:: Paul Rauseo ::

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Money is a basic motivator! Read on!

Every person has different motivations for working. The
reasons for working are as individual as the person. But, we all work because
we obtain something that we need from work. The something we obtain from work
impacts our morale and motivation and the quality of our lives. Here is the
most recent thinking about motivation, what people want from work.

Work IS About the Money

Some
people work for love; others work for personal fulfillment. Others like to
accomplish goals and feel as if they are contributing to something larger than
themselves, something important. Some people have personal missions they
accomplish through meaningful work. Others truly love what they do or the
clients they serve. Some like the camaraderie and interaction with customers
and coworkers. Other people like to fill their time with activity. Some workers
like change, challenge, and diverse problems to solve. Motivation is individual
and diverse.

Whatever
your personal reasons for working, the bottom line, however, is that almost
everyone works for money. Whatever you call it: compensation, salary, bonuses,
benefits or remuneration, money pays the bills. Money provides housing, gives
children clothing and food, sends teens to college, and allows leisure
activities, and eventually, retirement. To underplay the importance of money
and benefits as motivation for people who work is a mistake.

Fair
benefits and pay are the cornerstone of a successful company that recruits and
retains committed workers. If you provide a living wage for your employees, you
can then work on additional motivation issues. Without the fair, living wage, however,
you risk losing your best people to a better-paying employer.

In
fact, recent research from Watson Wyatt Worldwide in The Human Capital Edge:
21 People Management Practices Your Company Must Implement (or Avoid) to
Maximize Shareholder Value, recommends, that to attract the best employees,
you need to pay more than your average-paying counterparts in the marketplace.
Money provides basic motivation.

Got Money? What’s Next for Motivation?

I’ve
read the surveys and studies dating back to the early 1980s that demonstrate
people want more from work than money. An early study of thousands of workers
and managers by the American Psychological Association clearly demonstrated this.
While managers predicted the most important motivational aspect of work for
people would be money, personal time and attention from the supervisor was
cited by workers as most rewarding and motivational for them at work.

In a
recent Workforce article, “The Ten Ironies of Motivation,”
reward and recognition guru, Bob Nelson, says, “More than anything else,
employees want to be valued for a job well done by those they hold in high
esteem.” He adds that people want to be treated as if they are adult human
beings.

While
what people want from work is situational, depending on the person, his needs
and the rewards that are meaningful to him, giving people what they want from
work is really quite straight forward. People want:

·        
Control
of their work inspires motivation:
including such components as the ability to impact decisions; setting clear and
measurable goals; clear responsibility for a complete, or at least defined,
task; job enrichment; tasks performed in the work itself; and recognition for
achievement.

 

·        
To
belong to the in-crowd creates motivation: including items such as receiving timely information and
communication; understanding management’s formulas for decision making; team
and meeting participation opportunities; and visual documentation and posting
of work progress and accomplishments.

·        
The
opportunity for growth and development is motivational: and includes education and training; career paths; team
participation; succession p[planning; cross-training; and field trips to
successful workplaces.

·        
Leadership
is key in motivation.
People want clear expectations that provide a picture of the outcomes desired
with goal setting and feedback and an appropriate structure or framework.

Recognition for Performance Creates Motivation

In The
Human Capital Edge, authors Bruce Pfau and Ira Kay say that people want
recognition for their individual performance with pay tied to their
performance. Employees want people who don’t perform fired; in fact, failure to
discipline and fire non-performers is one of the most demotivating actions an
organization can take – or fail to take. It ranks on the top of the list next
to paying poor performers the same wage as non-performers in deflating motivation.

Additionally,
the authors found that a disconnect continues to exist between what employers
think people want at work and what people say they want for motivation.
“Employers far underrate the importance to employees of such things as
flexible work schedules or opportunities for advancement in their decision to
join or leave a company.

“That
means that many companies are working very hard (and using scarce resources) on
the wrong tools,” say Pfau and Kay. (p. 32) People want employers to pay
them above market rates. They seek flexible work schedules. They want stock
options, a chance to learn, and the increased sharing of rationale behind
management decisions and direction.

What You Can Do for Motivation and Positive Morale

You have much information about what people want from
work. Key to creating a work environment that fosters motivation are the wants
and needs of the individual. I recommend that you ask your employees what they
want from work and whether they are getting it. With this information in hand,
I predict you’ll be surprised at how many simple and inexpensive opportunities
you have to create a motivational, desirable work environment. Pay attention to
what is important to the people you employ for high motivation and positive
morale. You’ll achieve awesome business success.

Susan M. Heathfield

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OBAMACARE: Wellness Program Compliance Audit

WELLNESS PROGRAM CHECKLIST

Use the following questions to help determine whether the plan offers a program of health promotion or disease prevention that is required to comply with the Department’s final wellness program regulations and, if so, whether the program is in compliance with the regulations.

