The
3 most costly mistakes with problem employees. Separation notice
help.
Whether you are firing your problem employee or laying off workers
because of downsizing, you must give each worker a formal separation
notice. It is a crucial part of the termination process. And while
every termination is different, all separation notices should follow
a similar format. This is not to say you do not have to tailor each
separation notice, you do. But you can use a basic template and change
it depending on your circumstances.
What a Separation Notice should contain
First, a separation notice should have basic employee information.
You should include the employee's name and social security number.
Then list the dates the employee started work and date last worked
and the reason that they were separated from employment. Be careful
when giving reasons for termination. Get rid of any discriminatory
language or unprofessional wording.
You must make sure your employee clearly understands the reasons
for the separation. Also you must have documented evidence to support
those reasons. If you have collected this information properly, the
employee will not be surprised by his or her current predicament.
Finally there should be an area for both you and the employee to
sign off on the separation notice. This gives you legal evidence
the employee knew why you were letting him or her go.
Needing
to separate an employee from your company? This is how I terminate.
The New Way To Lower The Cost Of Health Insurance It seems that every day there is an article about the rising cost of health insurance, the high number of people with no health insurance, and our system of financing medical care which is broken and needs repair or replacement.
What goes unreported is that since January 1, 2004 there is a new way to finance medical expenses which drastically reduces the cost of medical insurance when compared to traditional forms of health insurance. The name of this radical new approach to financing health care is: Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs.
Health Savings Accounts combine a health insurance plan that will pay medical expenses after a patient has paid a few thousand dollars for medical care. A unique feature of these high up-front (a “high deductible” in insurance-speak) medical insurance plans is that a patient can open up an IRA-like tax favored savings account to fund the deductible. When sick the patient can withdraw money from the Health Savings Account without any tax penalty.
Like a rainy day fund, a person on an HSA puts money aside in his/her own savings account in addition to paying a health insurance premium for insurance that will pay when a catastrophe happens. The HSA-compatible medical insurance plans are less expensive than most other health insurance because they only begin to pay for treatment after a patient has incurred several thousand dollars worth of medical bills.
The combined cost of the low cost medical insurance plan and the HSA savings component are likely the same or less than the cost of a traditional health insurance plan which begins paying medical bills immediately. The big savings in HSA plans are threefold:
1) The money invested in the HSA savings vehicle stays in the pocket of the insured person until used to pay qualified medical expenses;
2) The money deposited into the HSA savings account is a deductible expense from Federal income taxes – also many states allow income tax deductibility for HSA contributions; and,
3) An insured person pays less for health insurance to an insurance company.
Most people only care about the cost of health insurance when they have to pay the premium (i.e., monthly payment for the insurance.) This applies to individuals and families who purchase their own policies and also companies which purchase health insurance on behalf of employees and their families. HSAs make the most sense for these people – since every dollar they save on premium stays in their pocket.
HSAs offer a unique feature to employers: they can partially or fully fund the HSA savings account for employees covered by a compatible health insurance plan. Employees can also make tax deductible contributions to their own HSA account – up to the maximum allowed by the IRS.
So, an employer who may save $150-$200 per month per employee could contribute $75-$100 pre month to an employees HSA account, get a tax deduction and still spend less money in total for health insurance than they would spend on a traditional health insurance plan for their employees.
The employees like this arrangement because any money deposited into their HSA account become theirs immediately (i.e., the vest immediately.) The immediate full vesting for the employees also helps those companies with no retirement accounts (e.g., 401k plan.)
Money in the HSA accounts can be used for non-medical expenses at age 65 with no tax penalty. Many employees see this as an opportunity to accumulate a lot of money for their retirement – assuming they stay healthy. If they become sick the money is there to pay for medical expenses.
HSAs – the new way to reduce the cost of financing medical care.
About the author:
Bruce Jugan is president Professional Benefits and Insurance Services, and is a licensed insurance agent specializing in assisting individuals and families find the right California health insurance coverage via http://www.benefitscafe.comweb site. More information about Health Savings Accounts can be found at: http://www.benefitscafe.com/hsa/
Circulated by Article Emporium
Needing
to separate an employee from your company? This is how I terminate.
Coaching for Creativity in the Workplace
There was a CEO of a large company who had an interesting object on his desk. Over the course of many years the object had been the topic of numerous conversations by most employees and visitors who found themselves in his office. When I heard the story about the CEO and the strange object, I knew it had to be the topic of an article, because of how moved I was by the message. The object on his desk was a hand-carved automobile made from wood that was similar to what you might see at a Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. The car was about eight inches long and although quite detailed in design, obviously wasn’t professionally made. Someone had constructed this car for a specific purpose. The unique. . .
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