isolved Blog

Despite a controversial past and an uncertain future, the national health care law referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) demands immediate attention and action by most businesses, especially those of specific sizes and structures.  Employers cannot afford to risk waiting to see what potential...

Many of us ring in the New Year with resolutions to change or improve our life.  Although it’s not a personal resolution,  many states are raising the 2015 minimum wage as a result of either inflation or legislative action, affecting workers nationwide. New York’s minimum wage will increase to $8.7...

The US DOL found that employees with at least one year experience receive an average of eight paid sick days per year.  That number jumps to eleven days for employees with over 25 years of service.  While providing paid sick days for employees might seem costly to employers, not having sick leave av...

HIPAA certificates of creditable coverage have served workers well to prove they have had health coverage and may be exempt from exclusions when changing health coverage.  But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) proposed eliminating these certifica...

Not to be outdone by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Health and Human Service (HHS), the IRS also released guidance over the Thanksgiving weekend.  Final rules for minimum essential coverage and other employer shared responsibility requirements joined the Federal Register family...

Nucleus Research, a company that evaluates technology ROI, recently published some interesting results about HCM technology implementation. The 42 case studies included companies from a wide range of industries and organization sizes. Some findings: For each $1.00 spent, HCM technology returns an...

If you want to be a coach, you have a lot of options – life coach, business coach, project coach and sports coach to name a few.  Even if your goal is not coaching, you may have already filled the position.  If you’ve ever helped an employee identify and solve a problem or develop their skills, you’...

Some of us make lists for everything – spring cleaning, errands, groceries and daily tasks. There's one list that HR, payroll and benefit professionals should definitely have – their year-end requirements.   Here are some items that should be on that list:   General...

During the Supreme Court’s conference November 7, 2014, they decided to hear the King vs. Burwell case.  In this case, the Fourth Circuit upheld allowing subsidies to individuals in an exchange other than one that is state run.  Interesting decision by the Supreme Court, considering the Fourth Circu...

We found a Loophole!  That was the cry from certain brokers, TPAs or employers when they investigated two separate pieces of the health care law in 2014.  But as the cautionary warning states, buyer beware!  Sometimes loopholes can turn into slipknots and bind you in a noncompliant way. Plans that...

Prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) entering the picture, an employer generally considered a full-time employee as one that worked 40 hours a week and received health benefits, paid time off and perhaps even retirement contributions.  The ACA has required applying a new meaning not only to full-t...

Open enrollment in the Marketplace is a set time frame when individuals can enroll in a plan and receive a subsidy based upon their household income, if eligible.  You can generally buy a Marketplace plan only during the annual open enrollment period. Upcoming dates to know: November 15, 2014 - 2...

It is annual performance review day at the office. The sales reps are sitting in their cubicles getting very little accomplished, as they watch the parade of colleagues enter and leave the boss’s office. Those nervously awaiting their turns feign nonchalance while trying to read the latest victim’s...

Does the QB have COBRA coverage? There are times in life when you just have to wait. The period between a loss of coverage due to a COBRA qualifying event and the COBRA payment is such an example. COBRA provides a 44-day time frame for the employer/plan administrator to send an election notice. Th...

There has been a lot of talk and confusion about employee count and determining employees for health care compliance. One area employers may not realize where the employee count matters is how it will affect COBRA. For COBRA purposes, an employer needs to count all employees when determining the em...

Think about all the different tasks that an employer has to accomplish to keep their business running. That task list is very long and undoubtedly includes payroll. While many employees may not recognize the work and depth of payroll processing, those who issue paychecks have a very good idea of all...