Total Team Solutions Blog

Professional Employer Organization (PEO) Helps Small Businesses to Thrive

By: Rob Lynn

Small businesses that utilized a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) to manage their payroll, benefits, regulatory compliance and other human resource needs have experienced faster growth, greater employee retention and had a significantly highe... Read Article

PPP Forgiveness for Loans of $50,000 or Less announced by SBA

By: Rob Lynn

The Small Business Administration (SBA) in consultation with the Treasury Department, today released a simpler loan forgiveness application for Paycheck Protection Program loans of $50,000 or less. This action streamlines the PPP forgiveness process ... Read Article

401(k) Plans – Pitfalls for Small Businesses

By: John Morlock

Experts estimate that Americans are not saving enough for retirement by as much as $1 trillion.  As a result many individuals may never be able to afford to retire.  To address this potential national crisis, the federal government has take... Read Article

CONNECTICARE UPDATE

By: Rob Lynn

UPDATE FROM CONNECTICARE   Like other medical carriers, ConnectiCare just announced several updates that affect all plan sponsors and participants.      First of all diagnostic lab tests and related visits, whether to a d... Read Article

CT Recovery Bridge Loan Program for Small Business

By: Rob Lynn

UPDATE FOR EMPLOYERS WITH EMPLOYEES IN CONNECTICUT Connecticut just passed a Recovery Bridge Loan Program for small businesses, providing three months of operating expenses up to $75,000.  These loans will be interest free and have a 12-month... Read Article

IRS COVID-19 Key Takeaways

By: Rob Lynn

Key Takeaways Paid Sick Leave for Workers For COVID-19 related reasons, employees receive up to 80 hours of paid sick leave and expanded paid child care leave when employees' children's schools are closed or child care providers ... Read Article

EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES FOR BENEFIT PLANS

By: John Morlock

Employee benefit plans can be a more important factor in retaining workers than compensation.  This has always been true, but even more so today with so many regulatory changes.  Especially when an employee has a family, having consistent c... Read Article

PAID TIME OFF (PTO) – SHOULD IT BE UNLIMITED?

By: John Morlock

Most companies offer paid time off for vacations, sickness and personal reasons, but the amount varies greatly.  The old standard used to be two weeks of paid vacation and one week of sick/personal time.  Then companies used PTO as an emplo... Read Article

Women's Impact in the Workplace

By: John Morlock

After years of catching up, the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that in July 2019 for the first time there were more college educated women in the work force than men.  Since the 1980’s women have represented the majority of college stud... Read Article

Essential Employee Benefits for Retention

By: John Morlock

So for years the human resource experts have been preaching that employee benefits are more important than compensation in hiring and retaining employees.  Yet with the myriad of possible benefits, they have never articulated whether you need to... Read Article

Cell Phones In the Workplace

By: John Morlock

Let’s start with the fact that cell phones are here to stay.  They have evolved into mini-computers that can be used to access email, the internet and run countless mobile applications.  In today’s world they are actually used v... Read Article

401(k) Plans – Pitfalls for Small Businesses

By: John Morlock

Experts estimate that Americans are not saving enough for retirement by as much as $1 trillion.  As a result many individuals may never be able to afford to retire.  To address this potential national crisis, the federal government has take... Read Article

GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM

By: John Morlock

So I was standing in line to get my morning coffee when I overheard a conversation between two people in front of me about President Trump’s comment to the Democratic Congresswomen that they should stop complaining and just go back to where the... Read Article

Small Business is Thriving

By: Rob Lynn

  Despite the trade war, rising interest rates, state government fiscal dysfunction (CT for one), the future for small business is looking very good.   The National Federation of Independent Small Business study from this September ... Read Article

PEO Great For Small Business & a Growing Force

By: Rob Lynn

Professional employer organizations (PEOs) provide comprehensive HR solutions for small and mid-sized businesses. Payroll, employee benefits, HR, workers’ compensation, and risk management are some of the many services PEOs provide to businesse... Read Article

Changes In Payroll Tax for 2018

By: Rob Lynn

A couple payroll tax changes: First, the Social Security Wage taxable earnings cap has increased $1,200 to $128,400, which is based on the government's estimate of recent inflation-adjusted wage growth.  The $1,200 is roughly a 1% increas... Read Article

