2025 W-2 Forms are now available in your GMS Connect employee portal here.

Request a call Login

  • One of the largest contributors to mental health problems in the workplace is stress. Not only are mental health issues difficult to recognize, we also cannot assume an employee’s stresses from everyday life are checked at the door when they arrive at work every morning.

    Everyday life stresses coupled with the pressures that work brings could be detrimental to both the employee and the business. This can have serious impact on an employee’s overall health and employers must take the appropriate steps to protect both the employees and the business.

    Image of a stressed out employee.

    Stress in the Workplace

    This begs the question, how can stressed out employees affect a business? Several factors combine to impact the business negatively:

    • Poor performance
    • Increased human error
    • Mental lapses
    • Lack of motivation
    • Workplace accidents

    These factors combined could determine the employee’s likelihood to quit or could end up being the reason for their termination. The resulting increase in turnover costs a businesses, and even the economy, a lot of money. 

    Workplace stress, according to Dr. David Posen, “is costing the American economy hundreds of billions of dollars each year in lost productivity and health care expenses.” Beyond the workplace effects, the stress and mental health issues could have serious physical implications on the individual, including: 

    • Heart disease
    • Headaches
    • Depression
    • Anxiety
    • Medication abuse

    What Employers Can Do About Stress

    There are numerous steps employers can take to prevent mental issues from entering the workplace. This process can start with proper management training to promote:

    • Effective communication
    • The setting of achievable goals
    • Adequate lifetime training for employees
    • Teamwork/team first workplace 

    On top of these steps, many companies offer Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) to help make sure their stress is appropriately managed. It’s important to set expectations with each employee and keep these expectations realistic and reasonable to help employees manage their workload and stress levels. Coupled with heavy workloads and daily stresses from everyday life, it is imperative to offer your employees paid time off (PTO) and encourage them to take full advantage of it to help them minimize their stress and maximize their workplace efforts. Lastly, employers can offer their employees a corporate wellness program to help promote the overall physical, mental, and emotional health of their workforce. 

    Partner with a PEO to Limit Workplace Stress

    Workplace stress management is a lot to keep up with, especially while you’re trying to simultaneously run a successful business. 

    A PEO can help your employees stay happy, healthy, and productive while you make sure business is operating smoothly and successfully. GMS offers one-on-one management training to help you with employees’ stress, difficult situations that arise, and several other areas of concern. GMS also partners with a company called ESPYR to provide a completely customizable Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to help promote overall company wellness. Customizable GMS EAP services can include:

    • Legal consultation provided by attorneys
    • Financial consultation 
    • Prenatal program
    • Child care information and referrals 
    • Elder care services
    • Adoption specialists
    • Academic resources 
    • Pet care services 
    • Life event services 
      • Such as birth, death, marriage, divorce, natural disasters, end of life services
    • Special needs services and referrals

    The EAP offered through GMS also provides:

    • Up to four sessions per problem for face-to-face counseling and referral for a full range of personal, family, and work concerns
    • Telephonic and video access to counseling 
    • 24/7 toll-free telephone access to mental health professionals 
    • Multilingual counselors and staff and multilingual interpreter services available in 140 languages

    GMS recognizes that a business’ most important assets are its employees. If business owners can take the appropriate steps to promote the well-being of their employees, it can only help to maximize the company’s potential. Contact GMS today to talk to one of our experts about taking the next step toward managing workplace stress.

  • It can be very difficult for small business owners to compete with big companies when it comes to 401(k) plans. Due to their size, large corporations can use economy of scale to their advantage and offer attractive retirement plans that are more affordable due to the size of their employee base. 

    Small business owners don’t have hundreds of employees to their name, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t have access to economies of scale through other resources. 

    How a PEO Can Provide New 401(k) Advantages

    Small business owners are typically subjected to a lot of costs when they manage their own 401(k) plan, which can scare off some employers. The Pew Charitable Trusts conducted a survey with small- and medium-sized businesses that don’t offer a 401(k) to employees and found that 71 percent of these business claimed that the associated expenses played a role in their decision to forgo a retirement plan. 

    Without some help, those costs can quickly add up over time. There can be a lot of set-up fees and other miscellaneous charges to maintain plan documents. Most employers are also not experts of retirement planning, so they also need to hire a Third-Party Administrator to handle their 401(k) plan for them.

