Plans Telephone Seminars - Training Resources

Preparing for the Unexpected Departure of Key Employees: An Introduction to Replacement Planning ...izations, public or private, have functioning replacement plans in case of the disastrous loss of key people to death, disability, sudden resignation or the potential threatened loss in hostage-taking situations. Replacement planning is not the same thing as succession planning or talent management, though many organizational leaders confuse them. This teleconference helps you understand the  more...

Evaluating Your Third Party Administrator: Are You Getting What You're Paying For? ...istrator is ubiquitous with all types of employee benefit plans. However, proper administration by TPAs should not be taken for granted. As with all facets of employee benefit plans, TPAs need to be monitored and evaluated to ensure proper plan administration and fulfillment of a plan sponsor's fiduciary responsibility. This teleconference explores the key roles of TPAs, how to evaluate a TPA  more...

Traffic Management for Construction Work Zones: Unique Challenges and Solutions ...who are required to prepare and implement traffic control plans often do not understand how to process the approval and satisfy the agencies requirements, as well as federal and state occupational regulations. Understanding the MUTCD and agency requirements, as well as their newly implemented regulations can impact schedule and costs. This teleconference will help you understand how first to  more...

Qualified Retirement Plans Eligibility and Vesting Tips and Traps for the Unwary ...with specifically interpreting the provisions of your own plans and introduce you to a variety of options in order to make sure you know what you have and have what you want. In addition, although many provisions appear to be straightforward, the practical application of these functions can be complex. Human resource managers, benefits administrators, payroll managers, plan administrators,  more...

Limited Medical Programs: How Employers Are Using Them to Control Health Care Costs BenefitsAfter years of increasing medical premiums, employers are hitting road blocks in cost saving measures. We are at a point of office visit co-pays approaching $50, prescription drug co-pays of $50 to $100, deductibles exceeding $2,000 for in-network benefits, and more and more premium cost shifting from employer to employee. Employee's are finding it hard to afford the per pay premiums and  more...

Medical Records Releases, Retention and Confidentiality Requirements ...plans, vendors, etc.) who retain medical or health records are often subjected to complex and conflicting requirements to maintain the confidentiality and restrict the disclosure of the information. Complex and overlapping rules and regulations impose rigid requirements that must be met before information is released, and require medical record repositories to retain the records for  more...

Complying With OSHA Recordkeeping Requirements ...BenefitsThe Occupational Safety and Health Administration plans to get tough on workplace safety enforcement. OSHA has received more than $50 million in additional funding, plans to hire between 130 and 160 new inspectors, has suspended certain voluntary compliance programs in order to free up resources for enforcement efforts, and has introduced a new program, the Severe Violators Inspection  more...

Strategies to Reduce Bullying and Social Aggression ...f bullying, including cyber bullying. Whether your school plans to implement one or more bullying prevention strategies, or a comprehensive bullying prevention or school improvement initiative, there are several issues you need to know that can increase your chances of success. This teleconference is devoted to learning new techniques and strategies that can dramatically reduce the incidents of  more...

Understanding Your Summary Plan Descriptions ...itsEmployers who sponsor ERISA covered health and welfare plans are required to communicate the terms of the plan to participants in a summary plan description. The SPD is an important disclosure document that describes, in understandable terms, the rights, benefits and responsibilities of participants and beneficiaries in ERISA covered health and welfare benefit plans. The SPD must include  more...

Utilizing Spendthrift Trusts in Estate Plans BenefitsA spendthrift trust is an invaluable tool in protecting assets for the beneficiary. This teleconference will introduce you to the use and purpose of spendthrift trusts. Additionally, this program will provide specific guidance of drafting an effective spendthrift trust and highlight drafting pitfalls. Attorneys, estate planners, accountants, presidents, vice presidents, CFOs, controllers,  more...

Best Practices in Commission Pay Plans BenefitsThere are few management tools that work as well in recruiting, directing, motivating and retaining sales people as a strong commission plan. This is critical because sales people are often highly paid, remote from headquarters and entrusted with customer relationships (very valuable assets). A properly designed commission plan clearly and personally communicates the strategy of the  more...

