Volunteering Time Off, Part Two | Virginia Employee Benefits Team

Right now our national unemployment rate is 3.7%–edging towards a 50-year low. With this low rate, companies are actually finding it increasingly harder to hire and retain great talent. One way to combat this issue is by increasing employee engagement through volunteering.   In survey after survey, employees state that they want to work for … Continued

Volunteering Time Off, Part 1 | Virginia Employee Benefits Team

Volunteering Time Off, or VTO, has become a buzz topic for many companies as of late. It involves encouraging employees to take time off from their job to plug in to their community and the nonprofits that support it. Let’s delve in deeper to understand what VTO looks like. Typical VTO policies allot for 8 … Continued

Cybersecurity: Employees Are the First Line of Defense | Virginia Benefit Advisors

Cybercriminals are becoming more focused on users of company networks as a weak link in the security infrastructure chain. Secure web gateways, anti-virus tools, malware scanners, spam quarantines, and other technologies help filter out malicious content and defend against a growing variety of threats, but technology alone cannot stop humans from clicking on the wrong … Continued

Ask the Experts: FSA Limits | Virginia Benefits Agents

Question: Our company offers flexible spending accounts (FSAs) for health care and dependent daycare. Our plan limits are the maximum amounts allowed by federal law. Will the IRS increase the limits for 2019? We hold open enrollment in November for employees to make their FSA elections for the following year. Answer: The maximum annual limits … Continued

Look Backward to Plan Forward | VA Benefits Agency

We have entered Open Enrollment season and that means you and everyone in your office are probably reading through enrollment guides and trying to decipher it all. As you begin your research into which plan to choose or even how much to contribute to your Health Savings Account (HSA), consider evaluating how you used your … Continued

SCOTUS 2018 Roundup and 2019 Preview | Virginia Benefit Brokers

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) heard several cases with employment implications during their 2018 session, including the following four cases we covered in detail. (Click the case names to read the full articles.) Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro: Encino shifted the burden of proof in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime exemption … Continued

Affordable Care Act Individual Mandate Update | Virginia Benefit Agency

Recently, the President signed a bill repealing the Affordable Care Act’s Individual Mandate (the tax penalty imposed on individuals who are not enrolled in health insurance). While some are praising this action, there are others who are concerned with its aftermath. So how does this affect you and why should you pay attention to this … Continued