Vaping in the Workplace | Chicago Benefits Team

The health of our businesses during these uncertain times may be called “sickly” but the health of your employees and your bottom line doesn’t have to be. While we know cigarettes are a danger to your health, we are just now learning the risks associated with vaping.  This trendy new method of nicotine delivery may … Continued

March Madness 2019: The Ball is in Your Court | Chicago Benefits Agents

March Madness is upon us, and there is no avoiding it. Selection Sunday, when the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Committee announces which 68 teams made the 2019 tournament, is March 17. Games begin with the First Four on March 19 and 20 and culminate with the Final Four April 6 and 8. While this … Continued

Easy-to-Use Tax Withholding Calculator | Chicago Benefits

Employers, have you reminded your employees to check that they are having the right amount of tax withheld from their paychecks? It’s a good idea for everyone to check their payroll withholding every year, but it is particularly important this year due to the big changes Congress made to the federal tax rules for 2018. … Continued

Medicare Part D Notices Due Oct. 15 | Chicago Employee Benefits Consultants

Are you an employer that offers or provides group health coverage to your workers? Does your health plan cover outpatient prescription drugs — either as a medical claim or through a card system? If so, be sure to distribute your plan’s Medicare Part D notice before October 15. Purpose Medicare began offering “Part D” plans … Continued

Ask the Experts: Service Dogs and the ADA | Chicago Employee Benefits

Question: We have a new employee in our call center who has a service dog. She came to her interview and trained without the dog, but is now asking if she can bring her dog to work. Do we have to accommodate her request? Answer: The first step will be to determine whether the dog … Continued

Wearable Technology in the Workplace | Chicago Benefits Brokers

We all love gadgets! How does wearable technology sync with your workplace? Check out this video to find out!

Final Rule on Short-Term Limited-Duration Insurance | Chicago

On August 1, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Labor (collectively, the Departments) released a final rule that amends the definition of short-term, limited-duration insurance. HHS also released a fact sheet on the final rule. According to the Departments, the final rule will provide … Continued

Affordable Care Act Update | Chicago Benefit Advisors

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

Solving Problems – While Increasing Employee Satisfaction | Chicago Benefits Advisors

“Design thinking” is a fairly common term. Even if the phrase is new to you, it’s reasonably easy to intuit how it works: design thinking is a process for creative problem solving, utilizing creative tools like empathy and experimentation, often with a strong visual component. The term dates from 1968 and was first used in … Continued

Trust Equation | Chicago Benefits Partners

We are currently living in a low-trust society as a whole — we keep hearing that news is fake, science is fake, and so on. That makes it hard for us to trust anyone and is why we need to work on building trust in the workplace more than ever. Human resources professionals and business … Continued