News from Ollis/Akers/Arney Human Resources Consulting

How the End of the COVID-19 Emergency Period Will Impact Health Plans

The Biden Administration has announced its plan to end the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023. Employer-sponsored health plans have been required to comply with certain coverage requirements during the COVID-19 emergency periods, including the following:

Health plans must cover COVID-19 diagnostic tests and related services without imposing any cost sharing (such as deductibles, copayments or coinsurance) during the PHE; and
Non-grandfathered health plans must cover certain preventive services, including recommended COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, without cost sharing. During the PHE, this coverage mandate applies to COVID-19 immunizations provided by all providers, regardless of whether they are in-network or out-of-network.

In addition, during the COVID-19 outbreak period (which is tied to the national emergency), certain health plan deadlines are extended, including the deadlines to request special enrollment under HIPAA, elect COBRA continuation coverage and comply with the plan’s claims and appeals procedures.

Impact on Health Plans

When the PHE ends, health plans will no longer be required to cover COVID-19 diagnostic tests and related services without cost sharing. Health plans will still be required to cover recommended preventive services, including COVID-19 immunizations, without cost sharing, but this coverage requirement will be limited to in-network providers. In addition, once the COVID-19 outbreak period ends, health plans can go back to their non-extended deadlines for purposes of HIPAA special enrollment, COBRA continuation coverage, and claims and appeals procedures.

Read more HERE

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2023 HR Calendar

Monthly Reminders

HR teams often must prioritize certain activities, such as ensuring organizational compliance,

overseeing training and development, and developing compensation and benefits strategies,

making it difficult to actively focus on other workplace initiatives and improvements. However,

HR professionals don’t need to tackle all these tasks at the same time. By taking a step back and

establishing priorities, HR teams can strategically approach this year’s activities.

See Calendar HERE

Proposed Overtime Rule - Now in May 2023

While the agency has not yet specified the proposed changes to the rule it may be considering, the proposed overtime rule is expected to address how to implement the exemption of executive, administrative and professional employees from the FairLabor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime requirements, according to its regulatory agenda. The DOL has heldseveral calls with industry stakeholders and recently conducted multiple regional listening sessions to gather information.

Read the Article HERE

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Supporting Mental Health During a Recession

A recession is a significant and widespread downturn in economic activity. Recessions can cause job layoffs and increases in unemployment overall. The uncertainty that a recession brings with it can have adverse effects on employees and, consequently, organizations.

Employee mental health not only impacts the individual but can also have significant impacts on the workplace. It’s not common for employees to share about their mental health, especially if they’re struggling. Poor mental health in employees can result in the following workplace consequences:

• Increased absence

• Reduced productivity

• Regular workplace tension and conflict

These consequences coinciding with a potential reduction in the workforce due to a recession could be catastrophic for an organization. Therefore, it’s vital for employers to provide support to employees during a recession.

Talent Acquisition Strategy

Temporary-to-permanent hiring, also known as temp-to-hire or temp-to-perm hiring, can be a successful talent acquisition strategy for employers, especially when they’re experiencing labor difficulties. It allows employers to hire workers on a temporary basis without committing to permanent employment, thus reducing the risk of poor hiring decisions. However, implementing temp-to-perm programs differs from standard hiring practices, which presents unexpected challenges for employers.

What Is Temp-to-Perm Hiring?

Temp-to-perm hiring allows organizations to hire workers on a temporary basis, generally for a predetermined amount of time, and provide them with a trial employment period before hiring them for a permanent full-time position. Organizations typically inform these workers at the start of their employment that there’s an opportunity to be hired permanently after completing the trial period, but there’s often no guarantee of this once they complete the trial period. At the end of the trial period, employers can decide whether to offer workers permanent, full-time employment.

Temp-to-perm hiring differs from temporary employment in that temporary employment generally lasts a predetermined amount of time, but there’s no intended opportunity for permanent employment. It’s common for organizations to rely on temp, contract or staffing agencies to act as an intermediary when relying on temp-to-perm hiring.

Read the full article HERE

4 Attraction and Retention Trends to Monitor in 2023

The labor market was a roller coaster in 2022 and will undoubtedly continue to evolve this year. It remains to be seen how the employment market will level out. Still, it’s a safe bet that employers will be challenged as they compete for top talent. Labor metrics indicate that even though the market has slightly improved from last year, it’s still a tight labor market as numbers remain historically high. While most employers project an increase in salaries in 2023, many will look beyond pay alone to help attract and retain more employees.

While some companies have been taking monetary actions (e.g., compensation and benefits packages) to address attraction and retention challenges, many organizations also are looking at ways to optimize their offerings and enhance employee experience. As they compete for talent, many may take a total rewards approach to fulfill employees’ workplace desires. This article explores four attraction and retention trends to watch in 2023.

Read More Here

Curbing Productivity Paranoia

Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers have embraced remote and hybrid work models, with many deciding to forego returning to fully in-person work arrangements even as lockdown orders lifted and offices reopened. This suggests that employees have been able to remain productive in remote and hybrid environments. However, after more than two years of employees working in remote and hybrid environments, many managers are still not convinced employees are productive outside of the office. This emerging trend is known as “productivity paranoia,” and recent evidence suggests it’s difficult for employers to shake.

Productivity paranoia is causing a workplace trust deficit. Many employers pivoted to hybrid and remote work models out of necessity but have continued permitting these arrangements as a concession to employees rather than by choice. In many cases, this has caused a trust breakdown between employers and employees.