Low-Impact Development Maintenance and Upkeep Techniques ...w impact development concepts into their site development plans. This results in the use of many complex storm water BMPs such as bioinfiltration systems, infiltration basins, constructed wetlands, wet ponds, green roofs and porous pavement. Unlike conventional detention basins which require little maintenance, these complex BMPs require significant short-term and long-term maintenance in order  more...

Implied Obligations in Construction Contracts BenefitsWhen parties enter into construction or design contracts, there may be numerous implied obligations that arise under law or in equity. These implied obligations should be carefully considered by owners, design professionals and contractors. These implied obligations apply to most construction and design contracts unless a specific contractual provision is provided in the contract that  more...

Opt-Out Incentives and Other Cost Cutting Measures for Health Plans BenefitsThe recent debate regarding health care reform has highlighted for the public what employers have known for years - health care is expensive. Employers have for years looked for creative ways to alleviate double digit annual increases in the cost of health coverage provided to its employees. Employers have toggled deductibles and co-payments, and they have implemented wellness programs and  more...

Foreclosing on Real and Personal Property Collateral: What You Need to Know BenefitsLoan defaults are rising and secured creditors are once again having to think about enforcing their rights through foreclosure of real and personal property collateral. This can be a complicated process that requires a good deal of planning in order to reach a successful outcome. This teleconference will help the people responsible for loan workout and enforcement evaluate their positions  more...

Changes to Cafeteria Plans: What You Need to Know to Prepare BenefitsThe IRS recently issued new rules which replaced parts of the old regulations. These new rules are exciting but require you to review and act on your old documents. The information provided will assist you in decisions for the upcoming plan year and how to prepare for the changes. Human resources and benefits managers, attorneys, controllers, CFOs finance directors, payroll managers,  more...

Developing a Pay-for-Performance Plan ...plans are like motherhood and apple pie - everyone agrees with the concept, but not everyone can achieve the desired results. This teleconference will present the concept of pay-for-performance and its relationship to the compensation strategy. You will learn about the various performance-based plans that can be developed within base salary and variable pay components, and the design elements  more...

Wellness Programs: Legal Developments, Requirements and Risks ...ors, and exceptions for certain wellness and supplemental plans. Employers that link incentives or penalties to wellness initiatives face a number of risks, from ADA claims to tax penalties for failing to properly report and withhold income and employment taxes. This teleconference is a must for human resource professionals, attorneys and others who advise employers on wellness plans and  more...

Health Care Reform: Implications for Employers, Insurers, and Individuals ... consultants and professionals who work with group health plans and related benefits on a daily basis. This teleconference will address the status of the various health care reform bills in Congress as of September 23, 2009, and address the likelihood of passage of key elements as of that date. More importantly, it will cover the practical implications of this legislation for professionals  more...

Financial Planning After Retirement: Coordinating the Retirement Plan with the Estate Plan ...tection and estate planning benefits for large retirement plans so that the valuable 'stretch out' does not become a 'blow out.' Most trusts are inadequately drafted to handle retirement plans, especially in light of the recent changes of the Pension Protection Act. New preparer penalties put an additional premium on determining whether the trust is likely to qualify. This teleconference will  more...

The Dilemma of Dealing With Bad Plans and Specs: Key Legal Concepts and Tips for Pro-actively Managing Design Errors, Omissions ...Plans and specifications are, without question, critical to the success of any construction project. When the plans and specifications are clear and without significant errors or omissions, the project is much more likely to be on time and within budget. But what happens when plans are riddled with errors, conflicts or omissions? This teleconference will provide you with valuable tips for  more...

Providing Investment Advice to Retirement Plan Participants Without Triggering Liability BenefitsThe current recession and volatile financial markets highlight the importance of financial literacy. Until recently, retirement plan sponsors have been constrained in the types of investment advice that can be provided to plan participants. Plan sponsors have long wanted to provide the investment advice their participants desire, but without incurring liability for advice given in good  more...

