by admin | Mar 29, 2024 | Job Opening
Position Title: Accounting Clerk
Company: NueSynergy
Position Classification: Full-time, Non-Exempt
Position Summary: Accounting Clerks oversee all aspects of banking setup and changes loaded in the platform for existing and new clients. They assist the accounting department with accounts receivable, accounts payable and with banking accounts. They process account receivables including invoicing and payments and daily claim payments to participants via check and ACH. Accounting Clerks perform daily reconcilement of all current NueSynergy general ledgers and daily payment processing and contribution posting.
by admin | Mar 29, 2024 | Job Opening
Position Title: Relationship Account Manager
Company: NueSynergy
Position Classification: Full-time, Non-Exempt
Position Summary: Relationship Account Managers serve as the primary contact for all employer client decision makers. They oversee all aspects of relationship with their assigned clients, educate and provide enrollment support on Flexible benefit products. Account Managers identify cross-sale opportunities with our clients, develop and maintain strong relationships with decision makers and centers of influence at our clients, and ensure client satisfaction while meeting the retention goal of 98% for your client group.
by admin | Jan 25, 2024 | Blog
QUESTION: Our company has just received a letter from a participant in our health plan, asking for copies of numerous documents relating to the plan. What are our responsibilities?
ANSWER: ERISA § 104(b)(4) requires a plan administrator to furnish copies of specified plan documents within 30 days after a written request from a participant or beneficiary. Failure to timely provide requested documents could lead to financial penalties, so it is important to quickly evaluate the participant’s request and provide copies of the documents that are subject to the disclosure obligation. Here are some issues to consider in responding to the request.
- Plan Administrator’s Responsibility. The ERISA disclosure obligation and penalties for noncompliance fall on the plan administrator. Unless the plan document designates a different person or entity, the plan administrator is the plan sponsor, which in a single employer plan is the employer. We assume that your company is the “plan administrator” under ERISA. Courts are authorized, in their discretion, to impose penalties of up to $110 per day for each day that requested documents are not provided, starting on the 31st day after the request.
- Covered Documents. The specified documents that must be furnished upon request are the latest updated SPD (including any interim SMMs); the latest Form 5500; any final Form 5500 for a terminated plan; and any applicable bargaining agreement, trust agreement, contract, or “other instruments under which the plan is established or operated.” It can be challenging to determine what documents fall within the “other instruments” category. This is ultimately a facts-and-circumstances determination. The DOL and the courts have found this category to include plan documents, insurance policies, usual and customary fee schedules and guidelines, TPA contracts (if they affect plan administration), and minutes of plan meetings (affecting plan administration). The plan administrator is generally not obligated to furnish documents that are not within the plan administrator’s possession—for example, an insurer’s or claims administrator’s claim processing guidelines.
- How to Furnish. While the statute specifically refers to mailing requested documents, it appears that, like other ERISA-required disclosures, these documents are to be furnished using a method “reasonably calculated to ensure actual receipt of the material.” This would include any of the methods appropriate for furnishing SPDs, including mail, hand-delivery, or electronically (preferably in a manner that satisfies the DOL’s safe harbor for electronic delivery). A reasonable charge may be imposed for copying (up to 25 cents per page but not more than the actual cost), but not for postage or other tasks associated with handling the request.
Keep in mind that other situations may trigger an obligation to furnish documents to participants or beneficiaries. In addition to the requirement to furnish SPDs and other materials automatically, ERISA’s claims procedure rules require that a claimant be given, upon request and free of charge, “reasonable access to, and copies of, all documents, records, and other information relevant to the claimant’s claim for benefits.” Also, the courts and the DOL have sometimes relied on a generalized fiduciary duty to require that additional information be provided to participants and beneficiaries in individual situations.
Source: Thomson Reuters
by admin | Dec 8, 2023 | Job Opening
Position Title: COBRA Account Manager
Company: NueSynergy
Position Classification: Full-time, Non-Exempt
Position Summary: COBRA Account Managers oversee day-to-day COBRA administration for assigned client groups. COBRA Account Managers provide educational support to both participants and employers, maintain positive working relationships with clients, and address internal and external requests in a timely manner. Ideal candidates for this role can proactively identify potential issues and provide resolutions when needed. The primary role of a COBRA Account Manager is to ensure our client’s satisfaction while striving for a retention rate of 98% or above.
by admin | Dec 22, 2022 | Blog
The IRS has issued the final versions of Publication 15 (Circular E, Employer’s Tax Guide) and Publication 15-T (Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods) for use in the 2023 tax year.
Publication 15: This publication explains the tax responsibilities as an employer regarding the requirements for withholding, depositing, reporting, paying, and correcting employment taxes. The publication also explains the forms an employer must give to its employees, those employees must provide, and those the employer must send to the IRS and the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Publication 15-T: Publication 15-T supplements Publication 15 and Publication 51 (Agricultural Employer’s Tax Guide). It describes how to figure withholdings using the wage bracket method or percentage method.
Qualified sick/family leave in 2023: Publication 15 notes that the rate of Social Security tax on taxable wages, including qualified sick leave wages and qualified family leave wages paid in 2023 for leave taken between March 31, 2021 – October 1, 2021, is 6.2% each for the employer and employee or 12.4% for both.
However, qualified sick leave wages and qualified family leave wages paid in 2023 for leave taken between March 31, 2020 -April 1, 2021, are not subject to the employer share of Social Security tax; therefore, the tax rate on these wages is 6.2%. The 2023 Social Security wage base limit is $160,200.
Payroll research tax credit: For tax years beginning before January 1, 2023, a qualified small business may elect to claim up to $250,000 of its credit for increasing research activities as a payroll tax credit. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the IRA) increased the election amount to $500,000 for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022.
The election and determination of the credit amount that will be used against the employer’s payroll taxes are made on Form 6765 (Credit for Increasing Research Activities). The amount from Form 6765, line 44, must then be reported on Form 8974 (Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit for Increasing Research Activities).
Starting in the first quarter of 2023, the payroll tax credit is first used to reduce the employer share of Social Security tax up to $250,000 per quarter and any remaining credit reduces the employer share of Medicare tax for the quarter (any remaining credit is carried forward to the next quarter).
Forms and publications discontinued forms after 2023: Form 941-SS (Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return) and Publications 80 and 179.
Source: Thomson Reuters
