On Wednesday, March 1, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a 60-day delay of the applicability date (currently April 10) of the Fiduciary Rule, which would also include a delay to the Prohibited Transaction Exemptions, specifically the Best Interest Contract Exemption. The DOL has listed two comment periods: a 15-day comment period on the proposed 60-day delay and a 45-day comment period applicable to the concerns expressed in the Feb.3 Presidential Memorandum directing the DOL to review the rule.

The Trillion Dollar Jackpot Lurking in HR Companies, large and small alike, are always trying to find ways to increase bottom line results and return profits to the organization, shareholders and employee base to signal healthy business operations and strong leadership. I cannot name one client of mine who is not laser focused on some form of growth or revenue strategy to either sustain or grow their footprint within a given region or industry. In fact, most of my compensation related engagements center on the design and implementation of incentive plans to motivate employees to either capture more revenue or enhance business operations in an effort to optimize business and financial results. In most cases organizations achieve better business results by expanding product offerings, cutting expenses or deepening its expertise in a particular area. I can vouch that the aforementioned measures usually do result in improved fiscal and operational results; however there is one place many decisions makers are overlooking to unlock financial gains and operational efficiencies…..you guessed it, Human Resources.

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.

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.

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.

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors On Wednesday, February 24, 2016 the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced the release of Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement Executive Order (EO) 13706 Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors. Executive Order 13706 was signed by President Obama on Labor Day of 2015 and requires federal government contractors and subcontractors to provide up to seven days of paid sick leave a year to exempt and non-exempt employees working on government contracts.