Tax Treatment of Gift Card and Certificate Sales ...nounced, in several industry director directives, that it plans to focus on several specific issues in this area. Despite this emphasis on gift card revenue issues however, the IRS has provided little guidance in this area. The sale of gift cards also raises a variety of state tax and state law issues. This teleconference will help you identify and handle the numerous federal and state tax  more...

Pitfalls of Participant Loans in Retirement Plans ...ministration. Plan sponsors of qualified employee benefit plans need to be aware of many pitfalls to avoid tax consequences. Even worse than tax consequences is the possibility of the entire plan losing its preferred tax status. This teleconference will explain the regulations of participant loans in a plan, help you avoid the associated pitfalls and ensure the plan complies with the  more...

Benchmarking your Health Benefit Program: How Do You Stack Up? nInformation is power. You can increase your competitiveness by knowing the kinds and the quality of health insurance other employers are offering. Measuring your health plan against meaningful benchmarks will help fuel your strategies not only for reducing cost, but also for recruiting, employee retention and health plan design. n nThis teleconference will work through several methods to  more...

Paid Sick Leave Update: Policies and Procedures in an Evolving Workplace nMany employers voluntarily provide their employees with paid sick leave. Increasingly, however, states and localities are dictating that employers allow employees to use these voluntarily-provided paid sick leave benefits for reasons beyond those covered by the employer's program. In some cases, states and localities have begun to mandate that employers provide employees with a minimum paid sick  more...

Drafting Trusts in Estate Planning nEstate tax laws keep changing. Did you know that even though the estate tax exemption is predicted to stay at $3.5 million the lifetime gift tax exemption will stay at $1 million, leaving the door open to reduce the estate tax exemption back down to $1 million when Congress tries to balance the budget in a few years? In addition to estate taxes, clients' families need protection from probate, bad  more...

Presenteeism: Measurement and Intervention Issues for Employers and Health Plans nProductivity is fast becoming an even more vital issue to the business world. Presenteeism, or work loss due to underlying health conditions when individuals remain at work, is one important facet of productivity. One study found that approximately 6 percent of a global company's total compensation (salaries, wages and all benefit costs) were lost due to presenteeism. Work site wellness programs  more...

Demand-Side Water Conservation Initiatives ...nservation, drought preparedness and diverse water supply plans to meet existing and future water demands. Internal and external factors are causing water shortages, rate impacts, conflicts among neighboring water users, and both real and perceived unreliable water supplies. These circumstances are impacting businesses, homeowners, and the health and security of our modern existence. Brown and  more...

Why Is This Guy Still on My Health Plan? ...the eligibility and termination provisions of its benefit plans. This results many times in inactive employees (inactive usually because of a disability or other leave of absence) lingering on employer's health and other benefit plans (dental, group life) where the employer continues to pay premiums despite the employee being no longer eligible under the plan. This teleconference will discuss  more...

More Affordable and Sustainable Communities: The Role of Good Design for Workforce Housing ...rs and residents. These will be explained using images of plans and photos of the completed developments. This teleconference will help you understand how to successfully organize a community to engage rationally and creatively in the design of new housing developments which meet the needs of the developers, neighbors and future residents. To avoid lengthy and contentious public review  more...

Preparing for the International Financial Reporting Standard ...ld keep the proposed timetable in mind as they make their plans. For example, companies subject to the 2014 change date should be prepared to begin capturing IFRS data January 1, 2012, in order to have readily available information to create comparative financial statements. Those companies who might consider earlier adoption may need to establish a more aggressive timetable. n nThis  more...

The New HIPAA Special Enrollment Rules and Related Disclosure Issues ...al enrollment rights currently applicable to group health plans and imposes new notice and disclosure obligations for employers that maintain such plans. While many of these obligations are not effective until after 2009, the special enrollment changes are effective April 1, 2009. In addition, the new law imposes civil penalties of up to $100 a day for failure to comply with the new notice and  more...

Establishing Payment Arrangements: Beyond Net 30 nMore than 10,000 businesses have slow or nonpaying customers. How can you collect that money efficiently and quickly and keep that money coming in? The credit crisis, high fuel costs, job losses, bankruptcies, foreclosures and the failing economy are all contributing to factories closing, job loss and business owners going out of business because they can't get paid. Maximize your in-house  more...

