With respect to military caregivers, The National Defense Authorization Act amends the following FMLA provisions:

• The regulations previously allowed the caregivers of wounded, ill and injured military personnel and covered veterans five (5) days of unpaid leave during the veteran’s rest and recuperation, but that has been expanded to fifteen (15) days.

• The FMLA already provided military caregiver leave and exigency leave for family members of the enlisted personnel of the National Guard and Reserves, but the amendments expanded the exigency leave provisions to include family members of all the regular U.S. Armed Forces.

• The new amendment added a requirement that all service members must be deployed to a foreign country in order for their family members to be eligible for exigency leave.

• The amendment includes family members caring for eligible veterans discharged within five years preceding treatment. Additionally, for both active military and veterans, caregiver leave has been extended to cover serious injuries and illnesses resulting from a pre-existing condition suffered in the line of duty. “Serious illness and injury” has been clarified in a three-part definition in the amendment.

The second amendment, the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act, has to do with airline employees. The orginal FMLA statute requires an employee to work 1,250 hours in a given 12-month period to be eligible for FMLA, or about 60 percent of a typical 40-hour work week. Some airline employees, due to unconventional work weeks, failed to meet these criteria. This new amendment states that airline employees are eligible for FMLA protected leave if they have been paid for at least 60 percent of the applicable total monthly guarantee and have worked or been paid for at least 504 hours during the prior 12-months before their leave. This does not include time taken for personal commute time, vacation, medical or sick leave. The applicable monthy guarantee is determined by the employer policy or applicable collective bargaining agreement and would depend on whether the employee is on reserve status.

As of March 9, 2012, the State Assembly Labor Committee sent the bill to the full assembly and the Senate Budget Committee, clearing its first barrier. The Assembly bill is out of committee and set for second reading in the Assembly. The Senate bill is still in committee. Both houses are expected to pass this bill once the State Budget process is over. Governor Chris Christie (R) has been public about his support of the wage increase. The increase would make New Jersey’s minimum wage rate the third highest in the country, behind Washington State and Oregon. The minimum wage was last increased was just two years ago to the current rate of $7.25.

Legislation has recently been introduced in the State of New Jersey which would prohibit employers from requiring job candidates or current employees from disclosing their login information.

The above-referenced bill would also prohibit an employer from requiring or even asking for an individual to waive protection granted under the bill, and would also prohibit employer’s from retaliating or discriminating against an individual who might file a complaint or testify as part of an investigation into violations of the law.

If the bill passes, violators of the law would face fines up to $1,000 for the first violation and $2,000 for each subsequent violation.  Other States and federal agencies are also considering similar bills or positions on this very hot topic.

About Compensation Solutions
Compensation Solutions is a leading professional employer organization (PEO) that serves as a full-time outsourced human resource partner for small and mid-sized businesses throughout the tri-state area and the United States. By managing employee benefits, human resources, payroll and workers’ compensation administration, Compensation Solutions allows its clients to maintain and grow their bottom line. Compensation Solutions’ headquarters is located in Wayne, NJ with offices in Upper Saddle River and Manhattan. For additional information, please visit our website at www.csihro.com.

About Best Companies Group
Best Companies Group is dedicated to establishing “Best Places to Work” programs in an effort to single out companies who are superior in workplace excellence. Their mission is to “identify and recognize” organizations that are leading the way in defining the employee experience of the 21st century. For more information on the Best Places to Work in New Jersey program, visit www.bestplacestoworknj.com.

Compensation Solutions Among NJ’s Best Places to Work – PDF News Release

Wayne, NJ – February 2012 — Compensation Solutions, one of the tri-state area’s leading Human Resource Outsourcing Organizations (HRO), today announced that HRO President, Susan Molosh has been named one of NJBiz’s Best 50 Women in Business.

The award, presented by NJBiz Magazine and Wells Fargo, seeks women business leaders who are influential in their companies, industries and communities, and women who are shaping the economic future of New Jersey. To be considered, each candidate is required to hold a significant position as an owner, partner or senior executive in a for-profit organization and to live or work in New Jersey. Each nominee is judged in three categories: professional accomplishment, community involvement, and advocacy for women.

Susan, a lifetime resident of New Jersey, is president and co-founder of Compensation Solutions HRO.  Being involved with several not-for-profit organizations in New Jersey, Susan has been a driving force in projects for Habitat for Humanity, Eva’s Kitchen and the Volunteer Center of Bergen County. She has advocated for women by creating the Compensation Solutions Mentoring Program, providing a unique opportunity for female employees to learn about their corporate culture, identify their own long-term development needs and establish a meaningful professional relationship with a member of the executive committee.

Commenting on her nomination, Susan said, “I am honored to be considered for such a prestigious award and to be placed in the company of woman who represent the best of the business community in New Jersey.  Much of the credit goes to our team of Human Resource professionals for their hard work, their dedication to client services and their commitment to the continued growth and development of our company.”