HR Outsourcing Saves Business Owners Time & Money

By: Rob Lynn

Over the past decade the Human Resource outsourcing industry has grown to an estimated $175 billion annually, as nearly 85 percent of businesses have outsourced at least one or more of their HR functions. Smaller businesses have accelerated their ... Read Article

2018 Medical Premiums

By: Rob Lynn

Over the past several years, Total Team Solution’s clients who utilize our HR outsourcing solution have received medical premium increases that are well below trend.  Some of our plan designs increased a little more and some a little less,... Read Article

Sexual Misconduct in Workplace

By: Rob Lynn

  With the recent news regarding movie producer maker Harvey Weinstein’s various sexual harassment and rape allegations, I was reminded of an HR article I read called “The Al Capone Theory of Sexual Harassment”  which w... Read Article

PEOs: Good for Small Businesses and Their Employees

By: Rob Lynn

A recent survey from McBassi & Company found that small businesses that utilized a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) to manage their payroll, benefits, regulatory compliance and other human resource needs experienced faster growth, greater... Read Article

Equifax Data Breach A Sad Reminder

By: Rob Lynn

The recently announced data breach at Equifax is estimated to have affected 143 million U.S. consumers, Compromised information included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, driver's license numbers, among other information suc... Read Article

Independent Contractors - Update for CT Employers

By: John Morlock

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS – AN UPDATE FOR CONNECTICUT EMPLOYERS   Since the implementation of employer payroll taxes, the classification of workers as employees versus independent contractors has been a contentious issue.  On the ... Read Article

DOL Wage & Hour Penalties

By: Rob Lynn

Recently the Walt Disney Company paid a $3,800,000.00 in back wages to 16,000 of their employees.   The back wages & penalties were assessed because of the wage & hour errors: The resorts deducted a uniform or “costume&r... Read Article

Here Come the Millennials

By: John Morlock

Millennials are a unique group and there has been plenty of negative things written about them.  However, like them or hate them, in less than 10 years they will comprise 75% of the work force.  So how should companies start planning to add... Read Article

Decreasing Medical Premiums

By: John Morlock

NEW SOLUTIONS FOR REDUCING HEALTHCARE COSTS   With healthcare costs continuing to rise, employers are looking for new strategies to control to help them control costs.  These include the following: ·    &... Read Article

Final Paycheck Laws

By: Donna Kakadeles

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE FINAL PAYCHECK LAWS ARE IN YOUR STATE?   You should make sure that you are ready to comply with the final paycheck laws that your state has in place whenever an employee leaves.  There are often penalties for viol... Read Article

Employee Handbook

By: Donna Kakadeles

HANDBOOK COMPOSITON OR REVISION   It’s right up there with doing income taxes - writing or updating the employee handbook.   It’s tedious but necessary.  Changes to federal and state employment laws make updating... Read Article

Medical Costs and the shift to high deductible plans

By: Rob Lynn

Total Team Solution’s large group medical plan provided to our PEO Clients has had another successful renewal with the last four years averaging just 2.25% increase in premium expense per year.  This is well below the average annual e... Read Article

Exempt Status Change

By: Rob Lynn

On Dec. 1, the federal annual salary threshold for employees exempt from overtime pay will double, increasing to $47,476 from $23,660. Employees who make less than the threshold must be paid time-and-a-half for any hours worked beyond 40. If employer... Read Article

Facts About 401(K)

By: John Morlock

FACTS ABOUT 401(K) PLANS More than 80 million Americans use defined contributions plans, more commonly referred to as 401(k) plans, to save for retirement.  These plans contain $4.3 trillion in assets and two thirds of participants are less t... Read Article

PEO’S ARE A KEY TO A SMALL BUSINESS’S SUCCESS

By: John Morlock

A recent study found that small businesses that utilized a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) to manage their payroll, benefits, regulatory compliance and other human resource needs experienced faster growth, greater employee retention and had ... Read Article

Wellness programs for chronic diseases ROI

By: Rob Lynn

According to the American Heart Association, over 85 million Americans are living with some form of cardiovascular disease, and company wellness programs have the real potential of providing them some help.  The study, conducted by HealthMine as... Read Article

401(k) Plan Sponsor Survey - focus on fees

By: Rob Lynn

Market Strategies International recently reported that more plan participants are scrutinizing 401(k) fees and that plan sponsors are looking more closely into how much they are paying their service providers for their plan’s administration. &n... Read Article

