HUMAN RESOURCES AND EMPLOYEE BENEFITS ANNUAL CHECKLIST...

HUMAN RESOURCES

AND

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

ANNUAL CHECKLIST

2017

Insight Performance, Inc. | Insight Insurance Agency LLC

Dedham Executive Center • 990 Washington Street, Suite S109 • Dedham, MA 02026

185 Centre Street, Suite 104 • Danvers, MA 01923

781-326-8201 • www.insightperformance.com

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THIS DOCUMENT IS INTENDED TO BE FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY, IS NOT ALL INCLUSIVE, AND MAY BE SUBJECT

TO CHANGES. PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT THIS CHECKLIST DOES NOT INCLUDE RETIREMENT OR PENSION PLAN COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS.

PLEASE DISCUSS THOSE REQUIREMENTS WITH YOUR PLAN ADVISOR.

Some benefits related items are based on a January 1st enrollment date and may need to be adjusted based on your specific enrollment dates. © Insight Performance, Inc. All rights reserved.

BENEFITS

Review plan documents, make appropriate adjustments, update and distribute Summary Plan Descriptions if necessary; follow rules for distribution of Uniform Summary of Benefits & Coverage and Summaries of Material Modifications

Notify employees of changes to IRS mileage reimbursement, or Company rate if different

For calendar-year benefit plans, implement changes chosen by employees during open enrollment

Review COBRA materials to ensure updated language from March 2016 DOL changes

Remind Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Plan participants to submit remaining claims for 2016 by March 15, 2017 for calendar year benefit plans; for non-calendar year plans, refer to your plan document for appropriate dates; if your plan includes a carryover (up to $500) or grace period, it is helpful to include that in the reminder

Ensure that the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA) notice is added to new hire checklists and distributed to employees annually; alternatively, this language can be added to your open enrollment communications so long as distributed at least annually

Ensure that written notice of coverage options are provided to all new employees; alternatively, this language can be incorporated in your open enrollment communications

Review plan documents and understand plan affordability parameters to ensure compliance with the Affordable Care Act’s Employer Mandate (“pay or play” provision) which was effective January 1, 2015; this applies to Applicable Large Employers (ALE’s)

Where appropriate, be sure that employees are allowed to carry over up to forty (40) hours of Sick Leave from 2016

If not already in full compliance with the Massachusetts’ Earned Sick Leave Law, take steps to comply immediately

If any of your group benefit programs have more than 100 participants, set a reminder for the filing of IRS Form 5500; this filing must be completed no later than the last day of the seventh month after the plan year ends - for calendar year plans this is July 31, 2017


COMPLIANCE

Redistribute Sexual Harassment Policy to all employees (MA) (ideally email along with first paycheck or paystub of the year and document that you did so); if sexual harassment training has not been conducted in the past three (3) years, consider scheduling training for this year

Complete OSHA form 300A for 2016

Conduct annual audit of I-9’s, posters, resumes; review form I-9’s for expired or soon-to-expire work authorizations; use updated I-9 on or before January 22, 2017

Massachusetts Domestic Violence Leave Law: If not already done, establish and communicate to employees a policy to comply with the law

If conducting Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) checks for current employees, consider obtaining new CORI authorization forms as they expire after one year

Audit compliance with Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Ensure all positions are appropriately classified and the basis for each exempt classification is sound; review job descriptions to ensure they appropriately describe duties of the position and reflect the reality of the respective employee’s day-to-day activitiesi

Distribute departmental employee lists to managers to indicate employee, job title, reporting status, date of hire, review date and compensation

Review and update Handbook; determine if each policy is still needed for legal and/or operational purposes

Review records and select for purging, both paper and electronic, to adhere to Company’s records-retention policy; ensure compliance with data security concerns

Review personnel records and ensure proper information is being maintained therein; medical information, EEO data, and domestic violence leave related documentation should be kept in a separate confidential file and not be included in an employee’s personnel file

Review applications to ensure they do not ask unlawful questions (per MA Equal Pay law)


COMPLIANCE

MA Employers: Determine need for Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) policy which is required when an employer annually conducts five or more criminal background checks

MA Employers: Renew iCORI registration if used, registration will expire after one calendar year

Update changes to policies and procedures

STAFFING

For positions projected to be filled by new H-1B visa holders, start assembling documentation to be submitted by the April 1, 2017 deadline

COMPENSATION

For employees who are paid minimum wage, be sure that their rate increases to $11.00/hour for non-tipped workers and $3.75/hour for tipped workers effective January 1, 2017