Internal ERISA Audits: Getting It Right Before the Government Shows Up ...plans are subject to a large number of requirements imposed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and by other laws such as the Internal Revenue Code. Failure to comply with these complex and ever-changing requirements could lead to substantial penalties or even the meltdown of the plan. This teleconference will highlight a number of these requirements and show you how you can audit  more...

Floodproofing Fundamentals: Design Methods to Reduce Flood Damages ... and nearly 50 percent of homeowners have no preparedness plans for floods or other major disasters. n nSolution: This teleconference is intended to help you reduce or eliminate the risk of flood damages to residential, commercial and public buildings. We will review basic design methods and techniques used to minimize or eliminate damage to new and existing buildings, contents and utility  more...

401(k) Plan Costs Including Recent Update on Supreme Court Rule LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates Inc. ...ver-expanding list of factors bombards sponsors of 401(k) plans and places companies and their management potentially in the cross hairs. From Enron, Worldcom and Sarbanes-Oxley, to the more recent massive class actions filed against Fortune 500 companies regarding 401(k) plan service fees, decision makers face increasingly tough choices and more difficult compliance challenges when it comes to  more...

Retirement Benefit Solutions For Nonprofit Organizations and Government Entities nNonprofit organizations face many of the same issues regarding use of retirement benefits to attract and retain employees and executives as for-profit companies, but the tools available to them are often more limited. This teleconference will explore both broad-based retirement programs and executive deferred compensation available to nonprofit organizations. It will highlight new rules for  more...

Updating and Maintaining Wills, Trusts and Estate Plans for the Evolving Client ...n and why clients need to review and revisit their estate plans and how to spot those issues for existing and potential clients. The second part will highlight various drafting techniques that will allow a will and trust to maintain maximum effectiveness in the future. We'll focus on how to best address a client's future needs with flexibility built into the document and address future changes  more...

Criminal Liabilities Under HIPAA-Who Knew You Could Go to Prison? ... to 10 years in prison for intentional violations! Health plans, health care clearinghouses, health care providers and Medicare prescription drug card sponsors may be prosecuted criminally for HIPAA violations. n nWith ID theft on the rise, prosecutors are becoming more aggressive in enforcing HIPAA laws, particularly when intent to illegally obtain patient information is involved. In  more...

Same-Gender Marriage Rulings: Impacts on Employee Benefit Plans Across the Nation nIn May 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that the state cannot deny same-gender couples the right to marry. Same-gender couples - many of them, in fact - flocked to California and started getting legally married on June 17, 2008. But then in November 2008, California voters approved Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage going forward. Massachusetts and Canada also allow same-gender  more...

Restructuring: Changing Your Choice of Business Entity ...through various stages of its life cycle as it grows. The plans of its owners change, and management succession and exit strategies become more immediate concerns. As a result, initial tax and state law decisions need to be revisited, and when warranted, consideration of changes to a company's tax and legal structure may be advisable or necessary. This teleconference will provide you with a  more...

Return on Investment for Wellness Programs ...ness should be part of every strategic health plan. These plans can offer a valuable tool for employers to promote a fit and health-conscious work force that will save employers money by keeping health insurance premiums down, reducing workers' compensation costs, and by increasing productivity and decreasing lost time. Implementing a plan takes time, attention and deserves a well thought-out  more...

Aging Building Management: Best Practices in Development Long-Term Capital Plans nUp to 30% of the average organization's annual capital outlay is spent on facilities and related infrastructure. How can an organization ensure it is most effectively leveraging this investment to support operations today and meet the needs of the future? n nOptimally managing capital assets requires detailed information about the condition of an organization's facilities and major building  more...

Current Issues in Revocable Living Trusts ... Revocable living trusts are a foundation of many estate plans. The use of a revocable living trust generally provides for a confidential distribution of family wealth without required court interference and also allows for assets to avoid probate in most jurisdictions. Using a revocable living trust allows for planning in the event of incapacity without having to formally declare a person  more...