Businessolver® Client Newsletter
07/02/2024
Happy Fourth of July
Celebrating Independence Day
Our organization, including member services, will be taking Thursday off to celebrate Independence Day. We hope you and your teams have a safe, fun celebration this Fourth of July. Since you’re reading this on the 2nd, how about a fun fact about Independence Day and July 2?
Did you know that The Continental Congress voted on independence on July 2, 1776, but didn't approve the Declaration of Independence document until July 4, 1776? So, while Thursday isn’t the best day for the Fourth of July, maybe it’s at least better than a Tuesday.
Product News: Your Resource Center is Live
Get connected to your upcoming events, product updates, resources, and more
Enjoy your new Resource Center upon logging into Benefitsolver®. It’s the blue heart icon with a question mark now in the lower right of your admin login. Click it to get all the latest updates like upcoming events, product enhancements, and more. When you see a red notification indicator, that means there’s something new that you haven’t seen yet.
Save the Dates
If you are planning a fall enrollment, please begin working with your client team to lock in your annual enrollment (AE) dates as soon as possible. Sharing your dates earlier will help us partner with you for the best AE season ever.
Putting Empathy into Action
Our 2024 State of Workplace Empathy study is live
Check out how some of our clients are putting empathy into action through benefits and workplace culture.
Beacon Health Systems on creating a culture of care.
Annette Vota joined us on the Benefits Pulse to talk about how Beacon Health Systems transformed their PTO policy to help support financial well-being, flexibility, and benefits of choice for their employees.
Which benefits do employees find most empathetic?
Flexibility and mental health continue to be priorities for employees, but only 1 in 3 say their employers offer these key benefits. Read Part 1 of the 2024 State of Workplace Empathy report to see which benefits rank at the top of employees’ “must have” list of empathetic benefits and where benefits teams might have more opportunities to connect their workforce with these key resources.
How Microsoft and Cognizant put empathy into action.
In case you missed it, Sonja Kellen from Microsoft and Kathleen O’Driscoll from Cognizant joined our latest webinar for a live discussion on how to put empathy into action. Their biggest piece of advice? Listen to your people.
Tune in to the on-demand recording or read our blog for their top takeaways.
What’s New in Compliance?
Proposed rules governing the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Program issued
The Maine Department of Labor recently published Proposed Rules for the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Program. Starting in 2026, this program will provide eligible workers in Maine’s private and public sectors with up to 12 weeks of paid time off for family or medical reasons, including illness, caring for a relative, or the birth of a child.
Read the Proposed Rulemaking release.
For more information, visit the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Program website.
IRS provided an updated fact sheet about Education Assistance programs
As employers continue to seek ways to recruit and maintain their workforce, the IRS has provided a fact sheet to address questions that taxpayers and employers may have about these plan types. With a Section 127 educational assistance program, employees won't have to pay any tax on the benefits up to $5,250 per calendar year. The employer would not include the benefits as wages, tips, and other compensation on Form W-2.
Read the updated fact sheet.
IRS issued updated instruction sheet for Form 720, used for upcoming PCORI reporting
The IRS has issued updated instructions reflecting the updated fees for policy and plan years ending on or after October 1, 2023, but before October 1, 2024. The fee increased to $3.22 per member for the average number of lives covered under the policy or Plan, an increase of $0.22 per member.
Check out the updated instruction sheet.
Upcoming Sessions
Tues., July 16 at 10 a.m. CT: Q3 Product & Compliance Update
Join us for our quarterly update to hear about all the product enhancements coming in the second half of the year and those that have released recently. As always, Bruce Gillis, head of compliance, will cover relevant compliance news to keep you up to date.
Tues., July 30 at 11 a.m. CT: Q3 MyChoice® Accounts Product Update
Join us for our quarterly update to hear about the latest product enhancements for MyChoice Accounts.
In Case You Missed It
Building Real Benefits Connections Roundtable
Hear from your fellow client, Rachel Reese, Manager of Total Rewards for the Alera Group, who shared how their organization is leveraging Benefitsolver to enhance their communications with Activation Paths. We explored the process of using all the communications tools within Benefitsolver to promote benefits.
Creating Connections Through the Portal Training
Learn how to create experiences through the portal to give your employees greater access to your benefits program and information using our best-practice optimized layout.
Latest Trainings
Tues., Aug. 6 at 10 a.m. CT: Reviewing Rates
Reviewing your rates is a critical step to ensuring quality and accuracy throughout the employee experience. Our experts will take you behind the scenes of our rates process and demo the platform and the benefits of our repeatable process.
Thurs., Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. CT: QA Testing and Sign-off
This training is designed to ensure that you are set up for success for your enrollment's annual debut!
A Peek at Our Pinnacle Partners: Pets Best
Insurance for your employees’ best buddy
Pets Best is a top-rated insurance agency that was started by a vet. Their insurance plans for dogs and cats cover eligible expenses for accidents, illnesses, surgeries, cancer, and much more. Together, Pets Best and Businessolver offer a fully integrated product in which employees can elect pet insurance coverage along with their important health and wealth benefits all in one place.
With Pets Best, your employees will have a personalized service with flexible coverage and easy claims processing. Watch this short clip to learn more about our partnership.