    Small businesses aren’t going to match the output of a big corporation. With a Professional Employer Organization like Group Management Services, they don’t have to. Since GMS represents over 1,000 different companies, we can provide companies with the same types of benefits that the large corporations get due to economy of scale. 

    Our Multiple Employer Plan creates a level of buying power that a lot of small businesses never get to have. That power can lead to a more diverse investment menu than they might be able to get on a single employer plan, as well as additional perks. We also handle 401(k) Plan administration in house with the aid of Transamerica, which allows us to cut down on the costs that employers would typically pay a Third-Party Administrator.

    The Multiple Employer Plan also relieves employers of many of the responsibilities attached to providing substantial fiduciary support for their plan. That includes the following:

    • Making sure that contributions get deposited in a timely fashion.
    • Selecting and monitoring the investments offered on the plan. We conduct quarterly meetings with our Financial Advisors to do our due diligence on the funds offered on our platform.
    • Making sure that plan documents are maintained and keeping our clients compliant.
    • Filing one 5500 to the DOL with our clients listed.
    • Offering access to a dedicated financial adviser and educational material. 

    Retirement Guide

    Use Economy of Scale to Your Business’ Advantage

    Economy of scale can help your business save big while providing a retirement plan your employees want. Contact us today to talk to one of our experts about our 401(k) plans for small businesses.

  • There are growing signs that the economy is improving. Perhaps the most notable marker is that more people are starting to come back to the workforce. The unemployment rate is continuing a downward trend, meaning that more employers are starting to hire again.

    Of course, finding good employees is important to a company’s growth, but keeping their best employees is vital to an employer’s productivity. Keeping your best employees ensures a smoother transition for newer employees and keeps the job environment stable with their most seasoned employees.

    Of course, with a growing job market, sometimes a company’s best employees begin looking at this as an opportunity to “test the waters” of their own value and see if there are better options. How does a small business owner retain good employees while attracting qualified candidates? By offering benefits.

    What Workers Want

    There are many benefits out there and employees put different values on each one. Which benefits should you offer? According to a Gallup poll in a recent post at Employee Benefits News, these are the 11 you should consider:

    1. Full-time flexible working locations (35%)
    2. Part-time flexible working locations (37%)
    3. Profit Sharing (40%)
    4. Paid leave for sick/medical/personal days (48%)
    5. Non-health insurance benefits like vision, dental, etc. (48%)
    6. Retirement plan/401(k) with employer matches (50%)
    7. Flex-time (51%)
    8. Retirement plan with defined benefits (51%)
    9. Paid vacation (53%)
    10. Monetary bonuses (54%)
    11. Health Insurance (61%)

    Of course, cost factors into this and not everyone can offer everything, so it becomes crucial for an employer to know which ones to offer. An employee survey can help set a course.

    Finding a trusted partner to help you set up a benefits plan and get them to you at an affordable cost becomes another issue. A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) like GMS can help create employee benefits policies and offer big company benefits at big company rates to help small business owners compete with larger companies for those great employees. Contact us today to talk with one of our benefits experts about your benefits package.

  • Administrative professionals can be the gears that keep your business machine moving forward. Administrative Professionals Day is April 26, so we’d like to highlight a few high-profile assistants, secretaries, and other notable administrative workers throughout history.

    Image of Rosa Parks, civil right activist, secretary, and receptionist.

    Rosa Parks

    Odds are that you know Rosa Parks as the famous civil rights activist who refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Ala. back in 1955. During that time, she also served as the secretary for her local chapter of the NAACP. She continued to play an active role in the civil rights movement and moved to Detroit, where she was hired as the secretary and receptionist for U.S. Representative John Conyers, a position she held from 1965 to 1988.

    Erin Brockovich

    Before Erin Brockovich was the focus of an Academy Award-winning film featuring Julia Roberts, she was a legal secretary. Her most well-known work involved allegations that the Pacific Gas & Electric Company contaminated drinking water in a small California town. Her work helped lead to a $333 million settlement, the largest direct-action lawsuit settlement in the U.S. when the case concluded in 1996.

    Ursula Burns

    While Burns is known as the first female African-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company, she initially started out as a personal assistant at Xerox. Burns had held a few positions at other companies before she was offered a position in 1990 as the personal assistant for Wayland Hicks, Xerox’s then president of marketing and customer operations. 