About Compensation Solutions
Compensation Solutions is a leading human resources outsourcing organization that serves as a full-time outsourced human resource partner for businesses of all sizes throughout the United States.  By managing employee benefits, human resources, payroll and workers’ compensation administration, Compensation Solutions allows its clients to focus on their core competencies to maintain and grow their bottom line. Compensation Solutions’ corporate headquarters is located in Wayne, NJ with offices in Upper Saddle River and Manhattan.  For additional information, please visit our website at www.csihro.com

About NJBiz’s Best 50 Women in Business
Award winners will be honored at NJBiz’s Best 50 Women in Business dinner on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at The Palace at Somerset Park in Somerset, NJ and in a special insert into the magazine’s April 2nd edition.

NJBiz Best 50 Women in Business 2012 – PDF News Release

Beginning January 1, 2012, the maximum weekly unemployment insurance benefit increased from $598 to $611.  The worker’s compensation benefit has gone up from $792 to $ 810 per week, and the maximum weekly benefit for disability has increased from $559 to $572. 

The taxable wage has increased to $30,300, up from $29,600 last year.  The base week earnings amount is untouched and remains at $145, and the alternative earnings amount also remains steady at $7,300.

On the heels of the announcement of a 3.6 percent increase in Social Security benefits in 2012 comes news that Medicare’s monthly premium will be much lower than expected next year — and will actually drop for millions of beneficiaries.  Administration officials said the new health reform law was partially responsible for keeping costs down.

The basic premium for Medicare Part B will be $99.90 a month, only a $3.50 increase over the $96.40 a month that most beneficiaries have been paying since 2008.  This increase is $7 a month less than what was being projected as recently as last May and means that most seniors will be able to keep the lion’s share of their Social Security benefit increase.  In addition, higher-income earners and others who have not benefited from the recent premium freeze will see a significant drop in their premiums.

Most Medicare recipients have not experienced a rise in their Medicare Part B premium — which pays for doctor visits and other outpatient costs — because of a provision in the Medicare law prohibiting premiums from climbing more than that year’s cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits. Since there has been no Social Security increase in the last couple of years, most beneficiaries – nearly three-quarters – have continued to pay Part B premiums of $96.40 per month.

But this protection has not applied to the other one-quarter of beneficiaries who either:

 

• do not have their Part B premiums withheld from their Social Security checks, or
• pay a higher Part B premium surcharge based on high income (see below), or
• are newly enrolled in Part B.

These beneficiaries who did not benefit from the premium freeze will see their premiums reduced from $115.40 a month to the new $99.90 premium.  In addition, the Part B deductible will fall $22 to $140.

Donald Berwick, MD, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said one big reason for the lower-than-expected premium hike was historically low rates of health care utilization, which he attributed in part to the health reform law’s focus on preventive services.  In addition, the unexpected Social Security benefit increase meant that rising Medicare costs could be spread among many more beneficiaries, with each one paying a smaller share.

“Between reduced Part B premiums and increased Social Security payments, the average Social Security recipient will have a net cost-of-living increase of $40 per month in 2012,” said the Center Medicare Advocacy.

Some might believe that politics played a role in keeping Medicare’s premiums down during an election year, but that’s not so, said Tricia Neuman of the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation. “Changes in premiums are obviously important to seniors but the numbers are based on what the law requires, and determined by independent actuaries, rather than politics,” Neuman said.

Following are all the new Medicare figures for 2012:

• Basic Part B premium: $99.90/month

• Part B deductible: $140 (was $162)

• Part A deductible: $1,156 (was $1,132)

• Co-payment for hospital stay days 61-90: $289/day (was $283)

• Co-payment for hospital stay days 91 and beyond: $578/day (was $566)

• Skilled nursing facility co-payment, days 21-100: $144.50/day (was $141.50)

As directed by the 2003 Medicare law, higher-income beneficiaries will pay higher Part B premiums. Following are those amounts for 2012:

• Individuals with annual incomes between $85,000 and $107,000 and married couples with annual incomes between $170,000 and $214,000 will pay a monthly premium of $139.90 (was $161.50).

• Individuals with annual incomes between $107,000 and $160,000 and married couples with annual incomes between $214,000 and $320,000 will pay a monthly premium of $199.80 (was $230.70).

• Individuals with annual incomes between $160,000 and $214,000 and married couples with annual incomes between $320,000 and $428,000 will pay a monthly premium of $259.70 (was $299.90).

• Individuals with annual incomes of $214,000 or more and married couples with annual incomes of $428,000 or more will pay a monthly premium of $319.70 (was $369.10).

Rates differ for beneficiaries who are married but file a separate tax return from their spouse:

• Those with incomes between $85,000 and $129,000 will pay a monthly premium of $259.70 (was $299.90).