A. Insert the first day of the current plan year: _______________________________.

Is the date after July 1, 2007? …………………………………………………………… Yes No

The wellness program final rules are applicable for plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2007.

B. Does the plan have a wellness program? …………………………………………… Yes No

A wide range of wellness programs exist to promote health and prevent disease. However, these programs are not always labeled “wellness programs.” Examples include: a program that reduces individual’s cost-sharing for complying with a preventive care plan; a diagnostic testing program for health problems; and rewards for attending educational classes, following healthy lifestyle recommendations, or meeting certain biometric targets (such as weight, cholesterol, nicotine use, or blood pressure targets).

TIP: Ignore the labels – wellness programs can be called many things. Other common names include: disease management programs, smoking cessation programs, and case management programs.

C. Is the wellness program part of a group health plan?………………………… Yes No

The wellness program is only subject to Part 7 of ERISA if it is part of a group health plan. If the employer operates the wellness program as an employment policy separate from the group health plan, the program may be covered by other laws, but it is not subject to the group health plan rules discussed here.

Example: An employer institutes a policy that any employee who smokes will be fired. Here, the plan is not acting, so the wellness program rules do not apply. (But see 29 CFR 2590.702, which clarifies that compliance with the HIPAA nondiscrimination rules, including the wellness program rules, is not determinative of compliance with any other provision of ERISA or any other State or Federal law, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act.)

D. Does the program discriminate based on a health factor?………………….. Yes No

A plan discriminates based on a health factor if it requires an individual to meet a standard related to a health factor in order to obtain a reward. A reward can be in the form of a discount or rebate of a premium or contribution, a waiver of all or part of a cost-sharing mechanism (such as deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance), the absence of a surcharge, or the value of a benefit that would otherwise not be provided under the plan.

Example 1: Plan participants who have a cholesterol level under 200 will receive a premium reduction of 20%. In this Example 1, the plan requires individuals to meet a standard related to a health factor in order to obtain a reward.

Example 2: A plan requires all eligible employees to complete a health risk assessment to enroll in the plan. Employee answers are fed into a computer that identifies risk factors and sends educational information to the employee’s home address. In this Example 2, the requirement to complete the assessment does not, itself, discriminate based on a health factor. However, if the plan used individuals’ specific health information to discriminate in individual eligibility, benefits, or premiums, there would be discrimination based on a health factor.

If you answered “No” to ANY of the above questions, STOP. The plan does not maintain a program subject to the group health plan wellness program rules.

E. If the program discriminates based on a health factor, is the program saved by the benign discrimination provisions?…………………………………………………….. Yes No

The Department’s regulations at 29 CFR 2590.702(g) permit discrimination in favor of an individual based on a health factor.

Example: Plan grants participants who have diabetes a waiver of the plan’s annual deductible if they enroll in a disease management program that consists of attending educational classes and following their doctor’s recommendations regarding exercise and medication. This is benign discrimination because the program is offering a reward to individuals based on an adverse health factor.

TIP: The benign discrimination exception is NOT available if the plan asks diabetics to meet a standard related to a health factor (such as maintaining a certain BMI) in order to get a reward. In this case, an intervening discrimination is introduced and the plan cannot rely solely on the benign discrimination exception.

If you answered “Yes” to the previous question, STOP. There are no violations of the wellness program rules.

If you answered “No” to the previous question, the wellness program must meet the following 5 criteria.

F. Compliance Criteria

(1) Is the amount of the reward offered under the plan limited to 20% of the applicable cost of coverage? (29 CFR 2590.702(f)(2)(i))…………… Yes No

Keep in mind these considerations when analyzing the reward amount:

Who is eligible to participate in the wellness program?

If only employees are eligible to participate, the amount of the reward must not exceed 20% of the cost of employee-only coverage under the plan. If employees and any class of dependents are eligible to participate, the reward must not exceed 20% of the cost of coverage in which an employee and any dependents are enrolled.

Does the plan have more than one wellness program?

The 20% limitation on the amount of the reward applies to all of a plan’s wellness programs that require individuals to meet a standard related to a health factor.

Example: If the plan has two wellness programs with standards related to a health factor, a 20% reward for meeting a body mass index target and a 10% reward for meeting a cholesterol target, it must decrease the total reward available from 30% to 20%. However, if instead, the program offered a 10% reward for meeting a body mass index target, a 10% reward for meeting a cholesterol target, and a 10% reward for completing a health risk assessment (regardless of any individual’s specific health information), the rewards do not need to be adjusted because the 10% reward for completing the health risk assessment does not require individuals to meet a standard related to a health factor.