Notify employees of Social Security Wage Base changes

RECRUITMENT

Update forms for Orientation

MISCELLANEOUS

Download the updated W-4 Form and distribute to all employees with a reminder to review their withholdings


BENEFITS

Update Workers’ Compensation insurance certificate posting

Summary of Material Reduction in covered benefits are required to be in the SPD within 60 days of adoption of the new reduced benefits

Complete online annual Medicare Part D employer filing with CMS to show that plan meets or exceeds Part D levels; filing date is within sixty (60) days following renewal of group medical plan

February 28, 2017 IRS filing deadline for ALE’s filing Forms 1095-C and 1094-C in paper formats

COMPLIANCE

Post OSHA log 300A from February 1, 2017 - April 30, 2017

BENEFITS

ALE’s that sponsor group medical plans must provide IRS Form 1095-C to any current or former employee that was a full-time employee during CY 2016; forms must be distributed to employees no later than March 2, 2017

Remind employees to change their 401(k) election deferrals if desired

Remind employees to submit FSA dependent care and medical reimbursement account receipts for 2016 expenses by March 15, 2017

March 31, 2017 IRS filing deadline for ALE’s filing Forms 1095-C and 1094 in electronic format


COMPLIANCE

Review existing non-compete and/or non-solicitation and/or non-disclosure agreements and determine if any major changes to the employee’s position, duties, or responsibilities have occurred since the employee signed the agreement(s); if so, consider having the employee sign a new agreement(s) to ensure it is current

STRATEGY

Workforce-wide HR goals: compare performance-to-plan YTD; adjust activities as needed to close gaps

BENEFITS

Health plans and issuers that maintain an annual open enrollment period will be required to use the April, 2017 edition of the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) template and associated documents beginning on the first day of the first open enrollment period that begins on or after April 1, 2017 with respect to coverage for plan years (or, in the individual market, policy years) beginning on or after that date; for plans and issuers that do not use an annual open enrollment period, this SBC template and associated documents are required beginning on the first day of the first plan year (or, in the individual market, policy year) that begins on or after April 1, 2017

MISCELLANEOUS

Hold a meeting of your data security team and review your written information security program and Data Breach Policy to prevent identity theft and to ensure that third-party service providers are capable of protecting personal information and contractually binding them to do so

Schedule quarterly or bi-annual meetings of your data security team

Conduct data security compliance audit to ensure that you are safeguarding personal information in paper and electronic form

In instances where a social security number is requested from an employee, analyze whether the social security number is actually necessary for that request


COMPLIANCE

Audit compliance with FLSA: If any interns are working, ensure that they are paid appropriately according to DOL Fact Sheet #71

Audit compliance with FLSA: If any independent contractors are working, ensure that they are not employees by applying the three-prong test

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Ensure that mangers conduct mid-year reviews/check-ins with direct reports and document for employee files

STRATEGY

Workforce-wide HR goals: Compare performance-to-plan YTD; adjust activities as needed to close gaps

BENEFITS

Complete Form 5500 Tax filing for retirement, IRC Section 125, and/or welfare plans by July 31, 2017 for calendar year plan (if plan year is not a calendar year, due by last day of the 7th calendar month after the end of the plan year)

Summary of Material Modification (SMM) must be distributed to participants no later than 210 days after the end of the plan year in which the changes were adopted

STRATEGY


Examine organization’s value proposition (VP) to the talent market, for example: Is the VP at least, “at market”? If not, what are the weaknesses and what improvements are necessary? Are there components to the VP that are “above market?” How does the VP compare to working conditions sought by members of applicable talent pool(s)?

MISCELLANEOUS

There are currently no items listed with deadlines for August, as the subsequent months have multiple items, this would be a good time to review and prepare for what is upcoming

https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm


COMPLIANCE

File the Employer Information Report, Form EEO-1 by September 30th annually (for employers with 100+ employees, or federal contractors with 50+ employees and $50,000 in government contracts)ii

File the VETS-100 and/or VETS-100A Federal Contractor Report on Veterans’ Employment by the annual September 30th deadline

Equal Opportunity (EO) survey: every year 10,000 federal contractors are selected to respond to the EO survey by September 30th; compliance is mandatory

Check employment applications, etc. to ensure they are compliant with new MA Equal Pay law by July 1, 2018; remove salary history questions

COMPENSATION

Conduct an equity pay audit to ensure employees are receiving comparable pay for comparable work (MA Equal Pay Act goes into effect on July 1, 2018)

BENEFITS

Distribute Summary Annual Reports for appropriate company-sponsored plans (9 months after the end of a plan year)

