 13724 Venetian Court, Orland Park, Illinois 60467Office 708-301-6425 Fax: 708-301-6455
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Providing Human Resources Consulting for Small to Mid-Size Organizations | |
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Greetings!
Slowly but surely, our re-branding initiaitve continues. I am pleased to announce that we have now launched the RGL Consultants website. Although refinements and enhancements are yet to come, I hope you will visit this site ( www.rglconsultants.com ) and then give me your feedback, and, of course, any suggestions you may wish to offer. One feature, in particular, that I want to call out to you is the ability to access all of the past issues of our newsletter directly from the website for your ease of reference.
Dave, Jim and I hope you will visit this site peridically (if not regularly) as we continue our development efforts.
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Are Your Job Descriptions Up to the Task ?
Job descriptions are a key component in a successful business operation of most any size, from hiring to employee performance managment. It is surprising how many organizations do not have job descriptions for each job within the company or if they do have them, they are out-dated, inconsistent in content and style or lack appropriate legal considerations. Accurate and up-to-date job descriptions provide significant elements of value to both employer and employee such as:
- They create a foundation for recruiting qualified individuals.
- They are used as a basis for determining whether a position is exempt or non-exempt under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage-and-hour laws.
- They provide a consistent standard against which candidates can be compared to each other during the selection process (whether a new hire or if promoting from within).
- They are used as an evaluation tool comparing performance to expectations.
- They assist employers to establish fair compensation ranges for various jobs.
- They can provide powerful ammunication in defense against potential discrimination claims by identifying essential job functions.
The existence of well crafted up-to-date job descriptions is critical when determining employment status (See May Pipeline "Fair Labor Standards Act - Exempt or Non-Exempt"). Equally important is the impact of the American's With Disabilities Act (ADA) regarding the content of the job description. The ADA does not require employers to develop or maintain job descriptions, however, a written job description that clearly identifes the essential functions of each position can be considered as strong evidence in any ADA dispute along with other relevant factors. An employer that uses job descriptions should be certain they are regularly reviewed to ensure they accurately reflect the actual functions of a job.
A job description will be most helpful if it focuses on the results or outcome of a job function, not solely on the way it customarily is performed. A reasonable accommodation may enable a person with a disability to accomplish a job function in a manner that is different from the way an employee who is not disabled may accomplish the same function.
Take the time to review your job descriptions to ensure they reflect the actual job being performed, are consistent, thorough and contain the necessary components to protect both employee and employer.
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 Health Care Coverage Available for Dependant Adult Children
The Affordable Care Act requires plans and issuers that offer coverage to children on their parents' plan to make the coverage available until the adult child reaches the age of 26. This is effective for plan or policy years beginning on or after September 23, 2010. The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury have issued regulations implementing the Affordable Care Act.
The new regulation complements guidance issued by the Treasury Department on April 27, 2010, on the tax benefits provided for such coverage through the Affordable Care Act. Under a new tax provision in the Affordable Care Act and the Treasury guidance, the value of any employer-provided health coverage for an employee's child is excluded from the employee's income through the end of the taxable year in which the child turns 26. This tax benefit applies regardless of whether the plan is required by law to extend health care coverage to the adult child or the plan voluntarily extends the coverage. These tax benefits are effective March 30, 2010.
Both the employer and employee share of health premiums are excluded from income. In addition to the exclusion from income of any employer contribution towards qualifying adult child coverage, employees can receive the same tax benefit if they contribute toward the cost of coverage through a "cafeteria plan." This benefit is available immediately, even if the cafeteria plan document has not yet been amended to reflect the change. To reduce the burden on employers, they have until the end of 2010 to amend their cafeteria plan documents to incorporate this change.
Many insurers have agreed to provide coverage for college graduates in advance of the required date of September 23, 2010. The Department of Labor has printed a list of companies on its website that have agreed to early implementation in order to avoid gaps in coverage for adult children (Prospera, 2010).
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We encourage you to forward this Newsletter to colleagues or others whom you feel would be interested in receiving the RGL Pipeline
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Regards,
Rich
Rich Lehr, President
RGL Consultants | |
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