue Procedure 2021-25 the limits for [...]

Correction: COVID Sick Leave Effective Date for Massachusetts

2023-04-17T11:22:54-04:00June 10th, 2021|2021, Benefits Administration, COVID-19 Updates, Legislative News, Massachusetts News|

Last week we notified you about the new Massachusetts COVID sick leave law that we believed took effect on June 7 based on the text of the bill that was available on the state legislature’s website. At that time, the state [...]

Massachusetts Passes Paid COVID-19 Sick Leave

2023-04-17T11:22:55-04:00June 7th, 2021|2021, Benefits Administration, COVID-19 Updates, Employee Benefits, Employee Benefits Legislation, Labor News, Legislative News, Massachusetts News|

Starting June 7, employers are required to provide paid COVID-19 sick leave to employees who can’t work because of COVID. COVID sick leave is in addition to other leaves the employer provides, whether required by law or provided as part of [...]

Massachusetts Updates Premium Pay Under Blue Laws

2023-04-17T11:22:56-04:00May 28th, 2021|2021, Benefits Administration, Labor News, Legislative News, Massachusetts News|

Massachusetts has made several revisions to its “blue laws” that require most employers that are retailers to pay premium pay for work on certain holidays. First, the Commonwealth has designated Juneteenth Independence Day, June 19, as a legal holiday. [...]

Important Update: DOL Issues COBRA Subsidy Guidance and Model Notices

2023-04-17T11:23:37-04:00April 12th, 2021|2021, Benefits Administration, COVID-19 Updates, Employee Benefits, Employee Benefits Legislation, Labor News, Legislative News|

On April 7, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) published FAQs to further explain this COBRA subsidy and provided models of the required related notices. Notable Points from the FAQs Eligibility Based on Reduction in Hours.   The FAQs take an expansive view [...]

IMPORTANT: The American Rescue Plan Act Creates COBRA Subsidies and New Notice Requirements Starting April 1st

2023-04-17T11:23:38-04:00March 31st, 2021|2021, Benefits Administration, COVID-19 Updates, Employee Benefits, Employee Benefits Legislation, Labor News, Legislative News|

As part of the recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP”), certain COBRA eligible individuals are eligible for temporary premium subsidies April 1 to September 30, 2021. These subsidies will cover 100 percent of the premium for [...]

Four Misunderstood Terms in the Americans with Disabilities Act

2023-04-17T11:23:40-04:00March 9th, 2021|2021, Benefits Administration, Employee Benefits|

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to a lot of organizations—all public employers and any private employer with 15 or more employees. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of confusion about what the law requires and what its terms entail. [...]