    Burns worked her way up in the company and was named CEO in 2009. She held the position until the end of 2016 and now serves as Chairwoman for the company.

    Thomas A. Watson

    Phones are a huge part of businesses around the world. One assistant helped make the telephone a reality. Thomas A. Watson served as Alexander Graham Bell assistant and was the very first person to receive a message by phone. After moving on from his assistant’s position for Bell, Watson worked as a farmer and a traveling Shakespearean actor before founding one of the largest shipyards in early 1900’s America.

    Rewarding Administrative Professionals

    While there have been many notable administrative professionals, the most important to your company  is  the one you have working at your office. There are plenty of things that you can do to reward your administrative employees, both for Administrative Professionals Day any other day of the year, but one of the best is by offering a benefits package that can truly reflect just how valuable they are to your company. 

    Contact us today to talk with one of our experts about how partnering with a PEO can help you retain your employees and save money through our benefits administration services.

  • Small business owners weigh many factors when deciding whether to invest in a group health insurance plan, but oftentimes the decision comes down to dollars and cents. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey notes that the high costs of insurance premiums are the primary reason why firms won’t offer health benefits. Even for business owners who do offer plans, rising insurance premiums can create a lot of stress and confusion, especially if the owner doesn’t know how these premiums are calculated and how they can manage them.

    Employers can have many questions for group health providers, and that includes exactly how much they can expect to spend. Here’s a rundown on what the insurance industry uses to calculate your group health insurance coverage premium, as well as some strategies that can lead to lower costs.

    Image of group health insurance plan premiums for small business owners.

    How are Group Health Insurance Premiums Calculated?

    According to the KFF 2016 survey, the average family coverage premium is $18,412 per year and single coverage is $6,435 per year. Of course, every business is different, so your premium may end up being higher or lower depending on a variety of factors that are used to calculate the costs for your plan. These factors include the following.

    Size and Health of the Group

    The total number of people on your group plan can impact how much you pay. This number includes not only your employees who opt in to your plan, but also any family members who also opt in to your plan through an employee. A larger group of people can help lower your premium by spreading the associated health risks of a few people over an entire group.

    However, the overall health of a group does affect your premium. While the Affordable Care Act doesn’t allow insurers to change premiums or deny insurance based on an individual’s pre-existing conditions and overall health status, the American Academy of Actuaries notes that the overall health of the group can play a role in determining premiums.

    “If a risk pool disproportionately attracts those with higher expected claims, premiums will be higher on average,” the Academy writes. This factor can work in your business’ favor, as the Academy also notes that “If a risk pool disproportionately avoids those with higher expected claims or can offset the costs of those with higher claims by enrolling a large share of lower-cost individuals, premiums will be lower.”

    Average Age of the Group

    While the ACA no longer permits insurers to use certain factors like gender to alter premiums, it still allows insurers to consider age in premium determinations. According to independent actuarial and consulting firm Milliman, “rating by age is still allowed under the law as long as the ratio of the highest-cost adult age band to the lowest-cost adult age band does not exceed 3:1.” In a group plan, this means the average age of your group can play a part in what you pay.

    An Employer’s Claims History

    All those visits to the doctor can add up. Insurance providers use the number of total claims and how expensive those claims are to determine adjustments to your premiums over time. When it’s time to renew your policy, an insurer will review your group’s claims history and adjust accordingly. If a few employees had some medical issues that led to frequent or costly visits, that may be reflected on your updated premium cost.

    Type of Occupation

    Different lines of work carry different levels of risk. Your insurance provider may adjust your rates depending on the general occupation of your workers. For example, clerical staff don’t face the same health risks as factory, construction, or offshore workers, so insurance premiums for a group of office workers may be less than other occupations.

    The Type of Coverage and Desired Add-on Benefits

    Not all small business health plans are the same. The level of coverage will play a big role in how much you and your employees pay. Better coverage and lower out-of-pocket costs can lead to higher premiums. Bundling extra add-ons such as dental and vision plans can also increase your premiums due to the extra coverage.

    How Can I Save on Group Health Premiums?

    Health insurance premiums can be expensive for a small business owner, but you don’t necessarily have to resign yourself to what your company is being charged. There are potential strategies that you can use to help you lower your costs and improve the health of your employees.