DOL Final Rules for New Overtime Regulations

By: Rob Lynn

The U.S. Department of Labor has released its long-awaited Final Rule updating regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act governing overtime exemptions for executive, administrative, and professional employees, commonly known as the “white ... Read Article

Stress in Flexible Work Environment

By: Rob Lynn

The work /life imbalance is a continuing struggle for many as technology has created a 24/7 opportunity to stay engaged in office work which can drain your life’s battery as many can’t find a way to unplug.  Office email on the smart... Read Article

Obamacare is Failing

By: John Morlock

As we head into 2016, it is hard to believe that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare or the PPACA) is six year old already.  However, if you look at the results, by most measures it is failing miserably.  On the... Read Article

Common 401(k) Employer Mistakes

By: Rob Lynn

Administration of a 401(K) plan can be complex with many compliance hazards that the employer can easily run into. Those servicing a 401(K) plan such as the third party administrators, record keepers, and financial advisors are hired to hel... Read Article

Consider Updating Employee Handbook

By: Rob Lynn

There are a variety of employer- employee incidents that emphasizes the importance of regularly updating your company’s handbook along with their underlying policies and procedures. State & federal employment laws are changing quickly along... Read Article

Headache Free & Cost Effective 401(k)

By: Rob Lynn

What does a payroll company know about investing and 401(k)?  15 plus years ago the defined contribution 401(k) industry, especially the smaller business markets, were dominated by mutual fund companies who offered 401(k) plans but only if the p... Read Article

401(k) DOL offers Multiple Employer Plan Initiative

By: Rob Lynn

Secretary of Labor Tom Perez recently announced new retirement plan initiatives that President Barack Obama will put forward in his 2017 budget, including asking Congress to make it easier for different employers to pool together in a share... Read Article

2015 Takeaway

By: Rob Lynn

As posted on the August 24th blog “Employee privacy Expectations when using a company computer” one of the most surprising aspects of the leaked information from the Ashley Madison data breach was that many of the people who registered fo... Read Article

Federal Reserve Increasing Rates and 401(k) impact

By: Rob Lynn

The Federal Reserve announced on Dec. 16 that it is raising its benchmark interest rates by quarter of a percentage point after ten years of keeping the rate at zero.   If the economy continues with its’ moderate paced growth, then th... Read Article

Why Human Resource Outsourcing is Thriving

By: Rob Lynn

For the past few years, the outsourced HR industry has grown to an estimated $165 billion annually, as nearly 85 percent of businesses have outsourced at least one or more of their HR functions. Smaller businesses have accelerated their utilizatio... Read Article

Calling In Sick

By: Rob Lynn

CareerBuilder surveyed about 2,300 Human Resource managers and 3,300 of their employees to learn more about the “calling in sick” behavior.   The survey found that almost 4 in 10 employees called in sick when they were heal... Read Article

Affordable Care Act 2016

By: Rob Lynn

Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law in 2010, there have been many employers confused about deadlines, what needs to be reported and what the overall impact of ACA will be on their business. As 2016 is right around the corner, i... Read Article

Worker's Compensation Return to Work & Pay As You Go

By: Rob Lynn

Return-to-work programs are only effective if they are implemented with the support of all levels of management.  As with all programs that impact employees, they are much more successful when one allows the frontline employees to assist in the ... Read Article

2016 Payroll & Tax Changes

By: Donna Kakadeles

  There will be no change to the 2015 401k limits or wage base.  The limit remains at $18,000 for those under 50 and $24,000 over 50.  The wage base will remain at $265,000.00. There will only be a change to the FAMILY HSA contri... Read Article

401K Retirement Crisis

By: John Morlock

RETIREMENT SAVINGS CRISIS IN AMERICA   Today almost half of workers in the United States do not have access to a company sponsored retirement plan, such as a 401(k) plan.  This is a 25% increase from just 15 years ago.  The reaso... Read Article

Reduce Worker's Compensation Expense

By: Rob Lynn

Within the voluntary worker’s compensation market there is an opportunity for the insured to select “Pay As You GO” when paying the worker’s compensation premium.  The “Pay As You Go” program doesn’t req... Read Article

Outsourcing key to success for startups

By: John Morlock

A recent article in Forbes Magazine (September 2, 2015) outlined six strategies for startup companies.  The core theme of the article was that business owners need to remain focused on producing and selling their products and the best solution f... Read Article