With an unlimited budget it’s easy to offer an employee benefit program that puts you a cut above your competition. Unfortunately, unlimited budgets are often not a reality, and employers have to balance the needs of the organization, employees and budget when designing their benefit offerings.
We partner with you to understand your mission, corporate culture, demographics and budget, in order to connect your benefits strategy to them. Our process identifies not just cost advantages but also behavioral changes that take place when you alter your plan design. We compare trends in cost, utilization and population health to help you create a healthier, more productive workforce.
Through surveys you will know what benefits matter most to your employees. You won’t waste dollars on premiums, paying for services that are not valued by your employees. The result is a complete benefits strategy that stems the tide of rising costs and improves employee engagement — all making you an employer of choice.
Our national Employee Benefits Compliance Team is dedicated to helping you stay abreast of fast-changing legislative and regulatory developments and guidance related to health and welfare plans that could impact your business.
Knowing that life’s only two certainties are death and taxes, let’s turn our attention to how the IRS determines independent contractor status. Previously, the IRS used to apply a 20-factor test to determine whether or not an individual could be classified as an independent contractor. A number of years ago they moved to what they call a “common-law” test that focuses on the degree of control the business exercises in achieving its purposes versus the degree of independence the worker has to actually perform the tasks themselves. As described in IRS Publication 15-A, the IRS will closely examine each of the following three areas: “behavioral control, financial control, and the type of relationship of the parties.” Let’s take a look at each.