HR760_D1 HRM Total Rewards Week #5: Changes in Laws and Benefits

The reading for this week focuses on Chapters 17 -19. The textbook was published in 2007 (the only edition ever published) therefore the laws and benefits outlined in this week's readings may be out of date. Address the following:

• What has changed?

• Why have the changes occurred?

• What social change movements have occurred around these laws in the past 12 years, and have they created change?

Week #5: Changes in Laws and Benefits

Sick Leave key features are specified number of days, they may be carried from one year to the next, continuation of pay, based on service. (Wiley pgs. 416). Wiley states that organizations provide a ser number of days per year for salary continuation in the event an employee is unable to work due to a personal illness (Wiley pg. 422). One thing the has changed about this is the set number of days. When a pay period comes around you can

accumulate as many days as you can for sick leave. Something else that has changed is the carrying over from one year to the next. While some employers do this not all employers do, if days are not used then when the new year comes, the days are reset in which they begin to accumulate again with each pay period.

COBRA mandates that employers with at least 20 employees must offer each “qualified beneficiary” an opportunity to continue coverage, although the beneficiary would otherwise lose coverage under the plan due to a “qualifying event” (Wiley pg. 441). The event could be termination, moving from full-time to part-time, and more. COBRA shouldn’t cost the employer anything unless there’s an adverse selection and that that it doesn’t cover an individual’s health age or sex (Wiley pg. 441). What has changed is that while it applies to employers with 20 or more employees; many states have passed comparable provisions, or mini-COBRA laws, for smaller employers. Additional laws help workers pay for COBRA coverage such as The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). Both helped increase the tax credit to 80% for a period of time in 2009. The Recovery Act also provided a 65% subsidy to pay COBRA premiums to workers involuntarily terminated from employment (Fact Sheet: Celebrating 25 Years of COBRA, April 2011).

Doesn’t think it falls under the social change movements, but the pandemic happening definitely has occurred in which laws were changed to help those in need. In March 2021, in which the government covers 100 percent of COBRA insurance premiums for eligible employees who lost their jobs and for their covered relatives through September 30, 2021, allowing them to stay on their company-sponsored health plan, under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) (Miller, 2021). Those who qualify are those who were employed between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2021, are eligible for COBRA coverage due to an involuntary termination (other than for gross misconduct) or a reduction in hours, and elects such coverage (Miller, 2021).

References:

John Wiley & Sons. (2007). The worldatwork Handbook of compensation, benefits & Total rewards: A comprehensive guide for Hr professionals.

Miller, S. (2021, May 26). Biden signs stimulus bill with 100% COBRA subsidy Through September. SHRM. Retrieved September 23, 2021, from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/stimulus-bill-provides-cobra-subsidy-through-september.aspx