    Workplace Wellness Program

    Since the number of claims has a direct impact on your premiums, it can pay to improve the overall health of your employees. A customized workplace wellness program can help foster healthier lifestyle choices through health education and wellness activities. This in turn can lead to fewer doctor’s visits caused by preventable diseases, leading to a healthier, more active workforce and lower overall premiums. 

    Telemedicine

    Another way to limit the number of doctor’s visits is to give your employees access to a 24/7 mobile doctor. Telemedicine services give your employees the freedom to connect with a professional physician via phone, video, or online chat. This allows them to get the answers they need without having to schedule an in-person appointment with the doctor, meaning no copay for them and no extra claim for your plan.

    Economy of Scale

    Depending on where you get your insurance from, you may be able to take advantage of economy of scale. While larger companies have more employees and greater buying power, smaller business don’t have quite the workforce to take advantage of savings associated with economy of scale. However, a Professional Employer Organization can give you the buying power to lower premium costs. 

    A PEO can leverage the collective buying power of all their group health clients, acting as one large company that can purchase plans at lower premiums as a result. This helps your business avoid costly administration fees and save without sacrificing on the quality of your group plan. 

    Partnering with a PEO also opens you up to cost-saving strategies such as wellness programs, telemedicine services, and more. If you’re interested in learning more about how a PEO can help your business save on insurance premiums and make your businesses a healthier place, contact GMS today.

  • It’s always a good idea to get more information, especially when your business is investing in something as important as health care. For an employer, that extra information is essential when finding the right group health coverage.

    Even if you have a good grasp on the basics of group health insurance, it doesn’t hurt to ask a provider a few important questions before you purchase a plan for your business. Here are some key things that you should ask a provider when you’re ready to buy group health insurance coverage.

    Five Questions Small Businesses Should Ask Group Health Providers

    What are the different plan options available to my business?

    If you choose to offer health benefits, there are several types of group plans that you can offer to your employees. These plans include:

    • Fully-insured plans
    • Self-funded plans
    • Level-funded plans
    • PPO (preferred provider organization)
    • HDHP/SO (high-deductible health plan with a savings option)
    • POS (point-of-service plan)
    • HMO (health maintenance organization)

    Each one of these types of plans offer different types of benefits. As such, some plans may be better suited for your business than others. For a breakdown on the advantages and disadvantages of each type of plan, check out our post on the different types of group health insurance.

    While many businesses offer only one type of plan, that doesn’t mean that your organization is limited to a single offering. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey, 25% of organizations offer two or more plan types in an effort to diversify and improve their overall benefits package for employees.

    What does my plan cover?

    If you’re going to purchase something, you should know what you’re getting. Make sure to ask your group health insurance provider for a detailed breakdown of what your plan covers so that you and your employees know what to expect.

    It’s also important to ask about additional benefits, such as dental and vision insurance. While some plans have add-ons for ancillary benefits, it’s not always the case. That distinction is important because nearly 90% of employees would consider a lower-paying job in exchange for better health, dental, and vision insurance. Your plan plays a pivotal role in attracting and retaining talent, so make sure your provider gives you everything you need to know about your plan coverage.

    How much will group health insurance cost me?

    According to KFF, the average annual health insurance premiums in 2021 are $7,739 for single coverage and $22,221 for family coverage. Employers contribute an average of $6,440 and $16,253 for single and family coverage respectively.

    Of course, those numbers are just the averages. Your business’ exact health insurance costs can go up or down depending on a variety of factors. The specific factors that insurance agents use to determine group health premiums include:

    • Size and health of the group
    • Average age of the group
    • An employer’s claim history
    • Type of occupation
    • Type of coverage and add-on benefits

    Who should my plan cover?

    As an employer, you do need to abide by some ground rules in terms of who is eligible for group health insurance coverage. Any business that provides health coverage must offer it to all full-time equivalent employees. However, that does mean that employers have some wiggle room in terms of part-time employees and family members.

    Simply put, employers can either decide to offer coverage to all part-time employees or none at all. The same principle applies to family members and dependents of eligible employees. Not offering coverage to these groups can help lower your costs, but may make your plan less attractive to certain employees. As such, you’ll want to iron out these details and determine which options align best with your business’ needs when buying group health insurance.

    Who can help me if I have any questions or problems?

