Building upon amendments introduced in March of 2022, a new final rule from the US Department of Labor requires employers that operate in industries with high hazard rates to provide their injury and illness data directly to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) via electronic submission beginning on the first of January 2024. 

‍

The goal of the new submission procedure is to streamline the data collection and analysis process in order to enable regulators to identify and address emerging challenges more quickly as information becomes available.  

‍

These new requirements will apply to all companies or organizations that fall within the high-hazard industry category and have at least 100 employees. Those companies and organizations must now provide to OSHA data accounting for all of their Form 300 work-related injury logs as well as their Form 301 injury and illness reports on an annual basis. It is also now required that companies make these submissions using their legal company name in order to improve the consistency of the data and subsequent analysis.

‍

To be clear, these new requirements do not replace Form 300A summary of work-related injuries and illnesses, which must also be submitted. The new rule does not supersede any of the pre-existing Form 300A submission requirements including that companies and organizations with between 20 and 249 employees in high-hazard industries will continue with electronic submissions in line with current regulations, as will companies and organizations with 250 or more in industries currently mandated to keep OSHA updated about work-related injuries and illnesses.

‍

OSHA has made clear its intentions to publish the resulting data publicly on its website in order to provide access to the data not just to employees -including current, former, and potential - and the representatives of employees, but also data analysts and research teams as well as other stakeholders and interested parties in order to better inform their decision-making and the quality of their data-based work, which OSHA believes may further help reduce the incidence of workplace accidents and preventable health issues. 

‍

As explained by the Assistant Secretary for OSHA, the overarching aim of the new system is to better line up data-based efforts with the original purpose behind the Occupational Safety and Health Act in order to provide the general public with a more complete picture of workplace safety and the health risks involved.

‍

With better data in hand, OSHA will now be better equipped to minimize on-the-job illness and injuries via strategic intervention, outreach, and other enforcement mechanisms available to the agency when specific problems within industries or individual companies are identified. At the same time, on a macro level, the data can be utilized by health and safety professionals and organizations to continually distill insight and spot trends in support of improved workplace safety across a variety of industries. 

‍

The overall impact of the implementation should be very positive in terms of further emphasizing the necessity of timeliness and accuracy in data reporting with regard to workplace accidents and health problems. Employers will also be empowered to better proactively manage safety issues in order to prevent the occurrence of accidents and the spread of illness before they become a bigger problem, which should ultimately lead to much safer working environments across the board. 

‍

You can find this announcement here.

Independent research firm Researchscape surveyed more than one thousand US employees who have employer sponsored health care and determined that knowledge gaps are causing the vast majority to miss out on opportunities to reduce their health care expenses.

‍

Further, in the subsequent analysis of this data conducted as part of Optavise’s 2023 Healthcare Literacy Report, the authors stress the point that employers putting effort and resources into better educating employees about the benefits offerings available to them can have a meaningful impact in terms of enabling those employees to make more informed choices, which improves net outcomes to everyone’s mutual benefit. 

‍

There were several key findings in the report, including:

• Health care literacy is extremely important given the critical function that health insurance plays in the lives of employees and their families. Not only are physical and financial well-being on the line with significant implications for both employees and employers, but employees that have a greater awareness about how their choices affect their total out-of-pocket expenses tend to report higher benefit satisfaction levels, as well.
• Knowledge gaps surrounding health plan information are more significant in some industries and employee demographics than in others. Retail employees, younger employees, and employees who earn less than 55 thousand US dollars annually are more prone to lack a sufficient understanding to avoid unnecessary healthcare spending, for example.
• There was a drop in employee confidence between last year’s report and this year’s report in terms of their awareness about how their plan is supposed to work. In fact, almost half of respondents claimed they learned more about their benefits plan from friends, family, and colleagues than from formal company/benefits communications, with only slightly more than 1 in 4 respondents listing HR departments as their primary knowledge source on these matters, followed by 18% who listed insurance company reps and 15% who listed consultants and other outside subject-matter experts. 
• Fewer employees are researching and/or contacting multiple health care providers in order to compare costs, and the same is true for cost-comparing by employees when purchasing prescription drugs, both of which can lead to outsized and unnecessary health care expenditures.
• Provider network status is a significant driver of overspending on healthcare, given that only a little more than one-third of employees check the status of a provider before pursuing care. 
• Not all types of benefit-related educational formats are equal in the eyes of employees, who tend to prefer personal, face-to-face guidance from human resources staff despite the growing number of resources available online and/or through digital platforms.  Based on the survey results, about 84% of employees believe personal guidance to be helpful while 68% found online resources helpful. 

