Guess what was revealed in the latest ACA form update? The federal government assumes that your business has a full-fledged HR Department. I doubt this comes as any surprise to our small-to-mid-sized clients!
Earlier this year, the Department of Labor made a minor change to its model Health Insurance Exchange Notices, the ACA Marketplace notices that must be given to new employees within 14 days of hiring. Don’t worry if you haven’t yet updated to the latest form, because the previous version still conforms to the functional requirements under Regulatory Notice OMB No. 1210-0149. But to ensure that you stay up to date, click here to download the latest forms: Updated Notice for Employers Offering Health Plans and the Updated Notice for Employers Who Do Not Offer Coverage. (MSWord versions available here.)
It took considerable scrutiny to detect anything that had been changed in the updated Notice for Employers Offering Health Plans, but about three-quarters down the page we saw it. Now, instead of directing employees with additional questions to contact the company’s “HR Department,” the line provides a blank space to fill in a contact.
Isn’t it just a little satisfying to imagine the DOL receiving enough real-world feedback to realize their inaccurate presumption? We have many clients supporting 20, 50, or even 100-plus employees, and they know the growth struggle is real, and how frustrating it can be: when your company is large enough to face the burden of ever-increasing regulatory compliance, but not yet at a size to undertake a salaried staff of HR professionals. These businesses have no in-house HR department to navigate the complexities of DOL, OMB, ACA, OSHA, EEO, FMLA, etc., or to implement beneficial HR functions such as a drugfree workplace, anti-harassment training, safety programs, or I9 audits … not to mention that nobody in the office has enough time to continually monitor federal, state, and local agencies for the release of new forms.
This is the gap we try to fill for Florida businesses. We specialize in providing as much or as little HR assistance that is appropriate for each one of the clients we support. We can assist at an hourly rate with special one-time projects, or provide on-going support on a retained basis. Some clients want us to handle their unemployment claims, OSHA injury logging, or new hire documentation. Others prefer assistance in establishing their own procedures, policies, documentation and accounts necessary to take care of those functions efficiently on their own. If fractional HR services sound like a solution your business can use, call or email us today.
That face you make when the DOL thinks you must have a dedicated HR department …