    You shouldn’t feel like you’re stranded on an island when you have questions about health insurance. A good health insurance provider should have a team in place that can assist you with any potential questions and issues in the future.

    Ask each provider about their customer service to find out who your contacts will be and how their process works. If they don’t give you many details about who can help you, that’s a red flag that they may not have your back in the future.

    Group Health Insurance Coverage From A PEO

    It can be a tricky to find an attractive group health plan that won’t break the bank. Fortunately, a Professional Employer Organization may be able to help you find the best of both worlds.

    At GMS, we can help you choose a group health insurance plan that’s right for you and your employees. Thanks to a higher collective buying power and other cost-prevention strategies, GMS can help you lower your premiums and help you save. We also have the experts to help you make informed decisions about benefits management and oversee plan administration so that you have time to focus on the rest of your business.

    Ready to invest in quality group health insurance at a lower cost? Contact us today to talk to one of our experts about what we can do for your business.

  • Managing health insurance for a small business can get complex in a hurry, especially if you’ve never dealt with group plans before. When it comes to small business health plans, you’ll quickly find that not all health insurance plans work the same way.

    Instead of getting overwhelmed, it’s a good idea to step back, take a breath, and start with the basics. Let’s go over what you should know about small company health insurance before you start offering plans to your employees.

    Image of financial documents for group health insurance coverage.

    What’s the Difference Between Group Health Insurance and Other Types of Insurance Plans?

    Investopedia defines a group health insurance plan as “a plan that provides healthcare coverage to a select group of people.” As an employer, this is the type of plan that you would typically offer your employees as one of their major benefits.

    However, people can also opt for an individual health insurance policy. In this case, an individual person can purchase an individual health insurance policy that covers one person or that person’s family. However, these individual people can also opt to be covered by their employer’s group health plan instead, if it’s offered by the employer.

    Another key difference between group health insurance and individual plans is the how an insurer will determine your premium. Individual plan premiums are based on the medical history on an individual or a family. Group health insurance operates with a much larger group of people, which means that they will balance the risk factors of the entire group to determine your premium. This can help lower premiums by spreading the associated risks over the entire group.

    There’s also different types of group plans, such as fully-insured group health plans and self-insured plans, also known as self-funded plans. A fully-insured plan is the more traditional option, where the insurer sets premium rates for the year, collects those premiums, and pays for claims based on your plan. A self-insured plan allows a business to be in control of its own plan.

    Self-funding can be risky for small businesses worried about potential losses from claims, but it can help them save by eliminating the additional fees that insurance companies apply to their premiums. One way to get protect your business from potential losses is by investing in a stop-loss policy that allows you to evaluate savings and exposure. If that sounds intriguing to you, check out our post on why self-funded health insurance might be right for your business.

    Do I Have to Offer a Group Health Coverage?

    Yes and no, depending on your business. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates that Americans have health insurance and can penalize those without coverage. However, small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees aren’t necessarily required to provide health insurance to its employees. Still, it can be a good idea to do so.

    According to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 95 percent of HR professionals named health care benefits as one of the benefits most important to their employees. SHRM also cites that 29 percent of employees looking to leave their job do so because they want a better overall benefits package. Quality medical insurance for small companies can serve as a great tool to retain talented members of your team and attract other skilled workers.

    What are My Responsibilities if I Offer Group Health Insurance?

    If you do offer group health insurance to your employees, you’re going to have to follow a few rules set by the ACA. To start, if you do offer a group health insurance plan to your full-time employees, you must offer it to every single one of them. You can’t pick and choose who gets coverage and who doesn’t and you can’t deny coverage to employees with preexisting conditions. You can also choose to offer coverage to part-time employees as well. Keep in mind that your employees have the option to extend their benefits to their families as well.

    Of course, there are also financial responsibilities attached to offering health care coverage.

    Other responsibilities include:

    • Covering Essential Health Benefits in the group health insurance plan
    • Offering health insurance to new employees within 90 days of their start date
    • Providing employees with a Summary of Benefits and Coverage

    Managing Group Health Insurance for Your Business

    Even once you know the basics, it can be difficult to handle your group health insurance coverage and deal with rising premiums at the same time. A Professional Employer Organization can provide you with the expertise to offer quality insurance for your employees and the buying power and cost-prevention strategies to lower those costly premiums. Contact us today to talk to one of our small business medical insurance experts about how we can help you offer a quality healthcare plan to your employees.

