Here’s a helpful “to-do” list for planning your 2015 employee notice, communication, and training requirements.
In addition to all the changes in health plan requirements, including waiting periods of no more than 90 days effective in 2014 and tracking this year for new reporting requirements in 2016, the Affordable Care Act has continuing requirements for notices and employee information, such as the government notice on the health care marketplace/exchange and the Summary of Benefits and Coverage.
Please note that Maine law has other notice and annual training requirements as well.
- Send out the Health Care Marketplace/Exchange Notice to new hires within 14 days of hire.
- Send health insurance Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) to all newly eligible employees; annually during open enrollment; and with plan changes, special enrollments, and upon request.
- Send all other required annual health plan notices.
- Send your annual Sexual Harassment Notice. For workplaces with 15 or more employees, schedule sexual harassment training for new hires, including additional supervisor training.
- Schedule Video Display Terminal (VDT) training for employees with more than four hours of consecutive use.
- Check your employment posters and notices to ensure they are current and you have all that are required.
- While not a requirement, it is a good practice to review your employee handbook annually to ensure it is up-to-date for legal issues and internal processes, and share it with your employees asking them to sign a receipt.
KMA can help you with these or other items on your employer to-do list. If you have questions, contact KMA today.