The idea of employees having an unlimited amount of paid time off (PTO) is a more complicated proposition than it sounds. There’s already a great article on our site that discusses the pros and cons of unlimited PTO plans, and this particular article focuses specifically on the suitability of unlimited PTO plans for certain organizations and types of workers.

I had the opportunity to attend NOVA SHRM’s 2016 Legal Academy and gained a wealth of information about current and potential future legislation and how it impacts businesses in the DC metro area. One of the speakers was Martin S. Ebel,the Director of Field Management Programs at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Mr. Ebel provided us with metrics, dived into the claims process at the EEOC, and discussed the areas of focus in the 2016 Strategic Enforcement Plan for the EEOC.

Don't Forget to Provide Forms 1095-B & 1095-C by March 31st! Applicable large employers (ALEs) with 50 or more full-time employees including equivalents (FTEs) in 2014 must comply with Section 6056 reporting. ALEs must complete and distribute a Form 1095-C to full-time employees by March 31, 2016. The forms may be mailed, electronically delivered or delivered by hand. If electronically delivered, the employee must affirmatively consent to this form of delivery. If hand delivered, best practice is to receive the employee’s signature of receipt.

All joking aside, there are lots of reasons why our clients call us to help them conduct an employee survey: they want to know why turnover is so high; they want to know the satisfaction levels of employees with regards to their jobs and benefits offered; they want to know what training they should be offering; and many call us because they are looking to improve what they believe is already a great culture with high employee engagement. Regardless of the reason, they all have one thing in common: they chose to use a third party to conduct the survey.

It’s Wednesday morning and we have heard from three clients this week alone who have been victims of a W-2 Phishing Scam. Unfortunately, in these situations, here at Helios, we were contacted to help with the aftermath. We would much prefer to be a part of the proactive solution. Here is more information about this particular scam and what you can do to protect yourself and your company.

We are hearing about changes to the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, which has been protecting patient and employee’s health information since it was passed in 1996. Mostly these changes are affecting health-related organizations. Now the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is moving forward in modifying the regulations to allow certain covered entities to disclose to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) the identities of those individuals who, due to specific mental health reasons are prohibited by Federal law from having a firearm.