• Those with incomes greater than $129,000 will pay a monthly premium of $319.70 (was $369.10).

The Social Security Administration uses the income reported two years ago to determine a Part B beneficiary’s premiums. So the income reported on a beneficiary’s 2010 tax return is used to determine whether the beneficiary must pay a higher monthly Part B premium in 2012. Income is calculated by taking a beneficiary’s adjusted gross income and adding back in some normally excluded income, such as tax-exempt interest,U.S.savings bond interest used to pay tuition, and certain income from foreign sources. This is called modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). If a beneficiary’s MAGI decreased significantly in the past two years, she may request that information from more recent years be used to calculate the premium.

Those who enroll in Medicare Advantage plans may have different cost-sharing arrangements. On average Medicare Advantage premiums will be 4 percent lower in 2012 than in 2011.

For Medicare’s Fact Sheet on the new numbers, which includes the new Medicare Part D premium adjustments for high earners, click here.

For more about Medicare coverage, click here.

 

- Michael C. Rudolph, Esq., ElderLaw News

In our economy today it is evident that there are challenges in finding employment. President Obama has initiated a $447 billion dollar jobs bill in an effort to alleviate hardship on unemployed Americans.  This bill focuses on unemployed veterans, some disabled or retired from there duties in the armed forces.

An estimated 1 million service members will disengage from the armed forces between 2011 and  2016. In response to the urgent need to boost job programs for veterans, President Obama signed a bill into law that repeals a requirement that federal, state and local governments begin withholding 3 percent of payments to contractors in 2013.

The measure includes a package of tax breaks for companies that hire unemployed veterans.

• The Returning Heroes Tax Credit provides businesses that hire unemployed veterans with a  credit of up to $5,600 per veteran, and the Wounded Warriors Tax Credit offers a credit of $9,600 per veteran for businesses that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities.

• Under the Recovery Act, employers who hired certain unemployed veterans were eligible for a tax credit of up to 40 percent of the first $6,000 of wages, for a maximum credit of $2,400 for veterans who had been unemployed at least four weeks. This credit expired at the end of 2010. For employers who hire veterans unemployed  for longer than six months, a new credit of 40 percent of the first $14,000 of wages, up to $5,600, will be applied.

• The Wounded Warrior Tax Credit will double the existing tax credit for long-term unemployed veterans with service-connected disabilities. A new credit of 40 percent of the first $24,000 of wages, up to $9,600, will apply for firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities who have been unemployed longer than six  months.

•  The tax credits for hiring veterans will be afforded by the government in the amount of $95 million and be paid for by extending a fee the Veterans Affairs Department charges on home loans.

• The existing Work Opportunity Tax Credit of up to $4,800 for veterans will remain for veterans
  with service connected disabilities.

With the help of  the Joining Forces campaign, initiated by the Department of Defense, more than 1,500 private-sector companies have stepped up so far to employ more than 18,000 veterans and spouses and have committed to hiring 135,000 veterans and spouses by the end of 2013.   JPMorgan Chase and about 15 other U.S. companies, including Cisco Systems Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and AT&T Inc. have pledged to hire 100,000 servicemen by 2020.

If you wish to participate in the veterans’ jobs program, click here.

Sources:

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66181

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/801-economy/194849-obama-signs-bill-encouraging-hiring-of-veterans

https://www.nationalresourcedirectory.gov/home/instructions_for_employer_participation

Presenteeism can happen often in a workplace when an employee is not feeling well enough to work.  There exists the potential risk of infecting others with a contagious illness. Presenteeism, however, can also be used to describe more chronic conditions such as back pain, allergies, arthritis and other conditions that can impair work performance.

Some strategic ways to address presenteeism and reduce costs associated with it includes providing sick days and wellness programs, improving co-payments for medical visits and prescriptions, allowing carryover of sick days and providing vaccinations such as flu shots.

In addition you may take these steps to avoid spreading the cold and flu virus:

• Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough;

• Clean your hands often;

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth;

• Stay home when you are sick and check with a health care  provider when needed;

• Practice other good health habits such as annual check  ups; and make healthy lifestyle choices such as eating right and exercising.

For more information, go to
the CDC’s website  at http://www.cdc.gov/germstopper/pdf/work.pdf

Detailed information about employers’ obligations to maintain and report records under each of these laws is provided on the poster:  Wage Payment Law, Wage and Hour Law, Prevailing Wage Act, Unemployment Compensation Law, Temporary Disability Benefits Law, Family Leave Insurance Law, Workers’ Compensation Law, and Gross Income Tax Act.  Contact information for each of the departments responsible for enforcing these provisions is also provided.

There are several additional provisions which require compliance:

1.  For employees hired after November 7, 2011, a written copy of the notice must be provided at the time of the employee’s hiring. 

2.  In addition, by December 7, 2011, every employee must be provided a written copy of the notice.