During open enrollment, employees usually familiarize themselves with their coverage. But just a few months later, much is forgotten.

 
An effective communications plan can help employees avoid these five common health insurance mistakes.

Missed our post? Read it here.

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Laurie Rood has been invited to join a panel of industry experts discussing what programs and practices are having the biggest impact in our industry. If you will be in Sacramento Thursday, August 24 we encourage you to attend this informative event, hosted by the Sacramento Business Journal. Details can be found here. 

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Cyber attacks and resulting data breaches often begin with a spear-phishing email. Spear phishing differs from regular email phishing in its use of extensive research to target a specific audience, which allows the spear phisher to pose as a familiar and trusted entity in its email to a mark. Spear phishers seek a company's valuable information such as credentials providing access to customer lists, trade secrets, and confidential employee information. Some of their methods include:

• Directing email recipients to fake but authentic-looking websites that ask for information like account numbers, passwords, or other credentials; and
• Inducing recipients to click on links or attachments that download malware onto the recipient's computer. The malware often allows the phisher to steal passwords and sensitive data by, for example, tracking keystrokes.

The IRS offers the following tips to protect against spear phishing:

1. Educate all employees about phishing in general and spear phishing in particular.
2. Use strong, unique passwords with a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters. Also, remember to use different passwords for each account.
3. Never take an email from a familiar source at face value, especially if it asks you to open a link or attachment, or includes a threat about a dire consequence that will result if you fail to take action.
4. If an email contains a link, hover your cursor over the link to see the web address (URL) destination. If it's not a URL you recognize, or if it's an abbreviated URL, don't open it.
5. Poor grammar and odd wording are warning signs of a spear-phishing email.
6. Consider calling the sender to confirm the authenticity of an email you're unsure of, but don't use the phone number in the email.
7. Use security software that updates automatically to help defend against malware, viruses, and known phishing sites.

Article reprinted with permission from HR360.com 

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Employers must begin using the form, with a revision date of July 17, 2017 by September 18, 2017. All U.S. employers must complete a Form I-9 for each person they hire for employment, including citizens and non-citizens. 

The new Form I-9 can be downloaded here.

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to release premiums and costs for Medicare drug plans for the 2018 calendar year in mid-September, in advance of the Medicare open enrollment period. As a reminder, the Medicare open enrollment period will run from October 15, 2017 through December 7, 2017.

Click here to read the CMS announcement.

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In 2015, California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) received 4,822 sexual harassment claims. 

In 2016 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 6,758 charges alleging sexual harassment. 

While California law mandates that employers with 50 or more employees must provide sexual harassment prevention training, these staggering figures indicate  all employers should consider training for supervisors.  

There is still time to register for one of HR Done Right's upcoming harassment prevention training classes. 

Click here for registration details.

Our office will be closed Friday, August 11, 2017, as we recognize the hard work of our employees at our annual Team BDR Appreciation Day. 

We will process and respond to all email, faxes and voicemails promptly when normal business hours resume at 7:30 AM on Monday, August 14, 2017.

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