For non-Safe Harbor Defined Contribution Retirement Plans, perform non-discrimination testing, and, if not compliant, take action to adjust highly-compensated participants’ contributions to attain compliance

Annual Medicare Part D notices must be distributed by October 15, 2017 for all employers offering a prescription drug benefitiii (for fully insured employers, this is performed by the insurers)

TIME OFF

Notify employees of time off balances and “use-it-or-lose-it” policies, as appropriate

STRATEGY



BENEFITS

Evaluate annual renewal for Workers’ Compensation insurance

Prepare for open enrollment communication if enrollment date is scheduled for January 1, 2018 - supplies, dates, vendor visits, communication (welfare benefits, 401(k), FSA, beneficiary changes)

STRATEGY

Review performance-to-plan of current year’s workforce-wide HR goals: What worked and why? What didn’t work and why? Apply learnings to planning for upcoming year

Establish workforce-wide HR goals needed to achieve overall organizational goals

Compare existing, workforce-wide HR metrics to HR goals for upcoming year and adjust as needed; create new metrics as necessary

Breakdown workforce-wide HR goals into departmental HR goals; ensure departmental HR goals are communicated to all employees within each department

Review recognition and rewards programs: Do they encourage employees to achieve departmental HR goals? Are changes needed?

BUDGETING

Determine annual training needs and budget

Determine hiring plan with headcount

Determine recognition program and budget

COMPLIANCE

2017 Affirmative Action Plan (AAP): If you have a Federal government contract of $50,000 or more and more than 50 employees, you are required by the Federal government to have a written AAP; if you wish to prepare a calendar year AAP, workforce statistics must be assembled in November or December of the previous yeariv


COMPENSATION

Determine merit, promotional, and adjustment budgets for next year’s salary increases; also consider changes to comply with the MA Pay Equal Pay law effective July 1, 2018

Age-adjust salary ranges or conduct market research to ensure competitiveness

Determine if any changes are needed to the compensation program design

Update the company compensation philosophy to support compensation program changes, if needed

Update plan documents for all incentive plans (short- and long-term plans)

Conduct an audit of all positions to ensure FLSA compliance

BENEFITS

Advise employees of new insurance premiums along with employer contribution and payroll deduction information

Submit Medical, Dental, FSA, etc., enrollment forms to insurance companies

Have all employees who opt out of employer-sponsored health insurance sign a waiver

As of January 1, 2017, new requirement for any employer who offers a cash buyout agreement must require evidence of other Qualified Health Plan coverage and that other coverage cannot be obtained through the public exchange

Determine age-based life insurance rate increases for January 1st - notify employees and payroll

Send out Personal Information Update forms to verify address, telephone, emergency contact, beneficiaries, dependents, W-4’s

Update employee addresses for W-2 purposes


BENEFITS

Determine 401(k) match and profit sharing

Ensure adequate bond coverage for retirement plans

Distribute Children’s Health Insurance Plan Program (CHIP) plan option information to employees along with open enrollment materials

Distribute updated Summaries of Benefits and Coverages for group medical plans (must be done 60 days in advance of the new plan year in the case of material modifications that occurs other than in connection with coverage renewal or reissuance)

COMPENSATION

Determine W-2 imputed income values for employees who participate in group life insurance with benefits exceeding $50,000 (your payroll vendor may provide this service)

Communicate any changes to the compensation philosophy and/or compensation program to managers and employees

Communicate and distribute updated incentive plan documents to eligible participants

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Review job descriptions with managers and make any necessary adjustments and updates

Set SMART goals for each employee for upcoming year

RECRUITMENT

Review orientation program and make changes where appropriate

Affirmative Action Plan or any diversity initiatives - review where job openings are being posted; types and locations of job fairs attended

TIME OFF

Distribute annual holiday schedule

TRAINING

Schedule in-house training dates and topics


i It’s possible for an employee classified as non-exempt to be paid a salary; not all non-exempt employees must be paid hourly.

ii Please contact Insight to determine if your organization meets the requirements to file.

iii Employers who sponsor a health plan offering prescription drug benefits must provide an annual notice to all Medicare-eligible participants that explains whether the prescription drug benefits offered under the plan are at least as good as the benefits offered under the Medicare Part D plan.

iv A contractor’s initial Affirmative Action Plan may be prepared for any twelve-month timeframe. Insight can work with you to determine the appropriate timeframe for your organization. We have the capabilities to compile, analyze and prepare the data and narratives required for compliance with the Department of Labor/Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs regulations.

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