If you offer group health benefits programs to your employees, do you have Summary Plan Descriptions for the required plans?

The Summary Plan Description (SPD) is the primary vehicle for informing participants and beneficiaries about their rights and benefits under their employee benefit plans. Generally, an SPD must be furnished when a participant first becomes covered by a plan (within 90 days) and then at regular intervals thereafter.The plan administrator is legally obligated to provide the SPD to participants, free of charge. This obligation can fall on either the employer or plan carrier.

Reference Resources

Compliance Assistance: Provides information to assist employers and employee benefit plan practitioners in understanding and complying with the requirements of ERISA as it applies to the administration of employee pension and welfare benefit plans.

Fact Sheet: Workers' Right To Health Plan Information

Reporting and Disclosure Guide For Employee Benefit Plans (PDF) A quck reference tool for certain basic reporting and disclosure requirements under ERISA.

Have you evaluated your workplace for safety issues, including proper ergonomics, office equipment, VDT exposure, or other potential repetitive motion issues?

No. Occupational repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) comprise more than 100 different types of job-induced injuries and illnesses resulting from wear and tear on the body. RSIs are one of the fastest growing workplace injuries, and can result any time there is a mismatch between the physical requirements of the job and the physical capacity of the human body. Specific risk factors that can cause RSIs include repetitive motion, force, awkward posture, heavy lifting, or a combination of these factors.

Ergonomics, the science of adjusting the job to fit the body's needs, can prevent RSIs. Ergonomic solutions need not be expensive; in fact, the solutions are often simple. While in some cases redesigning the workplace is the best way to prevent RSIs, often many simple and inexpensive remedies will eliminate a significant portion of the problem.

Reference Resources

Safety and Health Topics | Ergonomics - OSHA

Ergonomics - Training and Assistance - OSHA

Are the tests and assessments you conduct job-related and validated based on actual job performance?

The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures are a set of standards developed for employers in the use of selection procedures and to address adverse impact, validation, and recordkeeping requirements. If an employer requires job applicants to take a test, the test must be necessary and related to the job and the employer may not exclude people of a particular race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, or individuals with disabilities. In addition, the employer may not use a test that excludes applicants age 40 or older if the test is not based on a reasonable factor other than age.

If a job applicant with a disability needs an accommodation (such as a sign language interpreter) to apply for a job, the employer is required to provide the accommodation, so long as the accommodation does not cause the employer significant difficulty or expense.

Reference Resources

Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices

Employment Tests and Selection Procedures