‍

Ultimately, the data makes clear that employers that are more proactive in their approach to employee health benefit education and that provide continual information, training, and guidance on these matters will create a workforce that is much better equipped to manage health issues as they inevitably encounter them, which in turn has a positive return and reduces healthcare spending overall. 

‍

You can read more about this topic here.

Pregnancy-related Accommodations Requirement Now Active

As of June 27th, 2023, new standards under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act require employers with 15 or more employees to provide more meaningful accommodations to their pregnant workers.

‍

Some of those accommodations can include (although the list is not exhaustive):

• Allowing pregnant workers more frequent and longer breaks;
• Broadening work policies that may limit food and drink consumption;
• Providing seating;
• Decreasing maximum weight loads that the employee must carry; and
• Incorporating additional flexibility into work scheduling.

‍

You can read more about the new standards here. 

‍

Minnesota Enacts Mandatory Paid Family & Medical Leave Continues Building

Minnesota has become the 12th state (including Washington DC) to enact mandated paid family and medical leave and Maine appears to be close behind. 

‍

With some exceptions, Minnesota’s policy will apply to both full-time and part-time workers experiencing issues including serious medical problems, parental leave, family emergencies, safety concerns, and other situations that meet the statutory criteria.

‍

Employees that satisfy all the requisite conditions are able to receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave for each type of leave that may apply to them, though total paid leave available under the law is capped at 20 weeks in a full benefit year per employee.

‍

Eligible employees can receive weekly payments amounting to: 

• 90% of their average weekly pay that doesn’t exceed 50% of the average weekly pay across Minnesota as a whole;
• 66% of their wages that fall between 50% and 100% of the average weekly wage in Minnesota; and
• 55% of of their wages that exceed 100% of the state’s average weekly wage.

‍

For Minnesota employers that participate in both the family and medical leave enrollments, the premium rates will be 7%, although that figure will be lower for employers that participate in only one of the programs supplemented by an approved private plan.

‍

You can read more about these developments here. 

‍

The Best Ways To Avoid ERISA Lawsuits

In order to maintain above-board benefits management and avoid ERISA complaints as well as the accompanying legal expenses, there are a number of different ideas and strategies that employers, human resources professionals, and/or plan administrators may wish to consider adopting, including:

• Holding regular training sessions with relevant staff members as legal guidelines evolve, and conducting regular audits of internal processes to ensure strict continued compliance as internal processes organically change over time in response;
• Prioritizing timeliness, transparency, and thoroughness in all plan-related communications with participants. By providing a comprehensive and detailed accounting of the features of the plan including what rights and responsibilities are maintained by plan participants, employers build trust and reduce their legal exposure via good faith disclosure;
• Investing in fiduciary liability insurance provides another additional layer of security, especially in situations where subjectivity can come into play - whether in relatively small matters such as the determining the ‘reasonableness’ of fees or with regard to more significant decisions, including assessing risk tolerance and/or potential conflicts of interest; and
• Procuring the services of a seasoned benefits advisor to help navigate the ever-changing waters of ERISA compliance combines your team’s company-specific experience and internal process familiarity, coupled with outside perspective and subject-matter expertise to help close exposure gaps and develop preventative strategies.

‍

You can read more about this topic here. 

‍

Department of Labor Tips for Retirement Benefit Cybersecurity 

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration published a blog post outlining a number of tips for employee retirement plan sponsors and participants to minimize cyber vulnerabilities, which included advice like:

• Registering your accounts online to virtually monitor the assets. By regularly checking in through an online portal, plan holders can quickly assess any activity they encounter that appears suspicious. Further, not registering your accounts online opens the door for criminals to fraudulently assume your identity;
• Regularly updating passwords, which should be a combination of at least 14 characters made up of letters, numbers, and symbols. It’s best to steer clear from words that are in the dictionary. Reusing passwords across many sites is frowned upon, as well;
• Enabling two-factor authentication - which can include fingerprint scans, verification text messages, or confirmation email - can add a disproportionate level of protection relative to the inconvenience;
• Installing and regularly updating antivirus software and patches, which lose effectiveness if you’re not using the most recent versions that are best tuned to protect against the most recent and most common threats; and
• Preparing in advance for what to do in the event of a cyber breach or identity theft, including reviewing how to report the incident and making sure that your company’s contact info for the relevant personnel is up-to-date in the digital account management platforms, with notifications turned on if applicable.

‍

You can access the Department of Labor post and read more about this topic here. 

‍

With the labor market being tight over the last year plus, workers have had a historically disproportionate amount of leverage when it comes to negotiating better pay, obtaining promotions, and shaping job requirements to better meet their work-life balance goals. 