(2) Is the plan reasonably designed to promote health or prevent disease? (29 CFR 2590.702(f)(2)(ii)) …………………………………………………….. Yes No

The program must be reasonably designed to promote health or prevent disease. The program should have a reasonable chance of improving the health of or preventing disease in participating individuals, not be overly burdensome, not be a subterfuge for discriminating based on a health factor, and not be highly suspect in the method chosen to promote health or prevent disease.

(3) Are individuals who are eligible to participate given a chance to qualify at least once per year? (29 CFR 2590.702(f)(2)(iii)) …………………….. Yes No

(4) Is the reward available to all similarly situated individuals? Does the program offer a reasonable alternative standard? (29 CFR 2590.702(f)(2)(iv)) ……………………………. Yes No

The wellness program rules require that the reward be available to all similarly situated individuals. A component of meeting this criterion is that the program must have a reasonable alternative standard (or waiver of the otherwise applicable standard) for obtaining the reward for any individual for whom, for that period:

o It is unreasonably difficult due to a medical condition to satisfy the otherwise applicable standard; OR

o It is medically inadvisable to attempt to satisfy the otherwise applicable standard.

It is permissible for the plan or issuer to seek verification, such as a statement from the individual’s physician, that a health factor makes it unreasonably difficult or medically inadvisable for the individual to satisfy or attempt to satisfy the otherwise applicable standard.

(5) Does the plan disclose the availability of a reasonable alternative in all plan materials describing the program? (29 CFR 2590.702(f)(2)(v)) …………………………… Yes No

The plan or issuer must disclose the availability of a reasonable alternative standard in all plan materials describing the program. If plan materials merely mention that the program is available, without describing its terms, this disclosure is not required.

TIP: The disclosure does not have to say what the reasonable alternative standard is in advance. The plan can individually tailor the standard for each individual, on a case-by-case basis.

The following sample language can be used to satisfy this requirement: “If it is unreasonably difficult due to a medical condition for you to achieve the standards for the reward under this program, call us at [insert telephone number] and we will work with you to develop another way to qualify for the reward.”

If you answered “Yes” to ALL of the 5 questions on wellness program criteria, there are no violations of the HIPAA wellness program rules.

If you answered “No” to any of the 5 questions on wellness program criteria, the plan has a wellness program compliance issue. Specifically,

Violation of the general benefit discrimination rule (29 CFR 2590.702(b)(2)(i)) – If the wellness program varies benefits, including cost-sharing mechanisms (such as deductible, copayment, or coinsurance) based on whether an individual meets a standard related to a health factor and the program does not satisfy the requirements of 29 CFR 2590.702(f), the plan is impermissibly discriminating in benefits based on a health factor. The wellness program exception at 29 CFR 2590.702(b)(2)(ii) is not satisfied and the plan is in violation of 29 CFR 2590.702(b)(2)(i).

Violation of general premium discrimination rule (29 CFR 2590.702(c)(1)) – If the wellness program varies the amount of premium or contribution it requires similarly situated individuals to pay based on whether an individual meets a standard related to a health factor and the program does not satisfy the requirements of 29 CFR 2590.702(f), the plan is impermissibly discriminating in premiums based on a health factor. The wellness program exception at 29 CFR 2590.702(c)(3) is not satisfied and the plan is in violation of 29 CFR 2590.702(c)(1).

Additional compliance information regarding the other provisions in Part 7 of ERISA, including the HIPAA portability provisions and the rest of the HIPAA nondiscrimination provisions, is available on the Department’s website at: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/CAGAppA.pdf.

Questions concerning the information contained in this Bulletin may be directed to the Office of Health Plan Standards and Compliance Assistance at 202-693-8335.

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Top 5 reasons every company should consider Employee Wellness Program

Human capital refers to the stock of competences, knowledge and personality attributes embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value. The success of a company depends very heavily on the productivity and work performance of its human capital, its people. The ability to function and perform at a high level consistently is greatly enhanced by Employee Wellness Programs. Wellness Programs focus on the physical well-being of employees, looking after medical requirements and ensuring personal health is a priority and in return higher productivity.

Here are the top five reasons why your company needs an Employee Wellness Program.

1.       Improved Work Performance

·         Employees who participate in wellness programs have noted a substantial improvement in work performance.

2.       Increased Responsibility

·         Employees that feel like the company takes in interest in their wellbeing and health will take an added interest in performing their best.

3.       Increased Productivity

·         Studies show that when an employee is healthy they are more productive. Being healthy increases output, concentration, and energy levels.

4.       Decreased Health Care Costs

·         Simply put, healthier employees mean less claims resulting in lower premiums.

5.       Reduced Absenteeism

·         The benefit of a Wellness Program is that absenteeism will be significantly reduced, if not avoided all together. For a company this is the bottom line, reduced absenteeism equals a reduction in costs and an increase in productivity. Happier Employees!