  • Towards the end of July, the Republican Party made a couple of attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. When the Senate couldn’t pull together a consensus on a replacement bill, they moved forward with a straight repeal bill. Both attempts failed.

    Where does that leave a business owner who’s trying to figure what to do about healthcare? Two recent articles help shed a little light on what to expect.

    The Potential Future of Healthcare

    According to a recent Forbes article,  large employers will escape significant increases this year. They can expect something along the lines of the 5% average increases they’ve gotten the last several years. The expectation is that the 2018 renewals are where things will begin to implode.

    Unfortunately, individuals on the exchanges will see significant increases as the exchanges have been collapsing for the last few years and states are scrambling to try and prop them up for this year. Couple that with the Trump administration’s uncertainty on whether to continue subsidies, and this could lead to another issue for employers.

    If an employer is already offering healthcare, but excluding the part-time help (29 hours or less), they may see a push from those employees to be included in the group plan. Business owners will then have to decide what is best for the employees and for the business, but the situation could create some significant HR issues. Employee Benefits News lists this as one of the bigger issues arising from the uncertainty.  

    Lastly, no one is even certain how the IRS will respond to policy changes or how they will enforce them. The IRS already had issues collecting taxes on the uninsured in recent years and now have new potential hurdles.

    Prepare Your Business for Changes in Healthcare

    If your head is swimming from all of this and need help, or you’re simply looking for large group healthcare rates, consider reaching out to a Professional Employer Organization like GMS. We have a team of experts that can help you ride out these choppy waters, so contact us today to learn more about our group health coverage and other ways we can help your business.

  • Dealing with health insurance is one of the biggest challenges for a small business owner. Between the cost of insurance and the need to attract and retain talent, offering insurance is a major decision. Add in all the uncertainty that surrounds your responsibilities and health insurance can be a major headache.

    Simply put, health insurance administration is confusing. It’s understandable why employers are unsure about the health insurance requirements for small businesses – there’s a lot of information and only so much time to manage everything. This post will break down what you need to know about small business health insurance requirements and how you can keep your company compliant.

    Do Small Businesses Have To Provide Health Insurance?

    When it comes to small business health insurance requirements, this is likely the biggest question on your mind. The exact definition of a small business can differ from one organization to another. According to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), any business with 50 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees counts as a small business.

    That cutoff is significant because businesses with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees are not required to offer health coverage to their employees. However, these businesses are still required to provide a report about healthcare information to employees. This report should cover certain information about the health insurance marketplace, outlining what it is and how employees can contact the marketplace.

    A doctor going over the health insurance requirements for a small business.

    Requirements For A Small Business That Offers Health Insurance

    Despite health coverage not being mandatory, many small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employees still choose to provide workers with health insurance because quality healthcare coverage can help businesses attract and retain top talent. This decision can be very beneficial, but it does mean that small business owners will need to take on a few new responsibilities.

    Minimum employer contribution for small business healthcare

    If an employer opts to offer group health insurance, the business must pay at least half of the monthly health insurance premiums. Employers must also meet the affordability threshold for the health coverage they offer. In 2022, an employee’s monthly contribution couldn’t exceed 9.61% of their income. The IRS adjusts this rate every year and has already announced that the affordability requirement will go down to 9.12% in 2023.

    Employees eligible for coverage

    Small businesses that offer health insurance are required to offer coverage to all full-time equivalent employees. Full-time equivalence requires an average of 30 hours of service per week for a calendar month or at least 130 hours of service in a month. You can also choose to offer health coverage to your part-time employees as well, although it is not mandatory.

    An employer may not discriminate between employees when offering insurance. If you offer insurance to some full-time employees, you must offer it to every employee. You must also provide health insurance to each employee’s dependents up until they turn 26 years old. However, federal law does not require employers to offer coverage to any spouses or other domestic partners.

    90-day maximum waiting period

    When an eligible employee is hired by a business that offers health insurance, that employee must be offered health insurance within 90 days of his or her employment start date. Employers may institute a waiting period before new employees can enroll in the company’s health insurance plan. A small business owner may also decide to waive this waiting period and allow employees to enroll as soon as possible.

