10 Crucial Skills for Supervisors to Hone
Editor's note: This article was originally published in February 2016 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Read this article...Editor's note: This article was originally published in February 2016 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Read this article...Organizational change often takes place for the overall betterment of the organization but that doesn’t mean it comes without challenges. Change can be perceived negatively so it is important to skillfully manage these transitions. Here are a few tips for change management:
Read this article...We’ve compiled a brief compensation and benefits planning and budgeting guide to help your organization make important pay, health care, and benefits decisions this fall and into 2014. The guide summarizes the latest and most important trends we’re seeing related to administering compensation, health care, and benefits, which affect your organization as it plans for 2014.
Read this article...The end of the year is a great time to review existing documents, systems and HR administrative practices. Here is a 3 step HR guide for year-end.
Read this article...Most companies have a holiday party for their employees each year. In our 2012 ERC Holiday Practices Survey, nearly three-quarters (73%) of 186 Northeast Ohio organizations surveyed are planning a holiday party for 2012 and the majority (66%) are budgeting the same or more than in 2011.
Read this article...Planning and organizing employee training for an entire year can be a challenge. That's why we're providing you with a simple worksheet to help you chart and organize the types of training classes that will be offered in a given year, the individuals who will attend those classes, their perceived skill level, and the timing of when they will attend training throughout the year.
Here are some simple instructions:
Need quotes for particular training programs? Contact Chris Kutsko at (440)947-1286 or ckutsko@yourerc.com. You can also view ERC's full catalog of employee training courses online.
The Department of Labor's final rules under the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) start became effective July of 2012. These rules are intended to enhance the transparency of fees and other compensation with service providers. They will help employers and their employees better understand how much their retirement plan truly costs and the value/level of service they are receiving from their vendor/service provider.
Many employers are unaware of their responsibilities as ERISA fiduciaries. Most are neither trained nor skilled to interpret vendor reports, monitor service levels or fees, and ask the probing questions necessary to fulfill their fiduciary duties. Employers may need to retain professional advisors to implement a strategy of compliance and procedural prudence to manage their plans.
Dave Kulchar, Executive Vice President and Director of Retirement Plan Services at Oswald Financial, Inc. explains that there are two phases in the implementation of these rules. He says, "Phase one requires service providers to disclose all costs to plan sponsors beginning on July 1st. Phase two requires plan sponsors to deliver this information to plan participants, effective August 1st."
The new requirements often are explained in a complex manner that are difficult for organizations to understand so we've simplified them to summarize 4 of the most critical action steps you need to take to comply with these new requirements.
Employers must make sure that they have received all of the required disclosure information from their covered service providers (auditors, record keepers, custodians, actuaries, advisors etc.). If the required information is not received by July 1, 2012, then the employer has an obligation to request the information in writing. Without the required information in hand, any fees paid to those service providers may be considered prohibited transactions under ERISA and employers can be held liable for civil penalties or excise taxes.
The new rules of 2012 require covered service providers of ERISA-covered defined benefit and defined contribution plans to provide employers with the information necessary for them to evaluate whether fees paid to service providers are reasonable when compared to those paid by other similar plans and determine if any conflicts of interest may impact a service provider's performance under a service arrangement. Information that must be disclosed includes:
This information will be necessary to evaluate and benchmark their fees against other service providers in the market to determine whether they are reasonable or not, and to understand if the fees are in line with those paid by similar plans. Organizations will need to make sure that they aren't paying unreasonably high fees for their retirement plan's services and document their analysis and review.
Why is benchmarking necessary? As plan fiduciaries, employers must evaluate their providers regularly in terms of their cost and competence to avoid liability, even if they are satisfied with their provider and aren't considering a change. In addition, employers should be wary of simply choosing the least costly service providers and evaluate their competence and level of service to protect themselves from potential liability.
Effective August 1, 2012, employers need to communicate and report these disclosed fees to employees participating in the retirement plan. Under these rules, employers are also required to provide ongoing disclosure to plan participants on quarterly statements going forward. It is important to note that this communication is the responsibility of plan sponsors - not plan service providers.
