There’s a lot of buzz about Paid Family Leave — and for good reason. On January 1, 2018 all employees in NY State will be entitled to job-protected, paid leave to bond with a new child, care for a loved one with a serious health condition or to help relieve family pressures when someone is called to active military service.
We’ve covered what employees need to know in order to comply with the new law, but what about what should employers do to facilitate a smooth transition?
Here are 7 things you need to take care of as an employer before January 1st:
1. Add Paid Family Leave to your insurance coverage
All disability carriers will attach Paid Family Leave within their plans. Contact your disability insurance broker to go over the specifics of your plan and to make sure you’re covered on the 1st. The law will be managed by the New York State Worker’s Compensation Board.
2. Display your Notice of Workforce Compliance
Once you’ve adjusted your insurance plan, get a Notice of Compliance from your carrier (PFL-120) confirming that you’ve added Paid Family Leave coverage to your policy — post it somewhere permanent and visible to employees and visitors, so they have it as a reference.
3. Make sure your employees know about Paid Family Leave
Beyond posting your Notice of Workforce Compliance in a conspicuous space, be sure to update internal documents, like employee handbooks, to reflect this new benefit. If you have an internal HR representative, make sure they’re aware of how these changes will affect their job responsibilities.
4. Adjust Payroll
In 2018, the cost of the premiums for adjusted insurance policies is estimated to match the employee contribution. Companies will need to adjust payroll to account for this.
Employees are paying for this benefit, meaning companies can charge up to $1.65 (depending on employees’ salaries) per week for the cost difference of the adjusted insurance plan. This is because employees’ contribution will be 0.126% of their weekly wages — but they’ll never be charged more than 0.126% of the New York State Average Weekly Wage ($1,305.92 in 2016) leveling out to a max of $1.65.
5. Make sure Non-Eligible Employees know about Waivers
Most short-term employees are not eligible for Paid Family Leave, meaning they’re able to apply for a waiver.
Employees can fill out a waiver if a) they regularly work 20+ hours a week, but will not work 6 months for your company, or b) regularly work less than 20 hours a week, but will not work one full year for your company.
6. Stay informed
Paid Family Leave costs and adjustments have all been accounted for — in theory. That means, there will be challenges and adjustments as processes are put into practice. Make sure you’re familiar with the forms and documents associated with Paid Family Leave so both you and your employees can best eliminate hiccups early on in the year.
7. Contact ETS with questions!
This whole Paid Family Leave thing is a lot of info to process in a short period of time. At ETS, our Human Resource experts are prepared to answer questions. In fact, they’re even prepared to take the whole headache off your hands.
We have the capabilities to act as the Employer of Record for your team, which means we can organize customized payroll services, benefits management, complete government compliance assistance and all that other paperwork you’ve been stressing about.
More importantly, it means you don’t have to.
Click here to find out what you’ll get when you outsource your payroll and HR services to ETS.