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Big companies use complex quantitative job evaluation systems, says Wudyka, who is managing principal of Westminster Associates in Wrentham, Massachusetts. However, smaller employers don’t need point count systems; they can use paired comparison. Wudyka’s tips came during a recent webinar sponsored by BLR. Paired Comparison One very efficient, effective, and low-cost method of ranking jobs […]
Here’s one positive pattern in COBRA coverage lawsuits: Even if a plan administrator violated the COBRA law, if it acts reasonably under the circumstances, courts are inclined to mitigate the amount of any penalties. But even though the law is more than 25 years old, case law shows there’s still a learning curve about its […]
New guidance on a group health coverage reporting requirement raises some important issues regarding COBRA coverage and provides a silver lining for employers, who should be able to use their current COBRA premiums to determine the reportable cost of health coverage — making the new burden of this requirement a little easier to bear, according […]
Postcards are designed to provide a brief message, but it will be interesting to learn if such brevity is sufficient to adequately notify an individual of COBRA continuation coverage rights — particularly when the law identifies at least 14 content requirements for COBRA election notices. In a recent court case, an employer/plan administrator faced with […]
Employers have different ways of administering COBRA continuation coverage, as evident in a recent news article about a local candidate’s problem when he was found to owe a city government money after it paid some of his COBRA premiums. The Post-Standard reported Oct. 27 how Timothy Lattimore (R), former mayor of Auburn, N.Y. , elected […]
Trade legislation that also extends premium subsidies for health coverage under the Health Care Tax Credit (HCTC) program was signed into law by President Obama Oct. 21. The HCTC was enacted as part of the Trade Act of 2002. As originally enacted, it provided a 65-percent tax credit for qualifying health coverage (including COBRA continuation […]
Length of COBRA coverage varies according to the type of qualifying event. The following events qualify an individual for COBRA continuation coverage if the event causes loss of coverage for a qualified beneficiary: Termination or reduction of hours of a covered employee other than because of the employee’s gross misconduct Death of a covered employee […]
Gross Misconduct Means No COBRA, But … Termination for gross misconduct is not a qualifying event under COBRA, so COBRA continuation coverage does not have to be offered to an employee and his or her spouse and dependent children if the employee was terminated for gross misconduct. Unfortunately, the term “gross misconduct” is not defined […]
Wudyka, who is founder and managing principal of Westminster Associates, a Wrentham, MA based, full-service HR and compensation consultancy, forecast the following trends at a recent webinar sponsored by BLR. 1. Fewer Salary Freezes The number of employers freezing salaries continues to decline: 32 percent froze salaries in 2009. 12 percent did so in 2010. […]