These disclosures must include an explanation of fees and expenses charged or deducted from participants' accounts as well as general information about the plan's structure and operation. "In some cases, employers will need to combine all of the information disclosed by various service providers and vendors in order to communicate it to employees," Kulchar explains.
In terms of how fees should be communicated, Kulchar advises, "Employers must communicate disclosed fees on paper unless they meet the necessary qualifications to disclose them online, which in many situations may be difficult to meet. Also, there is no set format and communications can look different, but fees must be expressed in a flat dollar figure and percentage."
Employers need to anticipate and answer employee questions about the reports that they distribute on fees. They should be prepared for employees to request assistance in understanding the information being disclosed to them about the fees. Employers should also expect that employees will inquire about why they hired particular service providers and be in a position to justify and explain the fees and expenses that must be disclosed on a comprehensive basis for the first time. They may even consider providing a list of FAQs to employees when this information is disclosed.
"Currently, 72% of employees don't think they are paying anything for their retirement plan. As a result, employers should be prepared to receive and answer questions like 'Is this new?,' 'How long have we being paying this?,' 'Is this competitive?,' 'What's being charged?,' and 'Is this reasonable?,'" says Kulchar.
Although the 2012 legislation changes on retirement plans create new duties and responsibilities for employers, they provide an opportunity for employers to better understand the true costs of their plans and fees paid to providers and help employees better understand their plans as well.
Please note that by providing you with research information that may be contained in this article, ERC is not providing a qualified legal opinion. As such, research information that ERC provides to its members should not be relied upon or considered a substitute for legal advice. The information that we provide is for general employer use and not necessarily for individual application.
ERC members save thousands on various retirement plan services offered through Preferred Partner, Oswald Financial. These services include waived fees on comprehensive retirement plan reviews and plan design consulting, discounts on Oswald's financial paperless 401(K).
We've compiled a checklist of common year-end HR tasks spanning compliance, benefits, payroll, salary administration, and general HR planning to prepare for 2012.
HR Project Assistance
For assistance conducting HR and FLSA audits, revising and auditing job descriptions, workforce planning, employee engagement surveys, and a variety of other HR projects, please contact consulting@yourerc.com.
Benefit Plan Audit
Do you have 100 or more employees enrolled in your defined contribution plan(s)? Your plan is required to be audited, and must accompany your 5500 filing. Now is the time to save! ERC members receive a No-Cost 2011 Benefit Plan Audit, and can lock in your 2010 rate for the next five years, through our exclusive partnership with Skoda Minotti. Click here for details!
Employee Handbook Service
As you revise your policies and procedures, keep in mind that ERC and Employer Risk Solutions Company (ERSco) offer a unique and innovative service exclusive to ERC members that provides an employee handbook for private employers that is easy, legally compliant, customized and affordable. For more information about this service, click here.
Training
Schedule your employees for training sooner than later! For a list of training topics offered by ERC, which can be customized to your organization's needs, click here. Or, to register your employee(s) or yourself for an upcoming public training event in 2012 offered in our Workplace Center, click here.
As a business leader, you foot the bill for training, but how do you know you’re getting your money’s worth? You can, and should, rely on your in-house trainers and external suppliers to provide quality, meaningful training. But as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water…
The good news is…you, as a business leader, are in the ideal position to increase the likelihood that the skills learned in class will transfer to the job. In fact, research suggests 2 of the 3 most important roles related to training are #1 – Manager Before and #3 – Manager After. In other words, what the manager does before and after training contributes most to whether or not the training is ‘transferred’ (a.k.a. applied).
Here are five pretty painless ways to make that happen…
Leaders are like the media…they ‘tell’ us what to pay attention to and talk about. Take advantage of your role; try out these five easy steps. You will be amazed at how much more value you will get out of your training investment. And, who knows, you may even find a new technique that produces returns for you, too!