    Summary of benefits and coverage (SBC) disclosure

    Employers are required to provide eligible workers with an SBC form to help individuals understand their options. This form explains what an employer’s plan covers and exactly what it costs employees. This includes breakdowns of specific costs, such as deductibles and out-of-pocket costs for varying medical events. The Department of Labor provides an online SBC template and other resources for any owners who provide health coverage.

    Tax Reporting Requirements For Small Business Health Insurance

    Offering comprehensive health coverage isn’t enough to meet your requirements. There are also certain tax reporting requirements that small business owners must follow if they decide to offer group health coverage. The following requirements include:

    What It Takes To Manage Healthcare Benefits

    In addition to following special requirements when offering healthcare, small business owners also need to consider how they’ll manage this new benefit. While employers can go through the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) to offer coverage for small groups, this means you’ll have to handle policy administration and health insurance billing.

    Fortunately, you don’t have to take on employee benefits administration alone. As a professional employer organization (PEO), GMS can leverage its buying power to procure quality group health insurance coverage with lower premiums than a small business would be able to obtain on its own. GMS also gives you access to trained benefits experts who can help small businesses stay compliant with any health insurance requirements.

    Looking to invest in health insurance for your small business? Contact GMS today to talk to one of our experts about how we can help you attract and retain quality employees through benefits administration and other services.

  • The fiduciary rule has had a bumpy ride in the past few years. After initially going into partial effect in June of 2017 and targeting Jan. 1, 2018 for a full rollout, the move to have all financial professionals who work with retirement plans follow the same fiduciary ethics and standards was postponed until July 1, 2019. Now MarketWatch reports that the Fifth Circuit Court “struck down the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule” in a split decision Thursday, March 15, 2018.

    This may not be the end of the fiduciary rule, however. According to Forbes Contributor David Trainer, the fiduciary rule may still make an impact even after being struck down. Trainer writes “While the ruling could end the Fiduciary Rule as law, it cannot erase the awareness the DOL [Department of Labor] raised, nor can it stop market forces leading the business towards a more ethical place.”  

    So, what does this mean for business owners? The fiduciary rule wasn’t designed to directly impact you as an owner, but it does affect the financial advisors connected to your business. Here’s a quick rundown of how the fiduciary rule can still make an impression on financial advisors and what that may mean for your business.

    Financial advisors for a small business 401(k) plan.

    What It Does

    According to Investopedia, the fiduciary rule “expands the ‘investment advice fiduciary’ definition under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).” In simpler terms, it was designed to give financial professionals who work with retirement plans or offer retirement advice the same legal and ethical standards of a fiduciary.

    With this rule in place, retirement advisors would have more responsibility placed on them. According to Investopedia, the rule would leave “no room for advisors to conceal any potential conflict of interest,” which would include stating “all fees and commissions for retirement plans and retirement planning advice must be clearly disclosed in dollar form to clients.”

    Even though the rule has been struck down for now, it may not be dead quite yet. Trainer notes in his Forbes piece that the DOL could start on a new rule addressing the matter or request a stay in the Fifth Circuit Court’s ruling. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also “close to proposing rule requiring new disclosures on financial advice.” Even without going into effect, Trainer suggests that the fiduciary rule has raised awareness of fiduciary responsibility for owners and investors.

    What It Means for Owners

    Fiduciary responsibility can be intimidating, especially if you aren’t well versed in the legal responsibilities associated with 401(k) management and other financial decisions. The push for the fiduciary rule can help ease this burden by placing more of this responsibility on your financial advisors. However, it may lead some advisors to pull away from managing 401(k)s for businesses because it places more scrutiny on them. 

    Fortunately, there are other options that can take a lot of the fiduciary responsibility off your plate. By having a Professional Employer Organization like GMS manage your 401(k), you’re able to offload a lot of the financial risks associated with the plan. This includes financial transaction risk, as we’re responsible for making sure that money gets remitted to the financial institutions. We deduct that money out your payroll and send it directly to Transamerica, our record keeper. We’re also responsible for maintaining plan documents and making sure they stay compliant. If something happens, like an IRS restatement, we’re the ones responsible for applying it, not you.

    The exact form of the fiduciary rule may change, but financial responsibility can always be problematic for an owner. Contact GMS today to talk to one of our experts about how we can help your business manage its 401(k) plans so that we can take on that responsibility for you.