‍

Of course, the underlying and often unspoken source of that leverage is the implicit willingness and ability to seek out a new job on another team or at another company if their current option does not satisfy their requirements, and research has shown that employees have become increasingly willing to do so, which further advantages their collective negotiation position.

‍

While the job market has softened a bit since its recent peak, it remains strong by most measures, and many prognosticators predict that will remain the case for the imminent future, which means the outsized hand that employees have been experiencing is likely to be a continuing theme in the near term. 

‍

As employees have been putting this advantage into practice (and will presumably continue to do so for the time being at least) their expectations have understandably evolved over time, and the standards by which they are evaluating employers, both existing and prospective, have changed, as well.

‍

More than simply comparing factors like salary and commute length at face value when choosing between job opportunities, employees today are often doing a deeper analysis of the underlying companies in order to have a more complete understanding of their choices and make a more informed decision. 

‍

Some of the deeper-level considerations that employees in the current job market are taking into account when evaluating employment prospects are the financial health of the company; the available training, professional development, and internal growth opportunities; and company culture. 

‍

In terms of underlying financials, what job candidates are really looking for is stability and longevity, and while an economic downturn within the next year looks increasingly unlikely, that consensus is a fairly new development among the economist set. Among the general population, whose evolution of opinion tends to lag behind that of experts, however, concerns about recession happening sooner than later remain an active reality for lots of people, and is very much on the mind of many prospective employees when weighing one company against another.

‍

When researching potential employers, many modern job candidates are analyzing the company’s strategy for growth, recent/potential integrations, and any stated plans for going public or conducting additional fundraising. For companies that are already public, candidates are doing most of their research online via news articles and financial statements, etc. while candidates researching privately held businesses are utilizing resources like Dun and Bradstreet, as well as information published by the Better Business Bureau, in addition to asking questions on these matters during the interview process. 

‍

Longevity concerns also come into play when candidates are researching the kind of growth and skill-gaining opportunities they might expect to encounter with a potential employer. Employees have consistently displayed the desire to broaden their core competencies and a willingness to switch jobs in pursuit of professional development if their current employer doesn’t provide it. Perhaps more than ever before, job candidates are prioritizing working for an employer that’s willing to invest in their employees’ skill set development and to provide a clear path of growth within the company, which is something candidates can get a good feel for through LinkedIn in terms of seeing how some of the current and former employees’ roles and responsibilities changed over time. 

‍

And finally, the culture that each company has fostered is another important factor that is driving would-be employee decision-making about whether to get onboard with a given company. While culture may be the most difficult of these considerations for job candidates to perceive in a meaningful way from the outside - especially in the case of remote interviews and/or work - prospective employees can still evaluate publicly declared company values and mission statements revealing company culture as defined by the company at the least. They can also look for relevant articles, legal filings, and current/former employee comments about both the company itself and the impacts it’s made in a larger sense, as well as any company sponsorships, community engagement programs, and even company benefits offerings that serve as a reflection company values and priorities. 

‍

You can read more about these kinds of second-level considerations that employees are increasingly utilizing to evaluate employers here.

Employee benefits have increasingly become a tightly contested battleground for companies competing in a hot labor market for top talent over the last couple of years, but many traditional perks have fallen out of favor at the same time. 

‍

In companies all over the word, employee perks are on the chopping block - even many of the perks with which companies have sometimes themselves become associated and to which some employees have become accustomed to if not attached. 

‍

And yet, despite the reduction and in many cases elimination of these company-provided offerings, employees seem largely unaffected by the loss. This phenomenon appears to be a reflection of shifting priorities among the employee population, driven by an increase in prioritization of job flexibility, which 87% of workers choose when given a more flexible option. 

‍

Work flexibility, of course, is not simply one thing and may very well mean something somewhat different to different people. In fact, by most anyone’s definition there are likely to be a number of varied aspects that collectively encompass the general concept of work flexibility, including factors such as work location, work time, work type, and even career trajectory. 

‍

In terms of work location, many employees are looking for options beyond working out of the company office or being classified as purely remote. For example, many employees would select a hybrid schedule given the choice so as to increase workplace flexibility without missing out on the benefits of face-to-face relationship building, networking opportunities, or collaborative convenience. Further, for employees who are remote or hybrid, many still appreciate access to co-working spaces if they are seeking an office-like environment -including technology and amenities -but want one that’s closer to home and/or available while they are traveling, for example.

‍

Beyond the question of ‘where’ the work is being conducted, the questions of ‘when’ and ‘how’ are equally relevant to work flexibility considerations, and with employee exhaustion and burnout on the rise as well, many employees are putting their health and wellbeing first. In the quest for a better work-life balance that has become a primary motivator for a growing number of people, alternative arrangements including four-day workweeks, shift-splitting, and part-time job sharing are getting more attention and/or seeing increasing implementation rates, with an aim to improving work efficiency so less work time is required to get the job done. 

‍

The concept of flexibility can also be applied to the type of work a given employee may be doing or the potential career paths that may exist that enable growth within the organization. Employees who prioritize flexibility are likely to be interested in obtaining skillsets beyond those needed for their current job, whether through additional training, education, and/or mentoring. These employees are often particularly mission-focused, and tend to be drawn toward environmental, social, and corporate governance opportunities given flexibility in terms of how to put their skills and experience to use on the company’s behalf in ways that go beyond their specific job function.  

‍

Of course, in order to understand the degree of interest in work flexibility among your company’s employees, as well as the types of flexibility that are most applicable in light of the various conditions specific to different industries and job types, it’s important to obtain feedback from the employees themselves through surveys, polls, roundtables, or other methods. It’s also important to remember that the levels and type of flexibility can vary significantly by generation, skillset, personality, life circumstances, and a number of other factors, so asking and responding will usually yield better results than assuming or guessing. 

‍

Once dominant perks on the whole may be in decline when it comes to catered meals, office snacks, and dry cleaning services, but flexible work arrangements have emerged as another way for employers to reward and incentivize workers for their contributions in a way that is cost-effective for your business and that employees value even more than the lost perks.

‍

You can read more about this topic here.

Nashville, Tenn.– July 26, 2023 – Mployer Advisor, the leading independent platform for employers to research, review, and evaluate insurance brokers has named over 500 winners across more than 50 regions as part of its third annual “Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards” for 2023. Mployer Advisor’s Top Employee Benefits Consultant Award Program evaluates brokers based on breadth and depth of experience across employer industries, sizes, insurance products, and employer reviews. We recognize esteemed brokers that demonstrate market-leading competencies and a proven track record of success among employers, insurance providers, and peers.

Our team is proud to recognize this group of 2023 top-rated insurance advisors as part of our third annual Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards,” said Brian Freeman, the Founder and CEO of Mployer Advisor. “Employer-sponsored healthcare and benefits cover over 150M Americans. Who an employer selects as their benefits advisor has more impact on employee cost and satisfaction with their healthcare than who an employer chooses as the insurance carrier. We have rated these brokerages utilizing sophisticated, industry-first algorithms, and we applaud the winners’ demonstrated commitment to service, quality, and positive employer feedback.”

Mployer Advisor determined the winners of the third annual “Top Employee Benefits Consultant Award” by analyzing each brokerage based on historical data, online reviews, their M Score rating, and demonstrated business experience.

The St. Louis, Missouri job market is one of the most competitive in the U.S. Mountain-Plains region, employing more than 1.4 million people. Offering competitive employee benefits is a critical factor in hiring top talent for the region’s employers. Finding and partnering with a highly rated insurance consultant is imperative to retaining talent in any market.  

The recipients of the 2023 “Top Employee Benefits Consultant Awards” for St. Louis, Missouri are as follows:  

• Aon Risk Services

• AssuredPartners

• CBIZ

• Compass Health Consultants

• Gallagher Insurance, Risk Management & Consulting

• HM Risk

• Lockton Companies

• Marsh McLennan Agency

• Mercer

• OneDigital

• Sonus Benefits

‍

The above winners are a snapshot of Mployer Advisor’s matrices and proprietary M Score on June 15, 2023. To view a full list of consultants in St. Louis, Missouri, visit MployerAdvisor.com.

‍

About Mployer Advisor:  

Mployer Advisor is changing the way employers search, evaluate, and select insurance advisors. The intuitive platform connects employers and employees to great benefits and insurance plans by providing employers with actionable data to easily evaluate and select the best advisor for a company’s specific needs. Most brokerages have a profile on Mployer Advisor, which provides independent ratings of insurance advisors to support employers. Insurance brokers cannot pay to influence their Mployer Advisor rating. Only highly rated brokerages are allowed to advertise on the platform. To learn more about Mployer Advisor, visit https://mployeradvisor.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

‍

Disclaimer: Rankings are dynamic, and this report may not reflect the rankings currently listed on Mployer Advisor’s website. Because Mployer Advisor’s research is ongoing, interested companies that want to join next year’s list are encouraged to claim their free profile on Mployer Advisor.

‍

Media Contact:  

Anthony Waters

Anthony.waters@mployeradvisor.com

###